OPINION

In the classic Washington Irving short story, the character Rip Van Winkle falls asleep for 20 years, misses the American Revolution and wakes up to a world utterly transformed around him. The people of New York have experienced something similar since the novel-coronavirus pandemic plunged us into a prolonged and seemingly endless lockdown. Sure, we haven’t been sleeping; in fact, many of us are sleeping a lot less, and a lot less easily or restfully, than we used to. But we have been hunkering down in our homes, fearful of neighbors and even our own loved ones, barraged constantly with crisis bromides (“in these uncertain times,” “We’re all in this together”) and ominous warnings (“Don’t touch your face,” “Wear a mask,” “Keep at least six feet away”). The world outside has passed

Just what is it going to take for the left and its media echo chamber to call out the vandals and violent bullies they pretend are merely “peaceful protesters”? Yes, many George Floyd demonstrators are law-abiding, reject violence and simply want to exercise their First Amendment right to assemble and be heard. Good for them, whatever you think of their views. Yet far too many are no more than brutes — bent on destruction, bullying and imposing their will by force. And it’s not just those who provoke and attack cops (and others): Nearly 400 NYPD officers alone were hurt in the early days of the George Floyd “rallies.” Occupy City Hall continues to hold ground it illegally claimed for itself until it was satisfied with NYPD funding cuts. Wednesday morning, OCH clashed again with poli

What are we thinking for props? A walker, à la Harvey? A cane like Cosby? Since Ghislaine Maxwell so clearly adores older men who rape and predate, it seems logical she’ll hobble her way into court as those two did, claiming a sudden onset of chronic illness. After all, the publicity spin has already begun. Less than 48 hours after Maxwell’s arrest, friends — seriously, who at this moment is OK with being a friend of this monster? — began squawking to the media. Poor Ghislaine, they’re saying. Forget about the untold number of children and teenage girls she’s alleged to have lured, groomed, sex-trafficked and allegedly raped along with her onetime boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein’s global network of wealthy and powerful men. No, Ghislaine’s the real victim here. A poor little r

He’s back! President Trump’s brilliant Mount Rushmore speech Friday laid out a winning campaign theme to restore national optimism. Of course, his media antagonists fell over themselves to find fault with it. He presented an antidote to the viciousness that has engulfed America, a declaration of love for this country, warts and all, a reaffirmation of the noble ideals on which it was founded, a vote of confidence in “American greatness” and a call to unity. Beneath the granite faces carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota, he spoke of building up the country, not tearing it down. He stood against the “merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children.” In 3,000 words he skewered the wreckers and liars who are defaming A

Crisis, what crisis? You don’t have to look at the numbers behind the city’s new, $92 billion budget to see that neither the mayor nor the City Council takes the COVID-19 calamity seriously: Just to look at the number of workers the city plans to keep on board over the next year. By next June, Gotham expects to be able to pay 329,152 people, ranging from 131,358 teachers to 1,317 mayoral-office staffers. You might imagine this figure represents a sharp cut to the 2019 levels, the last fiscal year before the pandemic hit (that is, the fiscal year that ended last June). You would be wrong. Last summer, the city had 332,315 workers. The projected loss of 3,163 jobs is less than 1 percent of the number of workers. No one wishes a job loss on anyone, particularly when there are few jobs

New York’s Republican Party is reduced to hoping Democrats screw up so badly that voters give the GOP another try. Democrats gained a hefty 40-23 advantage in the state Senate last year. And if they keep control for the redistricting after the 2020 census, gerrymandering could well lock the GOP out for a decade. Meanwhile, most big donors — the business community, especially real estate — feel compelled to “pay rent” to those in power, paying heavily for a hope of seeing their interests acknowledged. The opposition still matters in both chambers — pointing out flaws in bills, offering common-sense ideas, bolstering the spines of beleagured Democratic moderates and so on. But it’s depressing work, prompting a wave of retirements among the remaining GOP senators — making it tougher fo

It seems the City Council’s move to defund the NYPD also managed to shield a particularly well-connected brand of lawbreaker — namely, the municipal employees and other insiders who abuse their parking placards. This, even as the new budget also boosts enforcement against all other drivers in a blatant bid to fund city government with excessive law enforcement. That’s right: The budget axed all 116 positions dedicated to placard enforcement and zeroes out the unit’s $5.4 million annual budget. This is at least the second time a vaunted Mayor Bill de Blasio effort to crack down has come to nothing. Meanwhile, the budget also reassigns 165 traffic-enforcement agents to the Department of Transportation, expecting them to bring in $42 million in added revenue. Council Speaker Corey John

Culture critic: Self-Help Social Justice The similarities between self-help guides and “anti-racism handbooks” are “eerie, but also unsurprising,” observes Kat Rosenfield at Tablet. Both generally target “the guilt, anxiety and insecurities of financially secure white women”: Self-help “has always been a woman’s game,” and the ­attendees of Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” seminars are “overwhelmingly white, female and highly educated.” Both sappy self-help and the woke guides insist you need “constant and unmitigated navel-gazing” to remedy your supposed flaws, whether cellulite or racism. Instead of helping “marginalized communities who suffer most from oppression,” then, “self-help social justice” just “fuels the pleasant, ego-driven delusion” that nothing is more important tha

“Let’s mark the date on the calendar and how long it’s going to be before we’re having a conversation about New York is crying out for more police,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea says of last week’s City Council vote to reduce the size of the NYPD. Indeed — and it’s worth remembering who stood where. The vote on the $88.2 billion budget was 32-17, with one member in a hospital ER and another seat vacant. But what they said matters more. Some stand out as heroes: •  I. Daneek Miller (D-Queens) voted for the budget but opposed the NYPD defunding. “Black folks want to be safe like everyone else, we just want to be respected,” he said. “We can’t allow folks from outside our community to lecture us about black lives and what we need in our communities.” • Robert Holden (D-Queens): “I c

Twenty Indian soldiers are murdered in a surprise cross-border attack by the People’s Liberation Army. A Philippine fishing boat is sunk in its own territorial waters by increasingly predatory Chinese ships. Peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong are beaten bloody by riot police on Beijing’s orders. Australia’s farmers and miners are hit with trade sanctions after Canberra suggests that the virus, which came out of China, may have come from . . . China. Chinese President Xi Jinping has apparently decided that now is the time to assert dominance over an economically prostrate, post-pandemic world. But instead of just rolling over, a growing number of nations are fighting back. India, for one, is clearly not intimidated. In response to China’s unprovoked attack, the largest