And the others, also a very poignant day because Navy Offensive tackle billy will be honoring one of his former teammates, david fornow, a 22yearold left guard who died this in his dorm of cardiac arrest earlier this year. And his pal billy will be wearing his friends consumer city e number, number jersey number, number 68. And all the navy players will have a decal with the name of david fornoy who was only 22 years old. Lets see if he can listen in for a sec. [inaudible conversations] [background sounds] [cheers and applause] [inaudible] al might few god at the end of an incredibly difficult year, we stop for a moment to focus on the joy of americas game. [inaudible] we see the light, feel the wind [inaudible] strive with all their might to win. But soon in the days ahead they will be deployed to a new battle [inaudible] how thankful we are for your devotion displayed by the players on the field [inaudible] we as a nation [inaudible] that we as a nation, even as we strive [inaudible] only through our discipline and only through our Sacrificial Service to others [inaudible] so, lord, bless this day, bless this game and, lord, god bless america. Amen. [cheers and applause] and now, please remain standing for the [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] and United States naval academy. O say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o ear the ram o ooher the ramparts we watched were so glal atlantaly streaming. And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O, say does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] [inaudible conversations] eric and the others. And as you can see, the president ea applauding and acknowledging the cheers of the cadet cans and the midshipmen as the teams are coming on the field. Navy kind of has a worse record, but navy does lead this 121year tradition, 61 games to 52 the over army on a very misty, kind of rainy day up on the shore9 of the hudson river on west point. A magnificent, patriotic plus. If you ever get a chance to visit, it ising magnificent. Arthel, wonderful that the game is about to begin. Arthel i mean, its not perfect football weather, but it doesnt matter, because the enthusiasm is there. You know, it made the choir sound that much more angelic. I mean, their rendition of the National Anthem was just beautiful. So, listen, the coin toss is going to happen, the president will go sit with the army, then the navy and well cover it for you. Eric and i are back at four eastern. U dont. [grunting noise] ill take that. Woohoo 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. Ensure max protein. With nutrients to support immune health. So wrap up a supportive casper mattress and pillows. Soft percale sheets, all things cozy for your best nights sleep. Give the gift of a better bedroom with 10 off at casper. Com my hands are everything to me. But i was diagnosed with dupuytrens contracture. And it got to the point where things i took for granted got tougher to do. Thought surgery was my only option. Turns out i was wrong. So when a hand specialist told me about nonsurgical treatments, it was a total game changer. Like you, my hands have a lot more to do. Learn more at factsonhand. Com today. Paul initial jobless claims rising sharply last week to more than 850,000 as a nationwide spike in coronavirus cases push more cities and states to impose new covid restrictions and shutdowns. The Restaurant Industry the among the hardest hit with the National Restaurant association reporting this week that some 10,000 restaurants have closed in the last three months alone. Governor andrew cuomo announced friday that Indoor Dining will be banned once again in new york city starting monday. Lets bring in our panel, wall street journal columnist deputy editorial page editoar Dan Henninger. Editor. Coronavirus stats, terrible toll, more than 3000 on at least one day this week. Lockdown advocates are saying, you know, we toll you so. We were right we told you so. Have they been vindicated . No, they have not been vindicated, paul. There is no real correlation between the lockdowns and causes per 100,000 in the cases per 100,000 in the United States. The wall street journals just published a fascinating map showing the cases per 100,000 population of every county in the United States. And, you know, we know that florida, texas, georgia had minimal lockdowns, and their case load for 100,000 is very lowment meanwhile, states like california have a high case load. Oregon and washington, which have been very restrictive, have low caseloads. To theres been no correlation. It becomes increasingly difficult for restaurant the owners in big statements like new york and california big statements like new york and california to see any justification why they are beinged asked to shut down and take the brunt of trying to solve the coronavirus surge over the next three months, because they are the ones being put out of business. Paul allysha, what are you coaching with out there . If coping with out there . Hes basically locked us up inside. Granted, you can go to the hiking trails, but, you know, lounge ares and National Parks are all closed, playgrounds are now open but, you know, barbershops, Outdoor Dining, most things in the state that are, quote, nonessential of course, essential is a term of liberal politics. You know, film studios are essential, but other nonessential activities are shut down and closed. Paul and that has had a significant economic effect, i mean, has it not . I looked at the data nationwide of states that have had severe lockdowns like california, they have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country still. Oh, yes, i think thats right. And i think youre getting a little bit of a revolt among the business class. The Restaurant Industry in l. A. Sued to overturn a local Outdoor Dining ban and this week, on tuesday, a local judge actually said, you know, you need to produce some kind of science to justify this and show the cost benefit analysis because there is none. And thit youre having tens, hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs. Paul right. So, kim, there does seem to be something of a big problem here a lot of people perceive it as a double standard when it comes to behavior here. With politicians making arbitrary distinctions. I mean, i think most americans think, you know what . If the hospitals are overflowing in your area, then we really do need to clamp down. But if theyre not, then we need to let as much Business Life and normal life go on as possible expect for, you know, the most vulnerable, Nursing Homes and so on. What do you think people how do you make sense of the lockdown decisions . Well, its hard to, and thats whew youre seeing people now begin to revolt. Everyone saw, to your point about double standards, that Restaurant Owner out in california this week showing a picture of her shutdown business, and right across the street, vast numbers of tables that had been set up to feed a movie crew. And then you have all of these folks who are in a situation earlier this spring, we calm into this with a very strong economy, and people had some are serve to weather some of this. But this time around, this round theres know reserve left. And so thats why youre seeing so many businesses shuttered. And when you have politicians that are similar blue willynilly putting these lockdowns, theres no Scientific Evidence that what theyre doing is going to work. Or as dan pointed out, those statistics. Thats the problem, and it seems to be more kind of heady tyrants coming to play. They can do it, to they do do it, but it isnt based on rational ed. Paul dan, the a argument is, well, look, the vaccines right around the corner, lets just tough it out for the next two, three months before the herd immunity sets in, and thatll be fine and well save a lot of lives. Whats your response to that . Well, my response to that is they simply are pursuing the wrong and inequitable strategy. Most of these deaths are still among people age 65 or over. They are the most vulnerable. They should be protected. By but the Restaurant Owners in california, new and elsewhere, look, weve been in this for ten months. They made a good faith effort to comply. Many have made nor mouse investment to allow people to sit outdoors while their Indoor Dining was limited to 25 , and now many of them in states like michigan, illinois, new york, california, minnesota, new mexico are told to shut down Indoor Dining altogether. Why are they being asked to themselves take the brunt of getting us through to the vaccine . It just makes no sense whatsoever, paul. Paul all right, dan, thank you. When we come back, hunter biden the subject of a criminal probe as questions swirl around his foreign business dealings, plus, a federal judge finally dismisses the case against Michael Flynn but not without some parting shots. 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If your financial situation has changed, youre still the one that i love to touch still the one and i cant get enough were still having fun, and youre still the one applebees 2 for 20. Now thats eating good in the neighborhood. Paul federal prosecutors in delaware reportedly probing the business dealings of president elect joe bidens son hunter. Authorities are said to be examining multiple Financial Issues including whether biden and husband associates violated tax and money land oring laws in business dealings in foreign countries, most notably china. Were back with Dan Henninger, kim strassel and wall street journal Columnist Bill mcgurn. Kim, first, congratulations, you wrote about this and the emails before the election and were roundly criticized by the herd of independent minds in the main stream media. So congratulations on your vindication. But what do you make of this new news about the tax investigation . Well, what i make of it is that, as we pointed out, this was a legitimate issue that the press corps largely missed in the runup to a very consequential president ial election. Dont forget that as some of these stories came out, we had the uniform cry from the media claiming that it was russian disinformation. It wasnt. It was verifiable, and it raised some profound concerns about the degree to which hunter biden has spent years selling access to his father or to other political officials and then what, we dont know yet, but what kind of problems that might cause in terms of putting him in a compromised position and other officials. So, you know, this is something now the press corps is interested in it, but it would have been useful information for voters to have had back in october. Paul yeah. Bill, you know, theres a lot of people now who are saying on the republican side bill barr should appoint a special counsel to investigation this now. Obviously, with the Biden Administration coming in. Do you agree with that . No, i as you know, or im not a fan of special comes [laughter] so counsels, so i dont think he should. Hes also being create sized for not criticized for not leaking news of this investigation, but his job isnt to leak news. Actually, his job is to not leak. So i think thats a mistake, and i think, as kim said, i think that the Justice Department did the right thing in this case. But the press not only ignored the stories, they deliberately ignored it. They turned their backs on it. They wouldnt examine things, and they gave joe biden softballs. I mean, when he was first asked about husband sons role on burisma his sons role on burisma, Ukrainian Energy company, when he had no background in ukraine or energy, you know, he basically said my son did nothing wrong, i love him and he wont do it again. I mean, this deserved a lot more reporting and a lot more cover average, and he never got it. Coverage. And one reason is because some soul in the media like kim asks the question, and then he just brushes it off. And he brushed it off because he knew no one was going to press him on that. Just imagine if this had been a trump family paul yeah. Not only does he brush it off, but the press doesnt follow up with biden, and then the press attacks kim and says how dare you ask, outrage that you would, indeed, do your job. [laughter] and worse than that, paul, the New York Post had a, you know, a Ground Breaking story about the emails allegedly from the laptop. They put the caveats in. What happens . It gets banned on twitter. This was see knowville, hear know evil, speak know evil and especially ask no questions. Paul on this point about the special counsel, i want do you about that because some people say, look, if you dont have a special counsel, itll just get burr trued in the Justice Department. The press should start to focus on hunter biden and joe biden and start to say you must answer questions. Were not going to bury this inside the Justice Department. I why dont you just until us what happened. Just come out and especially answer questions with. It seems to me that and joe biden in particular if, hunt or too and his brother, joes brother james should start answering some public questions. [laughter] yeah, thats right. I mean, special prosecutors, take them first. Going back to the Reagan Administration we had independent counsel. The difficulty with them that theyre like inspector they have one target and their job is to indict, and they basically house people, innocent or guilty, to the ends of the earth hound people. Its a very destructive instrument. As for the press, look, were a First Amendment in this country we have a First Amendment in this country. The press has a distinct function, and we have a First Amendment not so that the press could affiliate itself with one party or the other and work on behalf of electing, say, liberal or progressive candidates. Theyre supposedded to pursue without fear or favor the Political Class and to protect us from their excesses and their corruption. So that is what youre suggesting, simply ask these questions as a counterweight against the excesses of the politicians and as a complement to the justice process which is very, very powerful. Short of having someone abused by that power, better to have the press asking these questions and surfacing them. Paul pal all right, kim, lets before with we go, i want to ask you about a pardon for general flynn. The judge finally dismissed the case but not without grandstanding on his way out. Tell us what happened. Well, this should have been an easy call. The department of justice, after an impartial review, found the charges should never have been brought. The judges only job here was to dismiss the case on the basis of that doj request. Instead, a 40some page decision in which he basically accused the department of justice as being corrupt. There was no evidence of this, this really besmirched the judiciary. Its unfortunate that it happened. Paul all right, thank you all. Still ahead, joe bidens pick for defense secretary facing some bipartisan skepticism as lawmakers question another recentlyretired military the officer taking the civilian job. Well talk to retired general jack keane about bidens choice and the Foreign Policy challenges ahead. Some things are good to know. Like where to find the cheapest gas in town and which supermarket gives you the most bang for your buck. Something else thats good to know . If you have medicare and medicaid you may be able to get more Healthcare Benefits through a humana Medicare Advantage plan. 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