With the news dominated by Covid-19 and racial injustice, you might not remember one of the big stories of the past year: the rise of socialism. Previously a dirty word, socialism became popular among young people and polled well with Democrats.

But now we hear nothing about socialism. Bernie Sanders is gone and the Green New Deal has gone silent.

The fact is, young people were never interested in formal socialism. The same polls showing their attraction to it also showed they prefer a market economy over government control. They really didn’t want socialism, but free stuff: free college tuition, forgiven student loans, help with expensive housing and maybe a guaranteed income.

That agenda is now, quietly, Joe Biden’s platform, without the socialism name. He has embraced versions of all that and more. He is the candidate of free … and expensive … stuff.

Dennis Prager talks about a serious CNN article that reads like a satire about new words that can no longer be used — they are racist. Master Bedroom is a good example…

To mainstream media, the designation “Black conservative” represents a contradiction in terms. Conventional wisdom insists African Americans must automatically identify as progressive, or even radical, to be true to their racial identity, But a bold new film explodes that patronizing assumption with passion, wit and a series of admirable examples.

“Uncle Tom” features Black leaders like Allen West, Herman Cain, Robert Woodson, Candace Owens and my talk radio colleague Larry Elder—who’s also one of the film’s producers.

Without narration or an overarching storyline, the film provides insightful, sometimes intimate observations in vivid black and white, so the contemporary comments blend seamlessly with stunning historical footage.

Along with eloquent vintage photographs, these clips bring to life great figures from Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington to Dr. King himself. “Uncle Tom” is perfectly timed, making a much-needed contribution to the quest for justice and understanding at a moment of accusatory hysteria in race relations.

Hugh Hewitt dives into President Trump’s July 4th speech at Mount Rushmore, which some in the media called “dark and divisive.”

By embracing the slogan “Defund the Police,” prominent Democrats undermine one of their central arguments for stringent gun control. For decades, the left has argued that law-abiding citizens shouldn’t rely on firearms to protect their families but should count instead on police professionals to guarantee their safety.

But now progressives seek to disarm the cops at the same time they hope to disarm private citizens, ignoring the dangers posed by well-armed criminals who have no intention of surrendering their guns.

It’s already illegal for chronic lawbreakers to own guns, but who’s supposed to take those guns away if police forces are cut back? If the left is serious about reducing the presence of firearms in our big cities, then crippling police departments is exactly the wrong way to do it, pushing citizens to arm themselves, and generating a toxic new sense of insecurity.

Seth Leibsohn and Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University, discuss the need for historical context when it comes to statues and memorials.

When Independence Day comes around, we mostly celebrate what we’re free from. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed our freedom from the King, from his abolishing our laws and taxing us without consent.

But the other side of freedom is to ask what we are free for? What is it we want to do in a positive way with our freedoms? We are free, the same Declaration said, to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That same dilemma faces Americans now as we celebrate another Independence Day. America seeks to be free from the interference of other countries, from undue interference even from our own government. Of course we’d like to be free from viruses and face masks and racial injustice.

But to accomplish that, we must accept the responsibilities of freedom. We must be free for living as responsible citizens every day.

Happy Independence Day!