12 NEWS Best columns: The U.S.
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PQA French bulldog survived
a six-story jump off a Man-
hattan midrise that ended
when he crashed through
the sunroof of a parked
car. The near-death dive of
Winston the bulldog ended
with a “giant smash” that
had people on the sidewalk
ducking and shrieking, said
an eyewitness. Seconds
later, the witness said, “a
panicked woman comes
flying down the stairs of an
apartment building, climbs
onto the hood of the car and
pulls the dog out through
the sunroof.” The dog’s own-
er said Winston was running
away from her on the roof
and went over the edge.
“It’s an absolute miracle he’s
alive,” the owner said.
QA Pennsylvania man has
won approval from his doc-
tor to use an alligator
as an emotional
support animal.
Joie Henney, 65,
said Wally is
“just like a
dog” and
“wants to
be loved and petted.” Since
Wally helps lift his depres-
sion, Henney said, his
doctor figured, “Why not?”
Now the two go shopping
together and pay visits to lo-
cal nursing homes to cheer
up residents. Wally is 5 feet
long and could triple in size,
but, Henney said, “I don’t
know what I would have
done without him.”
QA British hospital patient
was mistakenly circumcised
instead of receiving bladder
surgery. Terry Brazier was
too busy chatting with a
nurse at Leicester Royal
Infirmary while under local
anesthesia to notice he was
getting the wrong proce-
dure. “They didn’t know
what to say when they’d
done it,” Brazier said. “It
was a real surprise.” The
hospital blamed the incident
on muddled notes, and
Brazier has been awarded
almost $24,500 in com-
pensation by the country’s
National Health Service.It must be true...
I read it in the tabloidsShould the federal government mount “a war on terrorism” against
white nationalists? asked Max Abrahms. After the El Paso massacre and
other acts of domestic terrorism by white nationalists, some on the Left
are calling for a “massive, post-9/11–like counterterrorism response”—
this time, against far-right Americans. The impulse is understandable.
The U.S. has poured resources into fighting Islamist terrorism while
largely ignoring extremists at home, even though white supremacist ter-
rorism has “historically made up the lion’s share of attacks.” But “in
this climate, we run the risk of bouncing from a longtime underreaction
to a sudden overreaction.” In the emotional aftermath of 9/11, the U.S.
invaded a country with no connection to the attack, tortured and impris-
oned suspects without trial, and approved a massive secret surveillance
program tracking nearly every phone call in the U.S. and abroad. In the
process, we arguably created more terrorists and gave rise to ISIS. White
nationalism is a real threat, but it would be a mistake to have the FBI
surveilling and rounding up Americans who have discussed “offensive—
even reprehensible—political visions” on the internet. Without expressed
intent to commit acts of violence, ignorance and bigotry are not crimes.Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan once proposed a huge tax on the
most damaging kinds of ammunition, explaining: “Guns don’t kill peo-
ple, bullets do.” Recent mass shootings have proved that the late senator
“was onto something,” said Francis Wilkinson. In his “sick” manifesto,
the El Paso shooter lovingly explains his choices of an AK-47–style semi-
automatic weapon and the “8m3 bullet,” which has a cult following
because it expands and fragments when it hits human flesh—causing
catastrophic wounds. In publications such as the NRA’s official journal,
Shooting Illustrated, “bullet talk is as revealing a window on Ameri-
can gun culture as gun talk.” In one ammo review, the writer gives his
“thumbs up” to Hornady-brand bullets’ ability to penetrate thick cloth-
ing and expand inside the body, causing “deep wound cavities.” When
this kind of ammo is paired with semi-automatic rifles, which fire bullets
at triple the velocity of most handguns, the effects are “especially grue-
some and lethal.” Surgeons who’ve treated victims of assault-rifle mass
shootings say organs are so badly shredded that there is “nothing left to
repair.” Why are we selling “hyperlethal” guns and bullets designed and
marketed to make sure shooting victims can’t possibly survive?“Coverage of political gaffes is often overwrought,” said Aaron Blake.
Any politician is bound to say dumb things now and then, given how
often they speak publicly. But Democrats who view former Vice Presi-
dent Joe Biden as their strongest challenger to President Trump have
to be concerned after Biden’s cringeworthy performance while cam-
paigning in Iowa last week. In one speech, the 76-year-old Biden raised
eyebrows when he said that “poor kids are just as bright and just as
talented as white kids.” For the second time in recent weeks, he referred
to former British Prime Minister Theresa May as “Margaret Thatcher,”
and at one point urged Democrats to “choose truth over facts.” Per-
haps most worrisome was his claim that survivors of the 2018 Parkland
school shooting “came up to see me when I was vice president.” Biden
was not vice president in 2018. Now, Biden “has shown an unmatched
ability to connected with audiences,” but his spate of stumbles “is
a bad sign.” In the pressure of a general election campaign against
Trump, could the undisciplined Biden say something so damaging it
could torpedo his chances? If the gaffes continue, Democrats may have
to question their assumptions about “Biden’s superior electability.”Don’t repeat
the war
on terrorism
Max Abrahms
TheAtlantic.com
Is Biden really
the most
electable?
Aaron Blake
WashingtonPost.com
Making sure
victims
don’t survive
Francis Wilkinson
Bloomberg.com
“The very existence of the Hong Kong demonstrations is an assault on the
conventional wisdom that Western-style liberalism is exhausted and uncom-
pelling. It’s proof that people cannot be pacified by consumer goods and intimidated by a panoptical
surveillance state. It’s a confirmation that the people are the ultimate arbiters of who governs them
and how, not the other way around. That is the essence of the American promise, and it’s in both
this president’s interest and America’s to say as much.”
Noah Rothman in CommentaryMagazine.comViewpoint