12 NEWS Best columns: The U.S.
TS
AQPolice in Loretto, Tenn., are
warning people not to flush
methamphetamine down
the toilet for fear of creating
super-aggressive “meth-
gators.” The alarming public
service announcement was
made after a suspect tried
to dispose of his meth in his
commode. “Folks, please
don’t flush your drugs,”
the police department said.
“Geese and other fowl
frequent our treatment
ponds, and we shudder to
think what one all hyped up
on meth would do.” Cops
added that if the drugs trav-
eled downriver, alligators
could ingest them, too.QA military
man tried
to smuggle
an unusual
souvenir—
a missile
launcher—
onto a
com mer cial airplane.
TSA agents seized the
“inert” weapon from the
man’s checked luggage at
Baltimore/ Washington Inter-
national Airport, and he told
them that he was an active
member of the military and
wanted to bring the launcher
home to Jacksonville, Texas,
as a memento of his time in
Kuwait. The TSA sent off the
launcher for “safe disposal,”
and the man was allowed
to board his flight. “Per-
haps he should have picked
up a keychain instead!”
said Lisa Farbstein, a TSA
spokeswoman.QA British bride has drawn
outrage and scorn on social
media for imposing a size-
limit on her bridesmaids. The
uproar began when Lon-
doner Moli Harvey posted to
Twitter, “I’m a size 6 and my
bridesmaids are supposed
to compliment [sic] me not
contrast me.” Outraged us-
ers pushed back at her slim
snobbery, with one raging,
“If I knew you, I’d make you
wear a mustard yellow ball
gown with puke green polka
dots and puff sleeves.”It must be true...
I read it in the tabloidsSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell really doesn’t like being
called “Moscow Mitch,” said Dana Milbank. In a fiery speech on the
Senate floor last week, the Kentucky Republican defended his blocking
of House-passed bills to fortify the nation’s defenders against Russian
election interference and insisted that he has been standing up to the
Kremlin “for decades.” While it’s true that McConnell used to be a
Russia hawk, for some reason that’s changed. Last year, McConnell
fended off a bipartisan congressional effort to reinstate sanctions on
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties to Vladimir Putin.
Three months later, Russian aluminum giant Rusal, which Deripaska
controls, announced it would invest $200 million to build an aluminum
plant in Kentucky. McConnell says his work to exempt Deripaska from
sanctions was “completely unrelated” to the decision on the aluminum
plant. Sure. Now former McConnell staffers who maintain close ties to
the senator have signed on to work as lobbyists for the project, which
is seeking $1 billion from the federal government in low-cost financing.
If McConnell doesn’t want to be called “Moscow Mitch,” he should
stop cutting corrupt deals with oligarchs—and blocking legislation “to
protect democratic elections” from Moscow.“Pseudo-scientific hysteria is the wrong answer to climate change,” said
Bjorn Lomborg. Democratic presidential candidates are sounding warn-
ings that if the U.S. doesn’t dramatically cut carbon emissions by 2030,
it will be too late and the world will become a hellish dystopia. Climate
change is a real problem, but efforts to get rid of fossil fuels have largely
failed. Of the 195 signatories to the 2016 Paris Agreement, just 17 are
meeting their modest, self-assigned targets. Why? “Policies to cut carbon
are incredibly expensive.” The annual costs of promises in the Green
New Deal, for example, would total about $2 trillion, or about $6,
for every American. Activists think the only way to sell these costs “is
by scaring people silly”—but it’s not working. A new poll found that
nearly seven of every 10 Americans oppose spending just $120 each
a year to combat climate change. The only pragmatic way to address
climate change is to pour resources into energy research, to drive down
the price of existing renewables and create new energy technologies.
When the alternatives become “cheaper than coal and oil, everyone will
switch.” It is innovation, not hysteria, that will win this battle.“A contagion has been spreading through the House Republican cau-
cus,” said Matt Ford. In just the past two weeks, seven incumbents
have announced they wouldn’t run for re-election in 2020, making it 11
so far this year. The biggest blow came when Texas’ Will Hurd “joined
the exodus.” Often described as a future star within the party, Hurd—
the lone African-American Republican in the House—is a moderate
who represents a border district that is heavily Hispanic. In explaining
why he’s leaving, Hurd included a strong criticism of the GOP’s current
direction, saying, “Every American should feel they have a home in
our party.” Under President Trump, that is undeniably no longer true,
as he writes off people of color, educated women, and diverse suburbs
and seeks to appeal solely to rural, mostly working-class whites. More
House members are expected to retire; they are tired of having to turn
a blind eye to Trump’s divisive rhetoric and erratic behavior, and know
that if they don’t, they will be attacked and driven out of the party for
disloyalty. “This is not a sustainable dynamic.” As long as Trump’s
worldview dominates the GOP, the party will continue to shrink.McConnell
has earned
his nickname
Dana Milbank
The Washington Post
Why GOP
officials
are quitting
Matt Ford
NewRepublic.com
The realistic
solution to
climate change
Bjorn Lomborg
New York Post
“Social media shows us how many Americans believe that the other side is not
merely mistaken, or foolish, or merely wrong; the political opposition is malig-
nant and trying to destroy the country. Good politicians—both good as in good people and good as
in skilled politically— usually keep a healthy distance from any rhetoric that could stir up paranoia or
hostility toward other groups. Very rarely does anything good come from playing with this kind of
cultural nitroglycerin.” Jim Geraghty in NationalReview.comViewpoint