12 NEWS Best columns: The U.S.
Neel^ Veterin
aryHospitalQAn Arizona teen allegedly
faked his own kidnapping
to get a day off from work.
Brandon Soules, 19, stuffed
a bandanna into his mouth,
tied his hands behind his
back, and then threw himself
into a ditch on the side of the
road, police said. When cops
responded to an emergency
call, Soules allegedly told
them two masked men had
hit him on the head and
dumped him by the road.
But police say that when a
surveillance video revealed
his story to be false, he
confessed that he was trying
to get a day off from his job
at a tire shop, which has now
fired him.Q A dog that was born in
Okla homa with six legs and
two tails is said to be “thriv-
ing.” Skipper, a border collie
and Aus tra lian shepherd mix,
also came into the world
with two pelvic regions, two
lower urinary tracts, and
two reproductive systems.
“She is a strong girl!” said
Dr. Tina Neel, who owns the
veterinary hospital where
Skipper was born. “This is a
miracle.” The vet added that
her patient can “scoot around
just like a regular puppy.”
QA Kentucky woman says
she regrets getting a tattoo
reading “courageously & rad-
ically refuse to wear a mask”
last March 4—two days
before her state declared its
first case of Covid-19. Leah
Holland, 25, said she meant
“mask” as a false front at the
time, and wanted to stress
the importance of “being
true to yourself and real.” In
a post about “the dumbest
tattoo you’ve ever gotten,” a
rueful Holland said, “I’m not
anti-mask, I promise.”It must be true...
I read it in the tabloidsTo see how “woke” culture has transformed American universities,
said Bret Stephens, consider a recent incident at Smith College. Student
Oumou Kanoute was eating lunch in an empty dorm lounge when
campus security told her to leave. Kanoute alleged racism, saying in
a Facebook post that started a national firestorm, “All I did was be
black.” A white janitor she blamed for summoning security was put on
leave, the university president issued profuse apologies, and the college
required staff to take anti- racism training. But as a story in the Times
detailed last week, “the narrative of racist harassment of a minority
student at an elitist white institution turned out to be comprehensively
false.” Kanoute had gone into a dorm that was closed for the sum-
mer, and security had been told to tell all unauthorized people to leave.
Nonetheless, anti-racism consultants hired by Smith pressed all white
employees to confess their bigotry and asked them intrusive questions
about their parents’ racial attitudes. One administrator quit in protest.
Why have racial tensions boiled over at so many of the nation’s liberal
arts colleges? When students are steeped in “critical race theory” and
“microaggressions,” it’s not surprising they see racism everywhere.Postmaster General Louis DeJoy wants to slow down the mail and raise
rates, said Paul Waldman. Summoned to a hearing by a congressional
committee last week, DeJoy—a political appointee of President Trump—
was defiant about these goals, saying, “Get used to me.” That same day,
President Joe Biden appointed three new members to the postal Board
of Governors, giving Democrats a majority. DeJoy should be fired “at
the first available opportunity.” DeJoy was given the postal job after he
donated millions to Trump and Republicans, despite a history of “abu-
sive practices” at his supply-chain business. To reduce the USPS’s losses,
DeJoy immediately ordered cost- cutting measures, which resulted in
massive delivery delays during the holidays. He has a new plan to slow
down first-class mail even further while jacking up rates. The postal
service is a widely beloved agency, delivering vital prescriptions, bills and
checks, and periodicals to even the most rural parts of the country. It
needs reform, particularly regarding its obligation to pre-fund pensions,
but DeJoy is such a belligerent, “polarizing figure” that he can’t provide
credible leadership. As soon as possible, he should be sent packing.After a record turnout in the 2020 election, Republican- controlled states
“are taking their voter- suppression efforts to new extremes,” said Ari
Berman. Georgia, which gave Joe Biden a narrow victory and elected
two Democratic senators, “is ground zero” for new voting restrictions.
The state legislature is promoting bills to end no-excuse absentee ballot-
ing, limiting such ballots to people over 65 and requiring voters to get
the signature of a witness and attach a copy of a photo ID. Another bill
would cut back on Sunday voting, in an obvious attempt to limit black
turnout through the “Souls to the Polls” voting drives held by black
churches. Until this year, Georgia Republicans supported and expanded
mail-in balloting, because it helped older and rural voters. But during
the pandemic, many Democrats used mail-in ballots, leading to Donald
Trump’s Big Lie about widespread fraud. (Every ballot in Georgia was
recounted by hand.) At latest count, Republicans have introduced 253
bills to restrict voting access in 43 states, justifying these anti- democratic
restrictions by saying their supporters don’t “trust” elections. If Demo-
crats do not enact a proposed federal voting-rights bill to safeguard ac-
cess to the ballot, “the consequences for democracy” will be dire.When every
white person
is a racist
Bret Stephens
The New York Times
The GOP’s
campaign to
restrict voting
Ari Berman
MotherJones.com
Postmaster
DeJoy
must go
Paul Waldman
The Washington Post
“When the polio vaccine was declared safe and effective, the news was met
with jubilant celebration. Church bells rang across the nation, and factories
blew their whistles. ‘Polio routed!’ newspaper headlines exclaimed. ‘A historic victory,’ ‘monumen-
tal,’ ‘sensational,’ newscasters declared. People erupted with joy across the United States. Some
danced in the streets; others wept. One might have expected the initial approval of the coronavirus
vaccines to spark similar jubilation— especially after a brutal pandemic year. But that didn’t hap-
pen. Neither the reporting nor the public-health messaging has reflected the truly amazing reality of
these vaccines.” Zeynep Tufekci in TheAtlantic.comViewpoint