The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

(Antfer) #1

16 NEWS Best of the American columnists


17 July 2021 THE WEEK

Trump’s war

on Twitter

and Facebook

David Corn

Mother Jones

DonaldTrump ison thewarpath,saysDavidCorn. The formerpresidentrevealed last weekthat he
issuingFacebook,Google(which ownsYouTube)andTwitterfor violatinghisFirst Amendment
right tofreespeech. Heisdemandingtherestorationofhissocialmediaaccounts,whichwere
suspendedwhenhe used themto spreadliesaboutthe2020election, alongwithpunitivedamages.
Theannouncement caused quiteasplash, butfewexpecthislawsuit toget anywhere.Private
companies aren’t boundbytheFirst Amendment, and legalexpertsbelievethecourts willhave little
time for Trump’scontentionthatthe tech companies shouldbe regarded asdefactogovernment
entities.Not that this willbother theformer president much.Hisrealobjective hereisjustto whip
up the“paranoiaof hispoliticalbase”,andraisesomecash. Assoonas hislawyers filed the suit,
atextmessagewentouttohissupporters tappingthem for donationsto helphim wagewaron
“UNFAIRCENSORSHIP”.Theseappealsare alucrative revenuestreamforTrump: inthemonths
after theNovemberelection,hecollectedmorethan$100min suchcontributions.Thecase isn’t
aboutjustice. “It’s aboutfearand money–the twothingsthat makeTrump’sworld goaround.”

How to turn

the vaccine

doubters

Marc A. Thiessen

The Washington Post

PresidentBidenmissed histargetofgetting avaccine shot inthearmof70%of Americanadultsby
IndependenceDay,saysMarcA.Thiessen.Thesharewas belowthat acrossthenationasawhole
–andalotlowerinRepublican-voting states, wherelevels ofvaccine-hesitancyremain high.While
just 6%ofDemocratssaythey’reunlikelyto getjabbed,fully47% ofRepublicans saytheyprobably
or definitelywon’t.IfBidenwants tochange this,“there’sasimplewaytodoso: giveDonaldTrump
thecredithe deservesforthevaccines”.Itwas Trumpwho gotthisprogrammeoff theground by
investing $10bn in vaccinedevelopment, clearing away regulatoryhurdles andcontra cting to buy at
least800 million doseswith delivery by 31 July–enoughtovaccinateevery singleAmerican. Biden
refuses to admit this. He has claimed, falsely,thatTrump didn’t order enough vaccines,andthat the
Democrats were jointlyresponsiblefor theirdevelopment. He hasinvitedother formerpresidentsto
record pro-vaccinepublic service adverts, but not Trump,the oneperso nanti-v axxers mightactually
listen to.It’sapettyresponsefromsomeonewhopromisedanewera ofbipartisanship.Bide n’s
messagetothese peopleshou ld be:“If yo utrustTrump,get your Trump vaccine.”

The world’srichestman,Jeff Bezos, is settoblastoff to the edgeof space nextweek, saysShannon
Stirone.He won’tbe thefirstbillionaire to doso –RichardBranson madethesame trip last
weekend. And he’s unlikelyto be the last,given Tesla boss ElonMusk’s well-publicisedspace travel
ambitions.It mustall bevery thrilling for these“uber-rich rocket owners”, buthavethey ever
stoppedto think abouthowtheir anticslooktothe rest ofus?The timing of thesespaceflights could
hardly beworse. In theUSinparticular,the“climatecrisisisnow actuallystartingtofeellikea
crisis”.Bezos’s hometown of Seattlehas beenstruggling with record-high temperatures. Hurricane
seasonhasbegun early, andaonce-in-200-years flood has just ravagednorthernMississippi. Then
there’sthe smal lmatter of the globalpandemic thatisstillraging.Ist his really the moment for
plutocrats to be engaging inavainglorious spacerace? Tobe fair, Bezos haspledged to spend $10bn
on tacklingclimatechange.And perhapsthe experienceof looking downonour fragileplanet from
62 milesup will inspirethe bossofAmazon to doeven more.Still,there’s nogett ing round the fact
that this displayof billionaires’ rocket-fuelled one-upmanshipfeels“gross”.

This is not a

good time to

leave Earth

Shannon Stirone

The Atlantic

“It’stheabruptness–thesuddenness
–thatappals,”saidLeonardPittsJr.
intheMiamiHerald.At1. 23 amon
24 June,mostoftheresidentsof
ChamplainTowersSouthinSurfside,
MiamiBeach,wouldhavebeenfast
asleep.Andthen,bang,partofthe
12-storeyapartmentcomplexsheared
off,buryingmorethan 100 people.
Sincethen,ithasbecome“atragedy
inslowmotion”.Therescueeffort
hasturnedintoalaboriousrecovery
effort;thedeathtolliscreepingup,
slowlybutinexorably.Theauthorities
arepleadingforpatienceasthey
investigatethecauseofthedisaster,
but“thesearchforanswersisnotmovingnearlyfastenoughto
keeppacewiththeall-too-humanneedtoknow”.

Intheabsenceofadefinitiveexplanation,peoplehavepushed
theirownpartisannarratives,saidJimGeraghtyinNational
Review.Thecollapseisdownto“deregulation”,theyclaim,or
toclimatechange.Allwecanreallysayatthisstage,however,
isthattheearlyevidencepoints toafailure atornearthebase
ofthe tower,possiblyexacerbated bytremorsfromnearby
buildingwork. In 2 018,anengineerreported “abundant”
crackinginthecolumns,beamsandwallsofthe underground

garagebeneaththecomplex.Wecan’t
blamea“greedylandlord”forfailing
toactonthatreport,saidMegan
McArdleinTheWashingtonPost.
Itwastheresidents’associationthat
resistedmakingthecostlyrepairs.But
thatdoesn’tmeanthey’retoblame
either.Althoughthe 2018 report
“nowreadsasahorrifyingprophecy”,
expertssayitsfindingswerefairly
typicalandnotanobviousredflag.

Buildi ngstandardsarenotalwaysup
toscratchinFlorida,saidAmy
DavidsonSorkininTheNewYorker,
butwemaybenearingapointinthe
southofthestatewhereeventhebest-constructedbuildingsare
underthreat.Acoastalcitybuiltonporouslimestone,Miamiis
“besetnotonlybyrisingsealevelsbutalsobywaterseepingin
frombelow”.Intensehurricaneshavebecomemorefrequent.
Thecombinationofclimatechangeandinfrastructuredecay
posesachallengetoFlorida–andtotheUSasawhole.In
March,theAmericanSocietyofCivilEngineersissuedits
quadrennialreport onthestate ofUSinfrastructure,andgave
it aC-minus.It identifiedmorethan46,000“structurally
deficient”bridges. Wemaynotknowyetwhythe Surfside
towerfelldown,“butweknowthatothers will”.

At least 95 peopleare confirmed to have died

TheMiamitower collapse: atragedy in slow motion
Free download pdf