Mass Shootings Are Terrorism
Plus, the latest polling on abortion.
Recently at The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: Cautionary Pundit Tales
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CHRIS TRUAX: Forget Abortion—Democrats Should Be Messaging About Birth Control.
I’m aware that Democrats often get annoyed when Never Trump conservatives like me give them political advice. But with only four months until the midterms, Republicans are still in thrall to their wacky fringe. Not only is keeping the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kevin McCarthy, and Lauren Boebert away from the levers of power safer for the country, we can always hope that a few more years in the electoral wilderness will bring at least some Republicans to their senses and help turn the GOP back into a rational, reasonable political party capable of sober government.
So here is a piece of advice for Democrats that, might—if they can muster the discipline to follow it—pull their chestnuts out of the fire and help them hold onto the House: Don’t talk about abortion.
WILLIAM SALETAN: Here’s What the Latest Polls Tell Us About Abortion and the 2022 Midterms.
In the months leading up to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, polls indicated that if the Court were to overrule Roe v. Wade, the resurgent abortion issue would probably help Democrats in the midterms.
November is still months away, and the early evidence from special elections is hazy. But in public opinion research, the impact is clear: Every poll taken since Dobbs shows a significant boost for Democrats.
Here’s an overview of the evidence so far.
Boris Johnson is a charming and self-indulgent character, but fundamentally not sinister — he didn’t attack the British constitutional order. Plus, the Fulton County investigation of Trump, and how Dobbs is like Prohibition. David Frum joins Charlie Sykes today.
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ADDISON DEL MASTRO: The Happiness of Minor Inconveniences.
Back in April, I took a drive west on U.S. 29 out to Gainesville, Virginia. It’s an area that was rural until quite recently, but it is now quickly becoming exurban thanks to both a major expansion of Interstate 66, which links Gainesville to Washington, D.C., and skyrocketing prices in communities closer to the capital.
I was there to explore a recent mixed-use development, but on my way home, I stopped at a Wegmans along the highway to get some groceries. When I went to the self-checkout, I noticed plastic grocery bags sitting there, waiting to be filled up. In confusion, I looked around furtively—I didn’t see anywhere on the terminal to pay for bags—but then remembered I was no longer in Fairfax County, which placed a five-cent tax on plastic grocery bags earlier this year. The extra charge has prompted many retailers to retire them.
I felt a little rush of enthusiasm similar to that feeling in college of waking up to an email that your morning class is canceled. I didn’t have to feel that frustration in the checkout line that comes on every time I forget my reusable bags in the car and face the inevitable choice: Get literally nickel and dimed for a bag, or attempt to carry the groceries out in an unwieldy freehand jumble. If the price of gas weren’t so high, I’d do all my shopping in the free county of Prince William!
Or would I?
MONA CHAREN: Mass Shootings Are Terrorism.
In a sense, the mass murder at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, was a symbol of how badly off track our country has gotten. Amid the bunting and marching bands and families on lawn chairs, a disturbed idiot with a powerful rifle fired randomly at grandfathers, children, and couples holding hands. Blood, bones, eyeballs, and guts spilled onto the pavement alongside dropped thermoses and American flags. A two-year-old was found, covered in blood, wandering alone. Both of his parents were dead. When his grandfather picked Aiden up at the hospital, the boy asked, “Are Mommy and Daddy coming soon?”
Mass shootings in public places are different from ordinary violence. I wish I had a dime for every time some Republican has complained that “the media” don’t pay enough attention to shootings in Chicago and Detroit that happen on a regular basis. All murders are horrific of course, but the right is making a mistake if it tries to say that these mass shootings are a drop in the bucket when compared with the overall levels of violence that plague this country, or when they object that suicides actually account for 54 percent of gun deaths. Those deaths are indeed horrific, which is all the more reason to bring a sense of urgency to reducing them. It’s sophistry to simply cite those statistics to wave away the epidemic of mass shootings.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Happy Thursday! I lived to tell the tale of my survival assembling two branded Huffy bikes. Next time, I’m just going to REI. Whoever designs these bikes is a sadist.
Trump bailed… On Truth social, removing himself from the board.
The most pathetic men in America… Mark Leibovich has this report.
Ask Tim Anything! Check out NYT best selling author Tim Miller’s Reddit AMA.
Why civil wars happen… Our friends at Connors Forum take a deep dive.
Herschel Walker is lying to his campaign staff… Allegedly. The Daily Beast reports.
Meet Richard Fritz… America’s most unelectable elected official.
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