"Who is worse? An anti-vaccination crusader or a climate change denier?" is a good conversation for America to have.
— @LOLGOP
In (dis)honor of Jenny McCarthy/TheView, I posted "Jenny McCarthy's Mommy Instinct" from Panic Virus. 1st of 4 parts:
http://t.co/...
— @sethmnookin
CJR:
There is no perfect way to cover [Jenny] McCarthy’s hiring, of course, but giving “balanced” coverage to fringe beliefs is the worst approach to covering misinformation. Indeed, CJR’s Curtis Brainard argued that this sort of reporting has helped keep the vaccine/autism myth alive long after the scientific debate has been settled.
If McCarthy is allowed to discuss health issues on the show when she starts in September, these sorts of problems will only get worse. Bill Nye “the Science Guy” told the Huffington Post that he hopes the show will “promote this conflict, or at least vigorous disagreement, about the role of science in medicine” because he “believe[s] Ms. McCarthy’s views will be discredited.” But the reality is that misinformation is extremely difficult to counter with facts alone. That’s why it was laudable that the Chicago Sun-Times stated that McCarthy would “not be writing about vaccines or giving medical advice” in her advice column for the paper. Will ABC do the same? Or will the network and View co-host Barbara Walters sit by while McCarthy misleads millions of Americans, including many young women, about a medical issue that could cost children their lives?
An extraordinary gun safety essay on
Sandy Hook Promise from
Brookings:
For the first time in the modern history of the debate, a gun safety vote has had a negative impact on the approval rating of Senators voting "no"... and a positive impact on red-state senators voting "yes"
This is a long but compelling essay that could serve as a primer on the modern gun safety movement. As for Connecticut:
More politics and policy below the fold.
Denver Post:
Denver residents rarely use guns for protection in home invasions
Nice, balanced article. even quotes Art Kellermann, who knows something about the topic!
It's been highlighted before, but this is a brilliant must read piece by
Gene Robinson:
Justice failed Trayvon Martin the night he was killed. We should be appalled and outraged, but perhaps not surprised, that it failed him again Saturday night, with a verdict setting his killer free.
Our society considers young black men to be dangerous, interchangeable, expendable, guilty until proven innocent. This is the conversation about race that we desperately need to have — but probably, as in the past, will try our best to avoid.
Greg Sargent:
McCain’s negotiation with Dems to circumvent GOP opposition to Obama nominations — their filibustering of nominations for the explicit purpose of nullifying existing government agencies — will raise hopes among Dems that there is a growing bloc within the Senate that is prepared to challenge the leadership’s hostility to basic governing. The filibuster remains, but by standing firm and laying down a clear marker, Democrats showed that GOP unity in this regard can, indeed, be cracked.
I think this is right and the commentary about losing—because the filibuster remains—is wrong. Important boundaries have been set, including limits to what obstructionism in order to prevent governance can accomplish in the Senate (different rules, alas, in the House.) But there is no rule that judicial or legislative filibusters cannot be challenged by Democrats.
Michael Tomasky:
Reid Crushes McConnell
I pondered the above headline; maybe too strong. But Senate life presents so few opportunities to write a headline that fun, and this is one of them, so I'm doing it.
WaPo:
Liz Cheney, the eldest daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, will challenge Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) in 2014, she announced Tuesday, the same day Enzi announced his plans to run for reelection.
“Today, I am launching my candidacy for the United States Senate,” Cheney said in a nearly six-minute video.
That's because she couldn't win in VA where she really lives.
Speaking of winners:
As [closer Mariano] Rivera trotted in from the bullpen and began taking his warm-ups, his teammates remained in the dugout instead of taking the field, waving their caps and cheering along with the fans. Rivera, who usually comes on in the ninth, stood alone on the mound and saluted both dugouts and everyone in the stands.
“When I got to the mound, I see both sides, both teams in the dugout, and it was amazing,” he said. “It almost made me cry, too. I was close. It was amazing, a scene that I will never forget.”
Rivera rewarded his teammates with a 1-2-3 inning. Even Mets fans stood and cheered when he was done. It was his ninth appearance in an All-Star Game, and he has never allowed an earned run.