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The main stories... 2 news
What happened
Political moderation was the big winner in
off-year elections this week, as Democrat Terry
McAuliffe narrowly defeated a Tea Party con-
servative to become governor of Virginia, and
New Jersey’s moderate Republican Gov. Chris
Christie was re-elected in a landslide. McAuliffe
beat Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in Vir-
ginia by just 3 points, in a race that was widely
seen as a national bellwether. Cuccinelli ran a
deeply conservative campaign, condemning im-
migration reform and Obamacare, and pledg-
ing to restrict access to abortions. McAuliffe, a
former business executive and ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton, out-
spent Cuccinelli by as much as 10–1, and positioned himself as a
“business-friendly” pragmatist who could work with Republicans.
Cuccinelli credited his comeback from double-digit deficits in the
polls to a voter backlash against President Obama. “Despite being
outspent by an unprecedented $15 million, this race came down to
the wire because of Obamacare,” he said. In an Alabama congres-
sional primary, state Sen. Bradley Byrne—the choice of establish-
ment Republicans—defeated Tea Party challenger Dean Young.
Christie’s huge, 22-point victory in New Jersey installed him as the
Republican to beat in the 2016 presidential primaries (see page 4).
Across the Hudson River, Bill de Blasio was elected the first Demo-
cratic mayor of New York City in 20 years, defeating Republican
candidate Joe Lhota with a defiantly progressive platform. De
Blasio built his campaign on a “tale of two cities,” saying he
wanted to narrow the gap between the city’s wealthy elites and the
46 percent of New Yorkers near or below the poverty line.
What the editorials said
These results “hold important lessons for the GOP,” said USA
Today. The party might easily have won in Virginia without an
outspoken extremist like Cuccinelli on the ballot. This “longtime
culture warrior” alienated female and moderate voters with hard-
line policies such as personhood laws that would have banned
abortion and some kinds of contraception, and a push to restore
the state’s ban on sodomy. The message to Republicans who wish
to become a majority party again is clear: “Stop nominating candi-
dates who are far out of the political mainstream.”
Christie may be the “new hero of main-
stream Republican conservatives,” said The
Washington Post. But Bill de Blasio has be-
come the standard-bearer for the Democratic
left, embodying the liberal anger at President
Obama’s failure to address income inequality
and stand up for the 99 percent. De Blasio’s
challenge “now goes from electioneering to
governing,” said the New York Post, and
there’s little to be optimistic about. Progressive
mayors overspent and overtaxed this city into
an economic morass in the 1970s and ’80s
and let criminals run amok. De Blasio will
erase 20 years of progress if he follows that same course.
What the columnists said
Democrats have little reason to celebrate, said Jonathan s. Tobin
in CommentaryMagazine.com. Yes, the government shutdown en-
gineered by the Tea Party put Cuccinelli in a deep hole. But even in
“purple” Virginia, growing voter anger over the various betrayals
in Obamacare “wound up turning a rout into a narrow election.”
Cuccinelli lost for a simple reason, said Dahlia Lithwick in Slate
.com. As an activist attorney general, he tried to impose on all
Virginians “a social and religious code” that was “extreme, hate-
ful, and intrusive.” He opposed abortion even for rape and incest
victims, advocated transvaginal ultrasounds to intimidate women
seeking abortions, and insisted on abstinence-only sex educa-
tion. Female voters swung for McAuliffe by 14 points, sending a
message to all would-be conservative lawmakers that attempts to
control women will be “met with a ‘no.’” Just do the math, said
Jennifer Rubin in WashingtonPost.com. In a country in which
just 35 percent of voters identify as conservatives, “a center-right
candidate is going to do a lot better than a far-right candidate.’’
Still, it’s an ominous sign for Democrats that McAuliffe barely
won, said nate Cohn in NewRepublic.com. He was running under
“all but ideal conditions,” with a vast money advantage in a state
where many federal government workers are still fuming over the
Republican shutdown. If Democrats struggle to beat a seriously
flawed candidate like Cuccinelli, Republicans should be “feeling
relatively confident heading into 2014.”
THE WEEK November 15, 2013
A bad election Day for the Tea Party
On the cover: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Illustration by Howard McWilliam.
Cover photos from Corbis, Getty, Reuters
McAuliffe: A narrow victory
■■ A girl with a condition that causes baldness has over-
come the trauma of losing her hair at age 12 and won
a beauty pageant. Angelica Galindez, 19, applied for the
Miss Philippines Earth pageant with a picture of herself
in a wig, but got the organizers’ approval to compete
without it and embrace her natural look. The teenager,
who has alopecia
areata, won one
of six crowns and
will now travel to
the Philippines for
the contest’s next
round. “If you have
confidence, and the
judges see that, then
that’s more beautiful
than anything else,”
she said.
■■ A midair collision between two
planes packed with skydivers over
Superior, Wis., had a miraculous
outcome this week, as all passen-
gers and pilots survived the fiery
crash with barely a scratch. Four
daredevils were thrown from the
first plane when it hit the other
aircraft, breaking into pieces and
catching fire. The second plane went
into a steep dive, but five jumpers
were able to exit. All nine skydivers
landed safely, and the first plane’s
pilot escaped using an emergency
parachute. The other was able to
land his damaged plane unhurt.
“We were all very, very lucky,” said
jumper Michael Robinson.
■■ When local Fox reporter John
Charlton discovered a water-
logged home video in Fairfield,
Conn., last year in the aftermath of
Hurricane Sandy, he vowed to find
its original owner. The newscaster
had the footage cleaned up and
transferred to DVD, then showed
some of it on air in the hope that
someone would recognize the im-
ages. Within a day, John McKean
called in to the studio to say it
was his. “The sentimental value is
huge,” said McKean, who lost his
house in the storm. “For it to come
back like that, it’s just amazing.”
It wasn’t all bad
Galindez wears the crown.
WorldMags.netWorldMags.net
WorldMags.net
... and how they were covered
THE WEEK November 15, 2013
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A
P
What makes human beings the most successful of all earthly crea-
tures? Earlier this year a book advanced the theory that it’s our sin-
gular ability to deny reality when it’s staring us in the face. Ajit Varki
and Danny Brower argued that consciousness brings no evolutionary advantage if it awakens us
to the depressing fact that we’re doomed to die. The frst person to have that “all-encompassing,
persistent, terror-flled realization,” they wrote, would likely lose out in the struggle to fnd a mate
and pass on his or her genes. So unlike self-aware chimpanzees, dolphins, and orcas, said the
authors of Denial: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind, humans
developed “neural mechanisms for denying reality.” That’s why we’re running the show on this
planet, but it’s also why we eat in ways we know will kill us and keep spewing out enough carbon
to cause the seas to rise.
This intriguing theory came to mind this week, thanks to the lavish feast of denial laid out by
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (see page 13). After months of insisting he didn’t use drugs, Ford fnally
admitted that he had smoked crack cocaine in “one of my drunken stupors.” He said he would
rein in his excessive drinking in public, while insisting that he’s no alcoholic and will keep right
on drinking in his basement. His half-defant explanation—“I’m only human”—may be cause for
some sympathy. But it’s a poor excuse for chronic misbehaving. As Varki and Brower wrote, “It is
only by understanding reality denial as an enemy within that we might be able to overcome it.” To
Ford and the rest of us reality-deniers, I say good luck with that.
THE WEEK
The CIA’s drone program claimed one of its highest-profile
scalps last week when the leader of the Pakistani Taliban,
Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed by a missile strike in the
country’s lawless northwest tribal area. Vowing to avenge
their leader’s death, the Taliban said, “Every drop of Ha-
kimullah’s blood will turn into a suicide bomber.” The
CIA had been hunting the Islamist extremist since 2009,
when he orchestrated a suicide bombing in Afghanistan
that killed seven of the agency’s employees. Although
the Pakistani Taliban and their allies are estimated
to have killed more than 17,800 civilians and almost
5,500 security personnel in Pakistan since 2003, the
country’s government condemned the drone strike as
sabotage, saying the U.S. wanted to “murder” forthcoming peace
talks with the militant group.
A major threat to the U.S. has been eliminated, said The Wall
Street Journal in an editorial. Mehsud was the brains behind
the failed 2010 plot to detonate a car bomb in New York City’s
Times Square, which could have killed and maimed hundreds.
Pakistan may protest that we violated its security. But so long as it
“allows terrorist enclaves on its soil, the U.S. has every right
under the rules of war to use drones to protect Americans.”
Mehsud was a cruel and effective terrorist leader, said
samira shackle in TheGuardian.com. But his death will
make little difference to the militants’ bloody cam-
paign. Mehsud took over the group in 2009 when his
predecessor was killed in a drone strike, and already
the Taliban is moving to appoint a new boss. Which
raises the question: “What hope is there for peace?”
Not much, said Paul shinkman in USNews.com.
A negotiated settlement is unlikely, since the Tali-
ban are demanding the implementation of brutal sharia across the
nation. Pakistan’s government, which privately supports drone
strikes, won’t launch a ground offensive to root out the Taliban
from their mountainous hideout, out of fear of killing huge num-
bers of civilians. For combating these fanatical jihadists, U.S.
drones are still “the only tool in the toolbox.”
A bill banning workplace discrimination on the basis of sex-
ual orientation or gender identity cleared a hurdle in the Senate
this week, but Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) may block the
proposal by refusing to let it come up for a vote by the House.
Seven Republicans joined with Senate Democrats to overcome
a filibuster against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
(ENDA), which would bar employers from firing, refusing to
hire, or discriminating against workers based on their being les-
bian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The bill was last on the floor
in 1996, when it failed to pass by just one vote. The crucial vote
this week came from Nevada Republican Dean Heller, who said,
“Discrimination must not be tolerated under any circumstance.”
But as the bill advanced toward final passage, Boehner suggested
an up-or-down vote was unlikely in the House. “The speaker be-
lieves this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost
American jobs,” said his spokesman.
House Republicans should listen to their constituents, said Zoë
Carpenter in The Nation. Nearly three quarters of Americans
support ENDA—including most GOP supporters. In fact, 80
percent of those polled said they thought such workplace protec-
tions were already in place. How wrong they are: Half the states
still offer no legal protection for LGBT workers, who are regu-
larly discriminated against, “from earning less than their straight
colleagues to being fired based on their sexual orientation.”
It’s perfectly fine to ban discrimination based on objective
grounds, like “race, religion, sex, or national origin,” said Ralph
Reed in USAToday.com. But expecting employers to adhere to
“an often fluid standard” regarding sexual orientation and gen-
der identity will only lead to endless litigation. Democrats only
pushed this flawed measure toward the House—where they
knew it would be “dead on arrival”—in order to make Republi-
cans look “intolerant.”
Actually, LGBT lawsuits are rare, said Marc Tracy in New
Republic.com. Connecticut has had a discrimination law since
1991, and only 53 of the 1,740 employment-based complaints
since then have dealt with sexual orientation. Of course, there’ll
always be the occasional person who tries to “sue disingenu-
ously.” But Americans have clearly decided to take that risk if it
helps us to create “a society that doesn’t unjustly discriminate.”
Drone takes out Taliban leader
Discrimination bill advances
Mehsud
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Controversy of the week4 news
Christie: why he’s already the GOP’s 2016 front-runner
After this week’s election, Republican insid-
ers agree on one thing, said Chris Cillizza in
WashingtonPost.com. New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie is the GOP’s “best—and maybe only—
hope to win back the White House in 2016.”
With the rest of the party roiled by ideological
infighting and suffering from new lows in popu-
larity in national opinion polls, the combative,
charismatic Christie cruised to re-election in a blue
Northeastern state, winning 60 percent of the
vote. No other candidate for the GOP nomination
can boast Christie’s level of cross-party appeal, least of all the
Tea Party–backed Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, his most likely
rivals. The exit-poll results make an emphatic case for a Christie
presidential bid, said John Avlon in TheDailyBeast.com. Though
his record is distinctly conservative, he won Hispanics by 6 per-
cent, independents by an eye-popping 31 percent, and women by
15 percent—against a female challenger. If Christie can do half as
well nationally, he could extricate the GOP from its “demographic
trap” and put a Republican back in the White House.
“Hold off on the coronation for now,” said Reid wilson in
WashingtonPost.com. The Republican establishment may love
Christie, but the conservative base dominates the primaries. To
hard-right, Tea Party supporters, Christie is suspiciously moder-
ate. This is a governor, after all, who signed a law banning gay
conversion therapy, signed 10 gun-control bills into law, dropped
his appeal of a court ruling legalizing gay marriage, supported free
tuition for illegal immigrants, and—most unforgivably of all—
publicly praised and hugged President Obama for his response to
Hurricane Sandy just days before the 2012 election. Christie’s bul-
lying, Tony Soprano–like personality won’t stand up to the pres-
sure of a national race, said Peter Keating in NYMag.com,
and neither will his record. Despite cutting corporate taxes
by $600 million a year and giving business $2 billion in tax
credits, Christie has failed to revive New Jersey’s economy,
with the state ranking 44th in the nation in job creation.
He’s played games with the state’s budget, too, defer-
ring pension obligations until he’s out of office,
and cutting aid to schools and municipalities.
Newark Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran calls
Christie “America’s most overrated governor.”
In the end, though, what will matter to Republicans is that
Christie shares their indignant rage, said Joel Mathis in
PhillyMag.com. In the final days of his gubernatorial campaign,
when any prudent politician would have been playing it safe,
Christie got in a shouting match with a middle-school teacher
who was protesting his education cuts. Jabbing his finger in her
face, he bellowed, “I’m tired of you people!” To conservatives
in the age of Obama, that refusal to take any guff is a badge of
authenticity—proof that Christie, like them, seethes with “good
old-fashioned resentment of pointy-headed liberals who think
they’re smarter or better or more compassionate than you.”
It’s worked in Democrat-heavy New Jersey, so why not in the
rest of the nation? asked David Harsanyi in TheFederalist.com.
Christie’s struggles with his weight, his explosions of temper, and
his willingness to shout “shut up” at reporters, union members,
and critics have actually endeared him to his constituents, even if
they don’t always agree with him. He seems real, with no patience
for the niceties of modern politics. Given the current level of
public disgust with politicians, Chris Christie “might not be what
conservatives want, but he may be what they need.”
Only in America
■■■ A Texas man was jailed for
failing to return a library book
he checked out in 2010. Cop-
peras Cove law allows police
to arrest anyone who has not
returned an overdue book
within 90 days. “Nobody
wants to get arrested over a
library book,” said Municipal
Court Judge Bill Price. “[But]
people that go to our library
and can’t have these materi-
als, they’re put out too.”
■■■ A student in a ninja Hal-
loween costume caused a
panicked lockdown at Central
Connecticut State University.
Senior David Kyem triggered
reports of an “armed”
intruder when he returned to
campus in his costume, with
a mask over his face and a
sword strapped to his back-
pack. The lockdown ended
after three hours, and Kyem
was arrested and charged
with breach of peace.
Boring but important
Anti-fracking initiatives
fare well in Colorado
Voters in three Colorado cities
passed initiatives against
fracking this week, pav-
ing the way for a statewide
referendum on the drilling
technique, which uses water
and chemicals to break open
dense rocks and extract oil
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