America as Pill Bug

Breaking News

August 8, 2013

Good morning,

American embassies in the Middle East are still closed, and will be through at least this weekend. Although this security precaution aims to keep Americans abroad safe, especially after what happened nearly a year ago in Benghazi, is this a sound response to terrorism in the long run? Victor Davis Hanson and Cliff May look at the consequences in which the United States clams up around the world.

Obamacare: the word that instills anger and outrage (and rightly so). To date, Republicans have been on the public's side of the Affordable Care Act debate, but could an attempt to defund Obamacare this fall undermine their chances to fully repeal the law in 2014? Jonah Goldberg examines the possible outcomes.

Speaking of words . . .

"Inconceivable!"

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

In the most recent issue of NR, Kevin Williamson looks at the word "inappropriate" and how it's become a synonym for evil — when there are plenty of other words more suitable to describe evil deeds.

And in case you missed it, over at the Corner, John O'Sullivan has an update from the cruise and Mark Steyn looks at the media palpitations over the sale of the Washington Post.

We now turn the morning news over to Jim, with his third reason to love modern politics.

Something Worth Loving About Washington, Part Three: A Literate City

Washington, D.C., for all of its other flaws, reads a lot:

For the third year in a row, Washington, D.C., is "America's most literate city," according to an annual statistical study ranking 75 cities, released Thursday.

The study, conducted by Central Connecticut State University president John Miller, is based on data that includes the number of bookstores, library resources, newspaper circulation, Internet resources and educational levels.

Miller says the study is aimed at shifting attention from school test scores on reading "to how much people are reading, and where are they reading the most."

In a digital age, the survey expands the definition of reading by counting online book orders, e-book readers and page views on local newspaper websites.

It's very reassuring, in our era of video-on-demand, that people still read, and talk about what they read. In fact, in this city, not only does almost everyone you know read books; almost everyone you know is writing a book or has written a book.

Of course, being bookworms, maybe we're not the most wild and crazy party animals you'll encounter. Washington, D.C., isn't much of a dancing town — or so I hear; I'm one of those clumsy guys who only dances when Mrs. CampaignSpot requests it. It is a drinking town, and I would bet it has one of the highest rates of high-functioning alcoholism in the country. It has plenty of garden-variety alcoholism, too: "Adults in Washington D.C. abuse alcohol more than anyone else in the country. According to a new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 8.1 percent of adults age 26 or older in D.C. are alcohol dependent." So there's that, too.

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