The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal’s “Best of the Web” at The Wall Street Journal written by the editor, James Taranto.
Infuriated Columbians
From DCist.com’s Rachel Sadon:
Infuriating tally of the day: D.C. residents paid the federal government $26.4 billion in taxes in 2014, while receiving $3.5 billion in return (not including matching funds that all states receive), without full Congressional representation.
Sadon complains that $26.4 billion is more than the total from 22 other states, although the district is less populous than any state except Vermont and Wyoming.
Seems to us, however, that it’s we who live outside the Capital Beltway who should be infuriated that district residents earn such high incomes.
That Makes It Unanimous
“Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin Didn’t Want to See the New Documentary About His Campaign”—headline, Washington Post website, April 26
Bottom Story of the Day
“George W. Bush Said to Be Not Commenting on Trump Victory”—headline, Associated Press, May 5
Mourning in America
Last night the latest missive from Hillary Clinton’s campaign popped into our inbox. Signed by deputy communications director Christina Reynolds, here’s how it starts:
Friend—
Last night, Donald Trump effectively locked up the Republican nomination for president.
When I imagine him in the White House, I’m disgusted. Not just because of the policies he’d enact – a ban on Muslims entering the country, punishment for women who get abortions, a wall on the border in Mexico – but also because I try and imagine him doing the more symbolic, but often just as powerful, parts of the president’s job.
I just can’t imagine him mourning with the country after a mass shooting, or comforting us after a natural disaster. There is no version of Trump we’ve seen that would ever encourage a little girl to dream bigger. He’d never feel like it’s on him to demonstrate to kids that learning can be cool.
That last paragraph is strange all the way through, but especially the first sentence. Mrs. Clinton thinks that “mourning with the country after a mass shooting” is a normal part of the presidency – as if mass shootings are a normal occurrence?
Further, even if we accept the premise, isn’t this about the easiest thing to imagine Trump doing well? Whatever his shortcomings – real, exaggerated and imagined – we’ve never heard a lack of emotional openness and honesty mentioned among them.
For more “Best of the Web” from The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto click here.
