PROFILE
FROM Cameron McWhirter
Democrats and the lessons of a losing campaign If Jon Ossoff had won yesterday in the Atlanta suburbs, his campaign would have provided a blueprint for other Democrats to challenge the GOP, but he lost — after the most expensive Congressional race in history. The political novice, surprised a lot of contributors by taking a moderate tone. His opponent, veteran Republican Sharon Handel's message was tough as nails. So, was his typically centrist campaign a blueprint for failure? It's the fourth special-election defeat for Democrats with an unpopular Republican in the White House; many anti-Trump activists around the country are angry. They're tired of waiting for the National Party to do “something right” — and they're organizing on their own at the state and local level.
Another Mass Shooting in a Divided Country In Chattanooga today, a Marine general and a Navy admiral remembered the four Marines and one sailor killed by a Muslim gunman last week as "heroes." The FBI has 250 agents on the scene and others running down some 400 leads around the world. The shooter is being regarded as "a homegrown violent extremist, who acted on his own… with nobody assisting him on that day." When a self-described white supremacist gunned down nine black people in a Charleston church, official national mourning began immediately. When a young Muslim man killed four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, it took the President five days to lower the flags on government buildings. Military supporters are angry, calling it evidence of estrangement between the armed services and a society that takes them for granted. Call it "terrorism" or "an act of war," they expect more such incidents to come. What's the likely impact on a rapidly changing South?
Ex-Educators Get Stiff Sentences in Atlanta Test Cheating Case In Atlanta today, eight of 10 former public school educators were sentenced to jail in a widespread conspiracy to inflate student scores on standardized tests. Judge Jerry Baxter of the Fulton County Superior Court called the case, "the sickest thing that's ever happened in this town." Cameron McWhirter is based in Atlanta for the Wall Street Journal .
Recommended
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?