George Packer's Blog, page 222

Why Bernie Sanders Is Staying in the Race

With Donald Trump more or less wrapping up the Republican nomination on Tuesday night, the fact that Bernie Sanders also scored a big victory in Indiana was somewhat overlooked. The Vermont senator overcame a sizable deficit in the opinion polls to finish ahead of Hillary Clinton by almost seven percentage points in a heartland state that she carried in 2008. It was his biggest upset since he won in Michigan, in March.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Is the Alt-Right for Real?
Daily Cartoon: Thursday, May 5th
Bonus Daily Cartoon: Earth Reacts to Trump’s Victory

Shootout in Garamba

On April 29th, the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, addressed the inaugural meeting of the Giants Club Summit, a conference held near Mount Kenya that is devoted to combatting the accelerated destruction of Africa’s elephants. Soaring ivory prices have led to the slaughter of at least a hundred thousand elephants in recent years; perhaps only four hundred thousand African elephants remain. Scientists and conservationists are talking with increasing frequency about the possibility of extinction in the wild. “It is important to appreciate the wider dimension of the poaching of elephants,” Kenyatta told the gathering, which included several other African heads of state. “There is convincing evidence poaching is aided by international criminal syndicates. It fuels corruption. It undermines the rule of law and security. It even provides funding for other transnational crime.”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
On the Run in Burundi
Telling a Different Story About Africa
How Broadway Imagines Africa

The French Culture Wars Continue

A few weeks ago, Laurence Rossignol, France’s minister for families, children, and women’s rights, went on a morning talk show, where the host presented her with a series of advertisements for new apparel “adapted for Muslim traditions,” such as headscarves (foulards) and full-body bathing suits, or “burkinis.” The first image showed a young woman with a screen-printed silk scarf knotted around her head and neck, her lips in a pout tinted the same color as her oversized pale pink coat. The host asked for Rossignol’s opinion on European retailers, such as H & M and Dolce & Gabbana, that are cultivating a niche market in what they call “modest fashion.” Rossignol replied that it was irresponsible for companies to make and market such clothing, and that they share in a duty to help free Muslim women from cultural and religious pressures to cover their bodies. “Of course there are women who choose to wear the veil,” Rossignol said. “There were also American negroes who were for slavery.”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Carbonara Purists Can’t Stop the Pasta Revolution
A Movie that Captures France’s Dystopian Employment Situation
Afterlives: My Mother’s Breast Cancer, and My Own

Why Cruz, and the G.O.P., Lost to Trump

The day that ended with Donald Trump winning the Indiana primary and, effectively, the Republican Presidential nomination, and with Ted Cruz suspending his campaign, began with Trump calling in to “Fox and Friends” and talking about the Kennedy assassination. The Fox hosts played a video in which Cruz’s father, Rafael, who is a preacher, said, “I exhort every member of the body of Christ to vote according to the word of God,” by which he meant voting for Ted Cruz. Rafael added that “the alternative could be the destruction of America.” Trump said that he thought it was a disgrace that the elder Cruz was allowed to speak that way—“so many people are angry about it”—given that he had seen a picture of him with the man who killed President John F. Kennedy. The picture in question ran in the National Enquirer, and the tabloid’s identification of Rafael Cruz is utterly uncorroborated, a point that Fox’s Brian Kilmeade feebly tried to make as Trump continued speaking. “What was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death, before the shooting?” Trump said. “It’s horrible!”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Bonus Daily Cartoon: Earth Reacts to Trump’s Victory
Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, May 4th
Senate Officially Mourns Return of Ted Cruz

How Donald Trump Won the G.O.P. Nomination

Despite the best efforts of the Never Trump movement, it has been clear for some time that Donald Trump is destined to be the Republican candidate for President in 2016. His sweeping victory in New York, a couple of weeks ago, confirmed his popularity among the white suburban voters who make up the key voting bloc in the G.O.P. And his decisive win in Indiana, on Tuesday, more or less settled things. Ted Cruz, in suspending his candidacy, was only accepting the inevitable.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Bonus Daily Cartoon: Earth Reacts to Trump’s Victory
Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, May 4th
Senate Officially Mourns Return of Ted Cruz

The Supreme Court Gets Ready to Legalize Corruption

The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United marches like a zombie precedent, destroying all in its path. First the case turned the law of campaign finance into a useless corpse. Now it appears the law of political bribery is the next victim. Citizens United let rich people buy candidates; now they may be able to purchase office-holders, too.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
A “Wayne’s World” Argument at the Supreme Court
The Collapse of Dilma Rousseff, the Richard Nixon of Brazil
Comment from the February 29, 2016, Issue

Leicester City’s Impossible, Anomalous Championship

Early last summer, Leicester City Football Club went on an end-of-season tour of Thailand. These trips are fairly standard for European clubs, a mix of branding exercise and group bonding session. They also provide an excuse to unwind in an unfamiliar place. While in Bangkok, three young players from the team’s academy system filmed themselves having an orgy with local women, making racist jokes the whole way through. As if this incident weren’t horrific enough, one of the players was the manager’s son. And to compound the damage to Leicester City’s public image, the team was in Thailand representing its owner, a Thai billionaire named Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who had spent years trying to redirect his countrymen’s allegiances away from such glamorous powerhouses as Chelsea and Manchester United and toward his gritty, East Midlands club. Within days of the video’s leak, the three players and their popular manager had been released. It was an ominous way to start a new season.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Bonus Daily Cartoon: Leicester City
The Legacy of a Soccer Tragedy
No Refereeing Is Bad Refereeing

The Underside of the N.F.L.-Draft Hacking Scandal

On Thursday night, a twenty-one-year-old named Laremy Tunsil was expected to be the first offensive lineman selected at the annual N.F.L. rookie draft, in Chicago. Tunsil had been a star at the University of Mississippi and, according to his scouting profile at NFL.com, he was “easily [the] cleanest offensive lineman in the 2016 draft and might be the cleanest prospect period.” In sum, the profile states, “his feet, technique and instincts could make him an all-pro and one of the top pass protectors in the NFL.” Many analysts had projected him as a sure-fire top-five over-all pick. At the draft, which these days has an actual red carpet, like the Oscars, Tunsil arrived wearing a nicely cut blazer, a print bow tie, and a pair of sparkly loafers, looking at ease and very much like the multimillion-dollar football player he was about to become. His mother, beaming, walked the carpet next to him.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
The Legacy of a Soccer Tragedy
Cyber War Comes to the Suburbs
How to Design a Marijuana-License Lottery

Trump, Reagan, and the Downsizing of History

In the search for figures bearing comparisons to Donald Trump, one’s mind inevitably wanders back in time. After a brief pause to muse over Sarah Palin, one soon moves to the late Ronald Reagan, the last entertainer who ran for the Presidency of the United States, which he won. For all the posthumous veneration that Reagan now receives, there are Americans who point to his candidacy as having fatally lowered the bar for qualifications for entry to the White House. It is hard to recall a moment when anyone accused Reagan of lording a superior knowledge over others. This seems unlikely to happen anytime soon with Trump, too.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
A Europe of Donald Trumps?
Daily Cartoon: Monday, May 2nd
Comment from the May 9, 2016, Issue

A Europe of Donald Trumps?

Last week, as Donald Trump was sweeping the Acela primaries and beginning to campaign in California and Indiana, I was taking a long-planned family trip to England and France. Everywhere we went, people asked about Trump, who is receiving a lot of media attention abroad. What is his game? Who are his supporters? Does he have any chance of becoming President?

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Daily Cartoon: Monday, May 2nd
Comment from the May 9, 2016, Issue
The 2016 Presidential Election: A Cinematic Retrospective