Hits and Misses
The plumes of black smoke rising seemingly without end from derailed railroad cars this week in East Palestine, Ohio, were surely extraordinarily frightening for residents of that community, as well as residents who lived just over the state line in Beaver County. They will probably always think twice about every train they see for the rest of their days. But the reality is that transporting hazardous materials by train is still safer than the alternatives. The Federal Railroad Administration has noted that the overwhelming majority of hazardous materials being carried by rail arrive safely at their destination, and that between 1994 and 2005, 14 people were killed due to hazardous materials released in railroad accidents compared to 116 people killed in highway accidents where hazardous materials were released. An investigation will have to be carried out on what happened in East Palestine, of course, but we can remain reasonably confident in the safety of the trains that travel across the landscape.
Florida has lately become a hotbed of book banning as Gov. Ron DeSantis ramps up the culture war skirmishes in anticipation of a 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Officials in Duval County have removed a stunning 176 books from school libraries, most having to do with racial or LGBTQ issues. Two books caught up in the dragnet were “Henry Aaron’s Dream” and “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates.” The two books are for children and about two of the most revered figures in the history of baseball. Matt Tavares, the author of the book on Aaron, tweeted, “No specific reason has been given, but they seem to be removing any books that acknowledge racism exists.” He also said the Clemente book is “mostly about how everyone in Pittsburgh adored Clemente.” Book banning weakens communities and hardly encourages a love of reading in young people. Tavares summed it up appropriately: “The whole thing is moronic.”
Almost all of the hot takes on President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night noted heckling he was subjected to by some Republicans in the House chamber. One yelled “It’s your fault!” when Biden said 70,000 Americans were dying from fentanyl overdoses, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia shouted “liar!” when Biden accused Republicans of having programs like Social Security and Medicare in their gunsights. Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, reportedly told members of his caucus to keep cool during the speech, but many obviously didn’t listen. Even more strange is the report that U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney was the sole Republican to stand and applaud when Biden noted that U.S. unemployment is now at a 54-year low. According to John Harris of Politico, “the opposition party effectively turned themselves into prime-time props” for the president. Harris added, “Let’s remember to check Biden’s next campaign disclosure forms – the Republican honking amounted to an in-kind contribution…”