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Why the US ‘does not get to assume that it lasts forever’

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As the United States marks its 247th birthday Tuesday, questions about how many more the nation will celebrate in its current form have become ominously relevant. Possibly not since the two decades before the Civil War has America faced as much pressure on its fundamental cohesion. The greatest risk probably isn’t a repeat of the outright secession that triggered the Civil War, though even that no longer seems entirely impossible in the most extreme scenarios. More plausible is the prospect that the nation will continue its drift into two irreconcilable blocs of red and blue states uneasily trying to occupy the same geographic space. “I can’t recall a time when we’ve had such fundamental friction between the states on such important issues,” says Donald Kettl, former dean and professor emeritus of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy and author of the 2020 book, “The Divided States of America.” The strains on America’s basic unity are broad and diverse. They include a w
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Extreme temperatures killed at least 112 people in Mexico since March

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The Mexican state of Nuevo León was hardest hit, with 64 deaths confirmed, according to the report. Dozens of deaths were also reported across Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Sonora, and Campeche. At least 1,559 people received medical treatment for temperature-related problems in the same period, the report also said. Over the past ten days in particular, Mexico has seen record-breaking temperatures, with some locations seeing monthly or even all-time records: temperatures have topped 45 degrees Celsius in places (113 degrees Fahrenheit). In Tamaulipas, local authorities announced Wednesday that dozens had died in the current heatwave, prompting governor Américo Villarreal Anaya to order the formation of a working group to develop a response plan. Tamaulipas’s Secretary of Health tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that high temperatures will continue across the state, advising people to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun and to stay in cool, well-ventilated areas. Scor
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often explains his simple theory of winning elections with his dad’s fabled kitchen table wisdom: “Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” But his big speech in Chicago on Wednesday – dedicated to enshrining “Bidenomics” as a credible idea in the public mind – implicitly recognized that comparisons to the “alternative” in November 2024 (quite possibly Donald Trump) may not be enough to win reelection. In 2020, Biden won the White House by promising a return to normality after a pandemic that delivered punishing economic blows. He had the advantage of running against an incumbent already bearing the shame of one of his two impeachments, who kept the nation in a constant state of psychological angst with his Twitter feed, and whose musings over injecting disinfectant as a cure for Covid-19 reflected his botching of the worst public health emergency in a century. But that return to normality Biden vowed to deliver has been elusive amid an economy that remains challenging for many Americans. If Biden faces Trump next year in an electoral rematch, some of the internal logic of the last race still could apply. Trump has alienated moderate, suburban, swing voters in the past, and there are few signs the twice-indicted former president has tried to moderate his brashness to appeal to them going forward. So not being the “alternative” might work for Biden one last time. But just as Trump was judged on his tenure in 2020, Biden must sell his own record four years later – a factor that helps explain why he is trying to improve perceptions of his handling of the economy. And given the still finely balanced electoral map and Biden’s low approval ratings, it’s not hard to see how a few damaging events – perhaps including an economic downtown – could be disastrous for him. Biden won on achingly narrow victories in key swing states like Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona, and it would not take that many votes to switch in that trio of states for Biden to lose. While a measure of normal life has returned, months of sky-high inflation (which is now tumbling) exacerbated a sense among many Americans of perpetual economic crisis. Many citizens are experiencing a pandemic hangover – from children facing the after-effects of lockdowns to adults whose jobs in city center shops and restaurants have disappeared as the work-from-home culture lingers. And beyond economics, a rose-tinted “normality” may never come back in a nation rocked by political and cultural clashes – especially when an ex-president who incited an insurrection is the front-runner for the GOP nomination, falsely arguing he was cheated out of power last time. Biden admitted as much, in a speech last September, accusing MAGA Republicans of seeking to destroy the soul of the nation. “Too much of what is happening today in our country is not normal,” Biden said.

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often explains his simple theory of winning elections with his dad’s fabled kitchen table wisdom: “Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” But his big speech in Chicago on Wednesday – dedicated to enshrining “Bidenomics” as a credible idea in the public mind – implicitly recognized that comparisons to the “alternative” in November 2024 (quite possibly Donald Trump) may not be enough to win reelection. In 2020, Biden won the White House by promising a return to normality after a pandemic that delivered punishing economic blows. He had the advantage of running against an incumbent already bearing the shame of one of his two impeachments, who kept the nation in a constant state of psychological angst with his Twitter feed, and whose musings over injecting disinfectant as a cure for Covid-19 reflected his botching of the worst public health emergency in a century. But that return to normality Biden vowed to deliver has been elusive amid an economy that remains cha
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2 people are dead and 28 people were injured in mass shooting at a Baltimore block party, officials say

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An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed and 28 others injured in a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party, officials said. Nine people were transported from the scene to hospitals and 20 people walked into hospitals in the area. Three of the injured are in critical condition, according to a police statement. The 18-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene and the 20-year-old was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. The incident was yet another celebration turned fatal at the hands of gunman. Just two days into the month, it is one of three mass shootings in July and one of 338 mass shootings in the US in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Twelve patients are being treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s trauma center and four are being treated in its pediatric emergency department, the medical system’s spokesman Michael Schwartzberg said in an email statement. Two patients in fair condition are being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a
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