The Atlantic Daily: Is Anyone Not Running for President?
Rick Perry enters the race, a Duggar family interview raises questions, and more ...
What's Happening: Is Anyone Not Running for President?
Rick Perry, George W. Bush’s successor as Texas governor, has entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination. George W.'s brother Jeb looks likely to follow suit in the next few weeks. The 2016 presidential race is starting to sound like a Russian novel, which for American politics, seems like a pretty unpopular proposition.
Second time’s a charm?: Of Perry’s ambitions, David Graham writes in The Atlantic that the former Texas governor “seems to hope that he can graft all the qualities that made him a good paper candidate in 2012—a conservative record, a long tenure in office, military service, and a little bit of swagger—onto a more sober, measured image.” His entrance grows the Republican field to ten candidates with a few more still likely to jump in.
Who else?: On the Democrats’ side, Lincoln Chafee, the former Rhode Island governor, entered the race on Wednesday and immediately called for the U.S. to adopt the metric system—also an unpopular proposition. Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley also announced his bid on Saturday.
Snapshot
Quoted
Megan Garber: “The Duggars are selling themselves, in other words, not just as paragons of virtue, but also as paragons of the very thing that would seem to contradict it: what Jim Bob referred to in the interview as their ‘public shame.’”
Moisés Naím: “And yet despite the rapid, pervasive changes in power’s sources, limits, and permanence, many leaders appear surprised by these transformations. Sepp Blatter is just the start.”
David Frum: “A Twitter follower offered me a memorable explanation of the weak hold of the First World War upon the American consciousness. ‘Americans prefer the sequel: better villains, bigger explosions.’”
Pop Quiz
1. There are several hypotheses as to why animals eat their __________ , ranging from keeping predators away by getting rid of the scent to possible pain-relieving properties to ingesting some extra nutrients after birth.
(See answer or scroll to the bottom)
2. The Waco authorities set a blanket bond of $_______ for more than 160 bikers who were allegedly involved in the shootout.
(See answer or scroll to the bottom)
3. The best estimate is that about ______ percent of U.S. workers are currently subjected to drug tests during the hiring process.
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Evening Read
Gwendoyln Oxenham on the contrasting fortunes of two of Brazil’s top soccer stars. Neymar, a man, is chasing titles in Europe. Marta, a woman, can barely find a stable team.
While Neymar has vaulted to colossal success around the world, with Barcelona paying a transfer fee of more than 57 million Euros to acquire him two years ago, Marta has struggled for the past eight years to find a league that could support her. Of the eight professional teams she’s played for in the past, seven have folded, unable to stay financially afloat. As she heads to the Women’s World Cup in Canada this month, she carries the complicated hopes of a nation that’s never found much reason to care about women’s soccer, even while it recognizes her exceptional skill on the field. Can she make people care? Can the admiration of her male counterpart, Neymar, force soccer fans and sponsors alike to recognize the ginga [dexterity] Marta embodies?
Verbs
FIFA cover-up payments alleged, Hellboy dinosaur unearthed, Royal Mail sold, Chandra Levy trial reopened, plumber hits jackpot, Serena wins semi-final.