The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Fair and Balanced (and Bernie)
The presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders made an appearance on Fox News. Plus: Ilhan Omar rejects demands for performances of patriotism, including the 9/11 loyalty test.
What We’re Following Today
It’s Tuesday, April 16.
(Christophe Petit Tesson / Pool / AP)
The Fall of Notre-Dame: The centuries-old Paris cathedral caught fire on Monday night; Rachel Donadio, reporting from Paris, described the collective horror of thousands of Parisians watching the famous landmark burn. “In a way, it is a death,” she wrote. Restoring Notre-Dame—which President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to do—will be a massive undertaking. Fortunately, meticulous laser scans gathered from an American historian could be an invaluable aid to those working to rebuild parts of the cathedral that were lost.
Performances of Patriotism: Late last week, President Donald Trump tweeted a video about Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota that questioned her patriotism, similar to the loyalty tests imposed on American Muslims after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But Omar is part of a new generation of American activists—people who refuse to be defined by such tests, writes Emma Green.
The Children of the Children of Columbine: Two decades after the deadly high-school shooting, many survivors have found themselves facing difficult questions: What should they tell their own children about the events of April 20, 1999? And how should they prepare them for lockdown drills in their schools? “My daughter came home from school one day this year and she said, ‘Mommy, if I’m in the bathroom and there’s a [person with] a gun or something, I’m going to put my legs up on the [toilet] and lock the door so they don’t see me,’” one parent—and Columbine survivor—said.
Snapshot
A group of boys plays with a frisbee on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington. (Lucas Jackson / Reuters)
Ideas From The Atlantic
Bernie Sanders Pierces the Fox News Bubble (Conor Friedersdorf)
“His strengths outshone his flaws in front of a TV audience that many Democrats have a hard time reaching, having written it off as deplorable, if not irredeemable. He showed other Democratic candidates the way forward and warmed up the Fox audience to left-wing ideas.” → Read on.
The Last Constraint on Trump (David A. Graham)
“The big difference between Trump and his aides, especially on immigration, isn’t ideological. His lieutenants tend to agree with him on outcomes. But they at least have some commitment to following the law in trying to achieve those outcomes, whereas he does not.” → Read on.
What Else We’re Reading
‣ Bernie Sanders Is the Howard Schultz of the Left (Eric Levtiz, New York) (🔒 Paywall)
‣ Pete Buttigieg Was an Effective Mayor—With a Gaping Blind Spot (Michael Hobbes, HuffPost)
‣ Democrats Who Really Like More Than One Presidential Candidate Have Found a Temporary Solution: Give Them All Money (Tarini Parti and Jeremy Singer-Vine, BuzzFeed News)
‣ Why ‘Tax the Rich’ Demands Are So Unreasonable (Jonah Goldberg, The Troy Record)
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