Current Events Write-Up: Elections, the Caravan, Health Care, Odd Political Bedfellows, Whitewashing the Vietnam War

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up. Some of these items will be reruns, since I posted or reblogged them earlier this week.

Elections

The Federalist: “What’s Behind Educated, Suburban Women Flipping to Democrats,” by Denise C. McAllister.

McAllister’s answer to this question is not surprising, but I still like the article because it highlight things that I did not know. For example, why did more educated, suburban women vote for Mitt Romney in 2012 than for Donald Trump in 2016? Also, you hear frequently about how gerrymandering helps the Republicans. Well, it helped the Democrats in 2018!

The Nation: “Where the Blue Wave Hit a Red Wall,” by D.D. Guttenplan.

To quote the subtitle, “Progressives picked up some sweet victories, but Election Day also brought some sobering lessons.”

The Caravan: Opposing Viewpoints

The Nation: “Why the Refugee Caravan Is So Big, and What We Need to Do About It,” by Laura Carlsen.

The article details the dire straits in which people of Honduras find themselves and how the United States has contributed to their country’s problems. It is a little thin on the “What We Need to Do About It” part, but it does say that Mexico is offering the refugees’ jobs.

The Stream: “An Interview With Rev. Samuel Rodriguez on the Migrant Caravan and How Christians Should Respond,” by James Robison, and The Stream: “I’m a US Citizen Living in Honduras. Here’s What I Think About the Caravan,” by Jennifer Zilly Canales.

A point that both articles make is that most of the refugees have not taken Mexico up on its offer for asylum and jobs. The second article presents the problems in Honduras as bad, but not as dire, and it states that some people in Hondurans refuse help and want to come to the U.S. for more opportunities, not in a desperate search for asylum.

Health Care

The Federalist: “What the Press Isn’t Telling You about the Politics of Pre-existing Conditions,” by Christopher Jacobs.

One argument that this article makes is that Obamacare has its own backhanded way of turning down people with certain pre-existing conditions.

Naked Capitalism: “Former Health Insurance Executive Debunks Trump Attacks on Single Payer,” by Yves Smith.

Responds to the usual objections.

Townhall: “Big Government Will Raise Drug Costs for Medicare Patients,” by Paul Anuzis.

“Medicare patients are not allowed to benefit from discount coupons that drug manufacturers offer to increase access, and many do not have private add-on plans to help them pay for their prescriptions. For Medicare beneficiaries prescribed the above cholesterol-lowering drug, this meant that they had to pay up to $370 out-of-pocket every time they filled their prescription.”

Other

The Nation: “When Environmentalism Meets Xenophobia,” by Gaby Del Valle.

Where early twentieth-century environmentalism overlapped with xenophobia and eugenicism.

Tomgram: Arnold Isaacs, Misremembering Vietnam. 

“The Pentagon Whitewashes a Troubling Past.”