{"id":93847,"date":"2017-10-03T02:31:55","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T02:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/a-familiar-failure.html"},"modified":"2017-10-03T02:31:55","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T02:31:55","slug":"a-familiar-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/a-familiar-failure.html","title":{"rendered":"A familiar failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t
\n\t \"Trace<\/a><\/p>\n

Crowds push down gates, fences to escape Las Vegas attack<\/a><\/h4>\n

Trace Gallagher reports on the aftermath of Stephen Paddock’s attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.<\/p>\n

**Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up\u00a0here<\/a>.**

A FAMILIAR FAILURE\u00a0<\/b>
<\/i>The saying goes that there is never a wrong time to do the right thing.<\/p>\n

That is so. But it is also so that the right thing to do also depends on the time. The question of \u201cwhat\u201d is usually more important than the question of \u201cwhen.\u201d<\/p>\n

As desensitized as Americans have become to mass shootings, the carnage of the attack in Las Vegas was shocking even to a nation that has grown grimly accustomed to similar, smaller events over the past 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like the 2012 slaughter of 20 children younger than eight in Newtown, Conn., or the murder of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando last year, Sunday\u2019s killings break through our protective veneers of world weariness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These incidents have become depressingly common, especially so in the past decade. Very few of them make big news. Crime statistics show that in just three years \u2013 2013 through 2015 \u2013 there were more than 1,000 mass shootings, defined as events that involve at least four people being shot, though not necessarily killed.<\/p>\n

There were about 12,000 gun-related deaths in the United States in 2015, all of them tragedies to someone. But there is something different about the comparatively small number of attacks that target strangers in large numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Americans are enormously unlikely to be killed in such an incident, but killers like the one in Las Vegas prey on our collective fear of the unknowable and the uncontrollable. And we know this will not be the last one. Far from it.<\/p>\n

So common have these events become that there is a rhythm to the political response. And not a good one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, fools and political grifters take advantage of the absence of good information. While people are still trying to sort out what exactly has occurred, loudmouths and those looking to exploit the tragedy waste no time in offering bunkum and divisive opinions, sometimes crudely so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, for example, would not even wait until the dead had been numbered to start exploiting the massacre. A woman already famous for her rapacity managed to still surprise with her response.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The other major party also has a standard response to mass-casualty events involving firearms, which is to offer condolences and prayers to those slain and their families and then stand tight-lipped until the shock of the moment and, accordingly, the calls to action, begin to fade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of all of the ways in which America is disserved by its broken political process, our leaders\u2019 inability to do anything at all about the increasing frequency and lethality of these murders stands out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We have seen political progress in recent years on other epidemics, particularly drug addiction and cancer. But on the issue of mass murder, American government remains inert \u2013 riven by partisanship and populated by individuals without the imagination to summon new solutions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

When such a killing occurs, those who favor gun control fixate on the means of murder to the exclusion of almost everything else. In response, those who oppose stricter gun laws fixate on other issues \u2013 our badly broken mental-health system, barriers to involuntary psychiatric commitments and cultural degeneration \u2013 to the almost complete exclusion of the weapons themselves.<\/p>\n

So now we know the cycle: Gun control advocates and politicians who seek their support exploit the shock of the moment to rile existing supporters, gun control opponents, in turn, exploit the gun-grabbing talk to keep their people anxious and angry. Politicians wince their way through an awkward week or so and then, nothing happens. Until the next time.<\/p>\n

We saw in the response to the unimaginable school shooting in Connecticut how inadequate current political thinking is on this issue. The entire result of an enormous public outcry was the introduction and eventual defeat of a symbolic bill on background checks that would have done nothing to have prevented the killings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Constitution explicitly protects the rights of individuals to have weapons. Yes, it is true, that the gun industry spends an enormous amount of money fighting gun-control legislation, but it has been the courts, not the Congress, that have most frustrated the ambitions of the also-well-funded gun control lobby.<\/p>\n

But while the Second Amendment to the Constitution makes addressing the issue more complicated, the Constitution itself offers a remedy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Americans have substantially abandoned the concept of constitutional amendments, preferring to hack the charter through various means. Politicians look for ways to defeat the Constitution rather than relying on the remedies it provides.<\/p>\n

We are not suggesting that there are no actions to be taken short of amending the Constitution, especially for Republicans who talk much but do little to reform our mental health system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But if addressing the problem requires more gun control, it will require resolving the tension that has developed between two clauses of the Second Amendment: \u201ca well-regulated militia\u201d and \u201cshall not be infringed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Proposing symbolic legislation that wouldn\u2019t have prevented this atrocity brings discredit to the gun control movement. If proponents want to do more than raise money off the horrors of mass murder, then it is long past time for them to devise and advance an amendment that would resolve that tension.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those ghouls who push partisan politics in the face of such carnage aren\u2019t just wrong in their timing for speaking out so soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s never a right time to do wrong.<\/p>\n

THE RULEBOOK: IMMEDIATELY AWAKE\u00a0<\/b>
<\/i>\u201cIt is that which, being the immediate and visible guardian of life and property, having its benefits and its terrors in constant activity before the public eye, regulating all those personal interests and familiar concerns to which the sensibility of individuals is more immediately awake, contributes, more than any other circumstance, to impressing upon the minds of the people, affection, esteem, and reverence towards the government.\u201d \u2013Alexander Hamilton<\/i><\/b>,\u00a0Federalist No. 17<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

TIME OUT: AND NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY\u2026<\/b>
NatGeo:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cA charcoal drawing known as the \u2018nude\u00a0Mona Lisa<\/b>,\u2019 long attributed to one of Leonardo da Vinci<\/b>\u2019s students, may have been drawn by the master himself, according to experts at the Louvre in Paris. It\u2019s hard to miss the resemblance between the woman in da Vinci\u2019s famous 16th-century painting and the semi-nude subject of the \u2018Monna Vanna<\/b>,\u2019 a colorless sketch that has been held in the collection of the\u00a0Cond\u00e9\u00a0Museum, north of Paris, since 1862. The familiar half-smile lingers above that pointed chin, while her hands are folded in exactly the same way. \u2026 The \u2018Monna Vanna\u2019 has been credited to one of da Vinci\u2019s students,\u00a0Andrea Salai<\/b>, since the 20th century. Some\u00a0have argued\u00a0Salai\u2019s version was only a copy of a lost original by the master.\u00a0\u2026 Researchers plan another month of analysis before returning the painting to the Cond\u00e9. Regardless of their conclusions, it seems likely that mystery will endure behind that enigmatic smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flag on the play? –<\/b>\u00a0Email us at
HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM<\/a>\u00a0with
your tips, comments or questions.<\/p>\n

SCOREBOARD
<\/b>Trump net job-approval rating:\u00a0-18 points
<\/b>Change from one week ago:\u00a0down 7.6 points<\/b><\/p>\n

[President Trump\u2019s score is determined by subtracting his average job disapproval rating in<\/i>\u00a0the five most recent, methodologically sound public polls from his average approval rating, calculated in the same fashion.<\/i>]<\/p>\n

GOP TURNS TO BLUE DOGS FOR SUPPORT ON TAX CUTS
<\/b>Roll Call<\/a>: \u201cPresident\u00a0Donald Trump<\/b>\u00a0and Ways and Means Chairman\u00a0Kevin Brady<\/b>\u00a0are trying to woo fiscally conservative Democrats, as Republicans seek consensus for an ambitious overhaul based on the GOP\u2019s tax framework. Passing a tax bill with just Republican votes in the House is far from a sure thing, as some GOP lawmakers have said they want more details about the size and reach of tax cuts and the impact of contentious offsets such as the elimination of the popular deduction for state and local taxes.\u00a0\u2026 Faced with potential defections, Trump and key Republicans like Brady are working the Blue Dog Coalition \u2014 the 18 Democrats who sometimes cross party lines on fiscal issues. Blue Dogs such as\u00a0Henry Cuellar<\/b>\u00a0of Texas and\u00a0Tom O\u2019Halleran<\/b>\u00a0of Arizona said they are keeping the door open to possibly supporting the House GOP tax bill being written using the framework released Wednesday as a guide.\u201d<\/p>\n

New digital ad released to support tax reform plan –\u00a0<\/b>The Hill:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cA group aligned with House GOP leadership on Monday rolled out a\u00a0digital ad\u00a0to promote the tax-reform framework released last week by the White House and Congressional Republicans. The ad from the American Action Network (AAN) features economist\u00a0Douglas Holtz-Eakin<\/b>, the president of the American Action Forum and a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush<\/b>. Holtz-Eakin highlights several aspects of the GOP tax framework, including its larger standard deduction, expanded child tax credit and lower taxes for small businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Watch Fox: Chris Stirewalt joins\u00a0Steve Hilton<\/b>\u00a0and his panel on \u201cThe Next Revolution\u201d to score the Trump tax plan. Watch it\u00a0here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

MORE TIES BETWEEN TRUMP LAWYER, RUSSIANS REVEALED
<\/b>WaPo<\/a>: \u201cAssociates of President Trump and his company have turned over documents to federal investigators that reveal two previously unreported contacts from Russia during the 2016 campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. In one case, Trump\u2019s personal attorney and a business associate exchanged emails weeks before the Republican National Convention about the lawyer possibly traveling to an economic conference in Russia that would be attended by top Russian financial and government leaders, including President\u00a0Vladi\u00admir Putin<\/b>, according to people familiar with the correspondence. In the other case, the same Trump attorney,\u00a0Michael Cohen<\/b>, received a proposal in late 2015 for a Moscow residential project from a company founded by a billionaire who once served in the upper house of the Russian parliament, these people said. The previously unreported inquiry marks the second proposal for a Trump-branded Moscow project that was delivered to the company during the presidential campaign and has since come to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facebook bows to Congress on ads sold to Kremlin operatives –\u00a0<\/b>The Hill<\/a>: \u201cFacebook says that it will release the over 3,000 political ads purchased by Russian actors on its platform during the 2016 election to congressional investigators on Monday. The moves\u00a0comes after Facebook faced pressure from federal lawmakers like Sen.\u00a0Mark Warner<\/b>\u00a0(D-Va.) and Rep.\u00a0Adam Schiff<\/b>\u00a0(D-Calif.) Both are the highest ranking Democrats in the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, respectively. While the two have said that they\u2019re pleased with Facebook\u2019s decision to release the ads to investigators, they note that they would still like more details.\u00a0A spokesperson for Warner said that he\u2019s interested in the activity of the social media accounts through which the ads were purchased. His office believes that this could yield more information on how Russians may have sought to influence the election and sow discord among Americans than the just the advertisements.\u201d<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S T-REX TAUNTS RAISE DOUBTS
<\/b>AP:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cPresident\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0says Secretary of State\u00a0Rex Tillerson<\/b>\u00a0is \u2018wasting his time\u2019 trying to negotiate with\u00a0North Korea\u00a0over its nuclear and missile programs, raising speculation about whether\u00a0Trump\u00a0could be undermining efforts to maintain channels of communication or somehow bolstering the diplomat\u2019s hand in possible future talks. It was not immediately clear what prompted\u00a0Trump\u2019s tweets, among a series of weekend posts that ranged from hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico to NFL players\u2019 allegiance to the national anthem, and at whom they were aimed: Tillerson, North Korean leader\u00a0Kim Jong\u00a0Un<\/b>, those pushing for continued diplomacy, those favoring a military response to repeated provocations. Tillerson\u00a0had acknowledged on Saturday, after meetings in Beijing with Chinese leaders, that the Trump administration was keeping open direct channels of communications with\u00a0North Korea\u00a0and probing the North\u2019s willingness to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawmakers debate bypassing Trump –\u00a0<\/b>The Hill:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThat talk is setting up a potential clash between Congress and President Trump, whose administration insists they are already hitting the regime of Kim Jong Un hard. \u2026 Lawmakers admit it is a difficult decision between sitting on the sidelines or bucking the president and taking matters into their own hands. \u2018I wonder whether additional congressional activities are helpful when we\u2019re on the brink of something that could become a catastrophe,\u2019 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman\u00a0Bob Corker<\/b>\u00a0(R-Tenn.)\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

NO WORD ON PRICE REPLACEMENT AT HEALTH DEPARTMENT
<\/b>Politico:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cTom Price<\/b>\u00a0hadn\u2019t even stepped down when the Washington policy world was buzzing about who was likely to replace him. A dozen names are being talked about as the next HHS Secretary, including several belonging to people already serving in the administration. But of course President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/b>\u00a0often defies Washington\u2019s conventional wisdom.\u00a0The rumored short-list includes former Sen.\u00a0Judd Gregg<\/b>\u00a0(R-N.H.), who would sail through Senate confirmation but would probably be considered too moderate on Obamacare, to Dr.\u00a0Mehmet Oz<\/b>, a cardio-thoracic surgeon made famous by his talk show, which Trump has appeared on. Other current or former members of Congress who could be considered include Rep.\u00a0Fred Upton<\/b>\u00a0and former Rep.\u00a0Dave Camp<\/b>.\u201d<\/p>\n

PLAY-BY-PLAY<\/b>\u00a0
Virginia Dem gov. candidate Northam cancels gun control events after massacre –\u00a0Richmond Times Dispatch<\/a>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Amid accusations of callousness, Trump dedicates golf trophy to hurricane victims –\u00a0<\/b>WaPo<\/a><\/p>\n

SupCo to hear arguments on gerrymandering Tuesday<\/i>\u00a0–\u00a0Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/a><\/p>\n

Frank Bruni<\/i><\/b>: \u2018Democrats, please get ready to lose\u2019<\/i>\u00a0–\u00a0NYT:<\/a><\/p>\n

Quite so:\u00a0Tom Rogan\u00a0<\/b>shares a case study of how politicians can handle protesters<\/i>\u00a0–\u00a0WashEx<\/a><\/p>\n

AUDIBLE: JUST IMAGINE IF IT HAD BEEN ORANGE \u00a0
<\/b>\u201cIt was lemon-lime. I mean, it was so good. And it was\u00a0cold<\/i>.\u201d\u2013\u00a0Rep.\u00a0Steve Scalise\u00a0<\/b>R-La., talking to<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>Politico\u2019s\u00a0Tim Alberta\u00a0<\/b>about his recollections of the day he was shot during a congressional baseball game practice, including the relief of a drink of Gatorade after laying prone amid the subsequent crossfire. \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

FROM THE BLEACHERS
<\/i><\/b>\u201cWhat happened to allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines? I heard a brief blip that Senator\u00a0Rand Paul<\/b>\u00a0was bringing the issue up but have heard little else regarding this issue that Donald Trump campaigned hard on. It seems a fairly simple improvement to healthcare insurance costs that I would think should receive bipartisan support. Can\u2019t we break this whole healthcare thing down into bite sized pieces and begin getting something done?\u201d \u2013\u00a0Jim Burrow<\/i><\/b>,\u00a0Colleyville, Texas<\/i><\/p>\n

[Ed. note: Good question, Mr. Burrow! There\u2019s no law against selling insurance across state lines. The problem there is that insurance is still substantially regulated on the state level. Each state has an insurance commission or similar entity charged with setting rules for coverage. Insurers must have approval on a state-by-state basis to write policies. Even with the advent of ObamaCare, states have held on to these powers. If you live in a highly regulated state like New York, you can\u2019t buy a policy from, say, Texas. So while conservatives embrace the idea of federalism when it comes to funding and administering ObamaCare, many, like Paul, would need to take power away from states in order to have national health regulations.<\/i>]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSubsequent to your Friday newsletter, Tom Price resigned. He was the one cabinet official I had the highest hopes for. He was supposed to have had the policy chops to repeal and replace Obamacare. Instead, he resigns under a cloud, not having accomplished a thing. Who\u2019s next?\u201d \u2013\u00a0Jeff Smith<\/i><\/b>, Statesboro, Ga.<\/i><\/p>\n

[Ed. note: If we were going on the basis of public discomfort and\/or embarrassment by the president: T-Rex is next.<\/i>]

<\/b><\/i>Share your color commentary:<\/b>\u00a0Email us at\u00a0
HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM<\/a>\u00a0and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

\u2018MIGHT AS WELL GET A MONKEY\u2019
<\/b>WLWT:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cMonkeys are on the loose in a Warren County neighborhood, several residents said Friday. Residents of a quiet community in Lebanon, Ohio, said that they have spotted the monkeys sporadically in recent weeks. One resident even snapped a picture to prove she wasn\u2019t just seeing things. \u2026 That\u2019s right. Dancing monkeys are in Ohio, neighbors claim. \u2026 The sightings have some people scratching their heads.\u00a0\u2018It\u2019s like the squirrels are even acting a little funny around here,\u2019 neighbor\u00a0Chris Watson\u00a0<\/b>said. \u2026 Many suspect the monkeys are someone\u2019s pets that got loose. Some people even said the primates are a welcome sight, providing a bit of entertainment.\u00a0\u2018As long as they\u2019re not dangerous, I wouldn\u2019t mind having a little one,\u2019 Sandlin said. \u2018My kids are grown. Might as well get a monkey.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Stirewalt\u00a0<\/i><\/b>is the politics editor for Fox News.\u00a0Brianna McClelland<\/b>\u00a0contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up\u00a0<\/i>here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily Fox News Halftime Report political news note and co-hosts the hit podcast, Perino Stirewalt: I’ll Tell You What. He also is the host of Power Play, a feature video series on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on network programs, including America\u2019s Newsroom, Special Report with Bret Baier and Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. He also provides expert political analysis for FNC\u2019s coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections.<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feeds.foxnews.com\/~r\/foxnews\/politics\/~3\/1SIO9TGtcd0\/familiar-failure.html<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crowds push down gates, fences to escape Las Vegas attack Trace Gallagher reports on the aftermath of Stephen Paddock’s attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. **Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up\u00a0here.** A FAMILIAR FAILURE\u00a0The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-93847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}