Murthy's Mandate

Plus, just keep painting.

The Flag

Good morning! Happy Thursday! Here are the Flag’s Top Five stories that should be on your radar to start the day:

  • US: Rivian shares soar on massive cash injection from Volkswagen, starting immediately with $1 billion (ABC News)

  • World: UN-backed contingent of foreign police arrives in Haiti as Kenya-led force prepares to face gangs (AP)

  • Business: Alleged First Look at Apple Watch X / Series 10 With 2-Inch Display (MacRumors)

  • Technology: Supreme Court tosses out claim Biden administration coerced social media companies to remove content (NBC News)

  • Sports: Alex Morgan off USA Olympics women's soccer team as era ends (ESPN)

And of course, some good news: A brush with meningococcal robbed artist Elizabeth Stanley of both hands, but it didn't stop her painting.

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Left: Time for Left To Recommit to Academic Freedom, Tascha Shahriari-Parsa, The Nation

Right: Biden's High-Stakes Debate Gamble Risks Everything, Michael Goodwin, New York Post

Right: In Georgia, Post-Conviction Relief for Trump, Byron York, Washington Examiner

GUNS

Murthy’s Mandate

Today’s Top Story in One Sentence: On Tuesday, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released an advisory declaring firearm violence in America to be a public health crisis.

Reporting from the Left: Surgeon general declares firearm violence a public health crisis in landmark announcement (NBC News)

Reporting from the Right: Surgeon general declares firearm violence in America a public health crisis (Fox News)

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

GOP Working to Get Guns Into as Many Hands as Possible

The Top Argument From The Left: House GOP takes the worst-of-all-worlds options on gun violence, Hayes Brown, MSNBC: “It just so happened that Murthy’s announcement came the same day that Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee released the proposed text of a spending bill that covers, among other things, the Justice Department’s annual funding. While the surgeon general’s advisory was developed to save lives, the Republican-drafted bill aims to allow as many guns in as many hands as possible. If the Republican proposal is passed into law, it will make the crisis that Murthy warned about much, much worse. The surgeon general’s 40-page advisory is first and foremost focused on the medical harm that the surge in gun-related violence has caused over the last 20 years. … Murthy recommends several potential mitigation efforts, including risk-reduction policies like ‘treating firearms like other consumer products, including requiring safety testing or safety features,” and “implementing universal background checks and expanding purchaser licensing laws.’ The bill from the Republicans on the Appropriations commerce, justice and science subcommittee would do none of these things. In fact, the committee’s GOP leadership is proud that their proposal would do the exact opposite, ‘adding new provisions that strengthen Second Amendment protections.’”

Honorable Mention #1: Surgeon General Takes on Gun Lobby: ‘Public Health Crisis’, Dan Ladden-Hall, Daily Beast.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

This is Fearmongering

The Top Argument From The Right: The surgeon general should stay in his lane, Joseph Nepomuceno, Washington Examiner: “Murthy is not only speaking beyond his authority, but he has misdiagnosed the cause of the increase in gun-related deaths. The surgeon general said he was particularly concerned that gun violence has become the leading cause of death among minors. This tragic statistic points to a trend that is not related to the ownership of guns but instead to failed progressive policies in recent years. According to the Pew Research Center, gun deaths among U.S. children rose 50% from 2019 to 2021. What accounts for the dramatic rise in this period? Guns didn’t become suddenly deadlier. Rather, the failed policies of our expert class in 2020 and 2021 have contributed to the rise in gun homicides among our youth. Public health officials, similar to Murthy, felt themselves qualified to go beyond their job descriptions and seize the reins of power during this period. Predictably, when policymaking was led by experts narrowly trained in their discipline, they ignored the negative consequences of prolonged lockdowns. … This tyranny of the “experts” is a plague on our politics. The surgeon general’s recent statement is only the most recent example of bureaucrats attempting to chill democratic politics with their supposedly all-knowing ordinances.”

Honorable Mention #1: Vivek Murthy Can’t Depoliticize Gun Policy, Actually, Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review.

FLAG THIS

Gun Violence Figures

Murthy’s announcement included several figures to justify his stance. In 2022, firearm-related deaths in the U.S. totaled 48,204, including suicides, homicides, and unintentional deaths. Suicides accounted for 56.1% of these deaths, while homicides comprised about 40%. The rate of gun-related fatalities reached a nearly three-decade high in 2021.

Additionally, 54% of adults reported that they or a family member has experienced firearm-related incidents, such as threats, injuries, witnessing shootings, or losing family members to gun violence (NBC News).

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WATERCOOLER

Route 66, Don’t Text This, Lyrical Speed

On This Day in 1985, after 59 years, the iconic Route 66 entered the realm of history when the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials decertified the road and voted to remove all its highway signs.

Today I learned Dolly Parton wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” in one day.

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