'Voters clearly care about things other than abortion'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day


'Georgia race challenges Democrats' abortion-politics assumptions'
Henry Olsen at National Review
Georgia's recent state Supreme Court elections suggest abortion rights "may not be the silver bullet" Democrats think it will be in November, says Henry Olsen. Former Democratic congressman John Barrow challenged Justice Andrew Pinson, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, and "argued that the state constitution guaranteed a right to abortion." But Pinson won and it "wasn't even close." With voters focused on inflation, the economy and immigration, abortion rights won't "swing red voters over to Team Blue."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'How we've lost our moorings as a society'
Thomas L. Friedman in The New York Times
Donald Trump's hush money trial might not be the most important case against him, says Thomas L. Friedman, but it is "revealing of a trend ailing America today: how much we've lost our moorings as a society." Our society has lost qualities like responsibility, civility and the capacity to "feel shame" — "things that used to filter toxic behaviors, buffer political extremism and nurture healthy communities and trusted institutions for young people to grow up in and which hold our society together."
'Phoenix is facing a Hurricane Katrina of heat. It's not alone.'
Mark Gongloff at Bloomberg
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
It's only a matter of time before extreme heat coupled with a power failure that knocks out air-conditioning kills as many people as Hurricane Katrina, says Mark Gongloff. And a "Heat Katrina may already be happening, just in slow motion." Officials in Arizona's Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, reported 645 heat-related deaths last year, up from 61 in 2014. Climate change is causing increasingly brutal heat waves that will "become much deadlier" if governments can't "shield" vulnerable people.
'The industry that ate America'
Franklin Foer in The Atlantic
"Lobbying, like Hollywood and Silicon Valley, is a quintessentially American industry," says Franklin Foer. Since taking root in the 1970s, it had grown to employ more than 117,000 workers in metropolitan Washington, D.C., by 2016. "In theory, lobbying is a constitutionally protected form of redressing grievances." Businesses have "every right" to tell government officials how policies affect them. "In practice, lobbying has become a pernicious force" that outspends other groups "in service of its own ends."
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Delhi's dogs earn Supreme Court reprieve
IN THE SPOTLIGHT After an outcry from the public and animal rights activists, India's Supreme Court walks back a controversial plan to round the city's stray dog population into shelters
-
8 hotels with ace tennis courts
The Week Recommends Bring your A game
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other cities
speed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore
-
'America is simply not investing at the level the crisis demands'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfully
Speed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Gavin Newsom's Trump-style trolling roils critics while thrilling fans
TALKING POINTS The California governor has turned his X account into a cutting parody of Trump's digital cadence, angering Fox News conservatives
-
'It's our financialized economy in miniature'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by Trump
Speed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
'That message may seem unimpeachable'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day