Record Gun Violence and the Democrats’ Dilemma

Plus: the crisis facing children’s hospitals; Democrats voting in G.O.P. primaries; and the helicopters that ate New York. View in browser | Update your preferences Wednesday, January 26, 2022 In today’s newsletter: • The crisis facing children’s hospitals • Should Democratic primary voters help save the G.O.P. from itself? • The helicopters that ate New York Record Gun Violence and the Democrats’ Dilemma Amid continued calls for police reform and a surge in firearm deaths, the Biden Administration and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are trying to balance public safety and politics. Photograph by Lev Radin / Sipa / AP A national spike in gun violence has become another of the country’s many divisive culture-war arguments. As David Rohde writes, it is not simply a symbolic dispute but an urgent public-health crisis facing all Americans—a matter of real tragedies befalling real people. A serious response requires rigorous and sustainable solutions from both federal and local authorities, but, in order to take action, leaders such as Joe Biden and Eric Adams are facing a complicated political squeeze. Progressives are wary of a return to heavy-handed tough-on-crime policies that vastly overreach their original mandates; many conservatives seem content to criticize Biden’s “lawless” America while subverting any attempt to limit the sale of firearms. As things stand now, no one is happy—and the status quo is untenable. Read “Record Levels of Gun Violence and the Democrats’ Dilemma.” —Ian Crouch, newsletter editor From the News Desk Daily Comment Should Democratic Primary Voters Help Save the G.O.P. from Itself? Crossover voting has an unfortunate reputation, but perhaps it’s just a question of the intentions behind it. By Elizabeth Kolbert Mobilizing The Choppers That Ate New York Complaints about helicopter noise have increased sevenfold since the pandemic began, and a citizen army called Stop the Chop isn’t going to take it anymore. By Zach Helfand Editor’s Pick Medical Dispatch When COVID Means Not Enough Beds in a Children’s Hospital Unit The main problem is not pediatric coronavirus infections—it’s staff shortages. By Rachel Pearson Culture Dept. Culture Desk The Damage Done by a Hollywood Stereotype A conversation with Robert Capron, who was cast as Rowley Jefferson in “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” By Julian Towers The New Yorker Documentary When a Cruise Ship Is as Big as Its Port “View” offers a sensory look at the ill effects of cruise tourism on a Norwegian port city. Film by Odveig Klyve Text by Rachel Riederer The Front Row In “Compartment No. 6,” the Stranger on a Train Is a Drunken Russian Bear This Finnish film is heavy-handed, regressive, and short-listed for an Oscar. By Richard Brody From the Archive Q. & A. The Politics of Supreme Court Retirements Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring from the Supreme Court. From 2021: An interview with the legal scholar Noah Feldman on politics, partisanship, and the Court. By Isaac Chotiner Fun & Games Dept. Daily Cartoon Wednesday, January 26th By Jason Adam Katzenstein Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Will Nediger Crossword A Moderately Challenging Puzzle Gemological nickname for the Australian women’s national basketball team: five letters. By Erik Agard Daily Shouts What’s the Worst That Could Happen? You jump out of an airplane, and you find that your parachute has been feasted on by moths, and there isn’t a trampoline in sight. By Alex Watt P.S. David Ortiz, the retired Red Sox slugger and Boston folk hero, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. By the end of his playing days, it was pretty clear that Ortiz was bound for Cooperstown, but it wasn’t always obvious. Ben McGrath followed Ortiz during the 2010 season, when the hitter was mired in a terrible slump and looked washed up. Yet Ortiz was, in his profane way, optimistic, and he’d be proven right with more stellar years to come. “I don’t go back to my house, sit down to sleep, wake up the next day, and just wait for the magic,” he said. “Unh-unh. I’m thinking about what I’m doing wrong. I watch baseball. I think about baseball. I eat baseball. I shit baseball.” Today’s newsletter was written by Ian Crouch. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.