Another Week Like That

Woodard's 11-Nations map held up pretty well during the mid-terms.  Leaving aside the important effects of gerrymandering and voter suppression ("Why Wasn't the Blue Wave Bigger?"), the map predicts that Democrats, standing for social improvement through collective action and regulation, would have a harder time advancing in the Old South and Greater Applachia than in midwestern Yankeedom.  And that's what happened.  Wisconsin and Michigan reverted to their historic baselines, and Georgia and Florida didn't quite depart from theirs. One change to watch is that Far West, which has been solidly Republican for a few decades, is increasingly in play.

We also have had another mass killing, this one in a country-western bar in Ventura County halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. The shooter has now been identified, and fits a pattern we'll discuss next week.  If you're interested in this issue, consider this piece, What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest an Answer.

Echoes from the Toronto Drive-By Killings

Some course themes reappeared in this crime. One was "suicide by police"-- the van driver specifically requested that the officer shoot him "in the head."  The second is police killings: this cop did not take the bait.  He shouted repeatedly, "get down or be shot," but he did not shoot, even when the driver charged him with a weapon. The restraint here was remarkable and something I'd like to see much more often in the U.S.  The third is "toxic masculinity," tied directly back to Isla Vista's killer Elliott Rodger.  Alek Minassian's

last Facebook post read: “The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!”

Small world, not in a good way.