There’s no word yet from the authorities about the cause of the train derailment in Philadelphia; the death toll’s now up to seven and the count of injured has risen to over 200, with eight in critical condition. We can all agree with Philly mayor Michael Nutter who called the scene “an absolute disastrous mess.”
Here are some less distressing midday news/views items:
* National Review‘s Quin Hillyer has Jeb Bush’s rapidly fleeing back on the Iraq War: hell, yes, he’d do it all over again!
* WaPo reveals nasty-sounding 2013 bipartisan congressional junket to Azerbaijan paid for by foreign government-owned oil company, though no evidence so far Members knew where the money was coming from.
* TNR’s Rebecca Leber totes up painful evidence voters don’t care all that much about climate change.
* Fascinating Pew study suggests that all other things being equal (which they rarely are), internet-based self-administered polling may elicit more honest answers on sensitive topics.
* At the Atlantic, Matt Ford offers a brief history of how Americans have executed people.
And in non-political news:
* Paul Waldman puts up fabulous photo of Chewbacca being prepared for Madame Tussaud’s.
As we break for lunch, here’s the first Stevie Wonder (without the “Little”) hit a lot of us heard: “I Was Made To Love Her,” originally released when Wonder was 17 (his mother was a co-author), performed here in London in 1989.
UPDATE: Chewbacca link fixed. Sorry about that.
