Sunday Roundup (POLITICS)
This week we saw how dissimilar appeals to our better and lesser angels look. For the former, there was Jimmy Carter's grace-filled press conference on Thursday revealing that cancer has spread to his brain. He reflected proudly on the work of his Carter Center, which, among many other things, has nearly eradicated the misery-causing guinea worm disease. But the week began very differently, as Donald Trump released an immigration plan that would end birthright citizenship, a proposal that would involve reverting to before the 14th amendment, ratified in 1868 to grant freed slaves citizenship in the wake of the shameful Dred Scott decision. Quite a vision for the future. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush said he disagreed with Trump, but made sure to get in on the xenophobia with the term "anchor babies." It was a week that gave us two very different examples of statesmanship and what America can stand for.