In a policy analysis on the Brookings Institution’s website, Fiona Hill contrasted two world leaders: “Putin believes that things will go wrong in military and other operations — based on his own experience in the security services — but he also believes he will always find a way to fix them. Trump believes nothing will go wrong, and if it does, someone else is to blame.” (Marion Kelly, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
In The Atlantic, Charlie Warzel reacted to a photo of cleanup efforts at the cursed Reflecting Pool: “Four men in camo waders are in the pool. Water, the color of fresh Mountain Dew, laps at their thighs as they dredge the bottom with poles like cranberry farmers on a faraway radioactive planet.” (Beth Dillon, Vashon Island, Wash., and Dave Piazza, North Las Vegas, Nev., among others)
Also in The Atlantic, Alexandra Petri sought a final word on those iconically foul waters, which may bear some blame for a fowl fatality: “The Reflecting Pool is a metaphor so perfect, it feels almost valedictory, as though symbolism as a whole gave up and decided to sign off. On its way out, it killed a duck.” (Paula Craft, Bigfork, Mont., and Stuart Antell, Manhattan)
In The Times, Gary Shteyngart visited an American landmark: “Monticello is the key to America and America will break your heart. With every brick, every vegetable plot, every budding tulip, Thomas Jefferson’s estate announces the uniqueness of our civilization, just as it submerges the visitor in the gruesome details of its original sin.” (Shelley A. Saltzman, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.)
Also in The Times, Jamelle Bouie examined the country’s founding document: “As we mark, this year, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is important to see that its meaning is dynamic. And that meaning, as we understand it, flows less from the men who signed it than from those who heard its words and took ownership of them as a standard for their freedom and independence — not from Britain, but from bondage.” (Nancy Montgomery Boise, Idaho)
