Out on a Limb

The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal’s “Best of the Web” at WSJ written by the editor, James Taranto.

Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate
“In some versions of a story published Oct. 20, 2014, The Associated Press reported that Ohio Gov. John Kasich said in an AP interview he did not believe lawmakers in Washington would repeal the health care law if Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate. Kasich was responding to a question about the expansion of Medicaid. When he said he thought ‘it’ would not be repealed, the AP initially understood him to be referring to the entire health care law, known formally as the Affordable Care Act, since Medicaid expansion is part of that law and not a separate piece of legislation. Kasich later told the AP he had been referring only to the expansion of Medicaid. The AP’s initial story should have made this distinction. The AP’s story should have made clear that Kasich often discusses Medicaid expansion separately from the law as a whole, and that the governor did not backtrack from his earlier statement in the second interview. The AP’s initial versions of the story should have said Kasich believes the health care law should be repealed.”—Associated Press, March 4, 2015

Why Do Bad Things Always Happen to Him?
“I went to the [King v. Burwell oral] argument. . . . Court staff placed me in the back corner, three feet from the door; blocking my view of the justices were two red-velvet curtains, a marble pillar, another marble pillar, and a closed brass gate carved with images of acorns, oak leaves, dolphins, helmets and plumes, animal heads and the Ten Commandments.”—Dana Milbank, Washington Post, March 5

Out on a Limb
“Hillary Clinton’s Tweet Isn’t Going to Solve Her E-mail Problem. Not Even Close.”—headline, Washington Post website, March 5

(Note: The excerpts above are from the March 5 BOTW archives.)  For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”