Vox Sentences: America is better than this … right?

After an ambush of police officers caps a week of unrest, America is taking a hard look at itself.

Vox Sentences is written by Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind.

TOP NEWS

Ambushed

Getty / Spencer Platt

• Five law enforcement officers were killed in an ambush attack in Dallas on Thursday night. Seven more people, including two civilians, were injured.

  [Vox / German Lopez, Jennifer Williams, and Libby Nelson]

• The suspected attacker, Micah Xavier Johnson, is believed to have acted alone. He told police he was trying to kill white people, in particular white police.

  [BuzzFeed News / Ellie Hall]

• Johnson was killed by what police described as a "bomb robot" — the first time American police have ever killed someone by drone.

  [Emptywheel / Marcy Wheeler]

• The tragic irony: The Dallas Police Department has been a role model for the nation in reducing the use of force by police.

  [Slate / Leon Neyfakh]

• Before the attack, the department was proudly posting photos of officers protecting marchers who were protesting recent police killings elsewhere in the country. And it had every right to be proud.

  [Vox / Emily Crockett]

• (In case it needed to be said: The group that organized the protest march was horrified by the ambush.)

  [Dallas Morning News / Dianne Solís]

• It's worth noting that lethal attacks on police are very rare. Police are generally safe. But that doesn't erase the feelings of unease — or address worries that it's going to get worse.

  [Vox / Dara Lind]

Is 2016 the new 1968? []

ullstein bild / Schuppe

• Let's talk about those "fears it's going to get worse."

• For one thing, if you wanted to find a trend of people attacking white people or police officers, you could. In Georgia, a man reportedly called 911 and then ambushed the police officer who replied to the call.

  [AP / Kate Brumback and Ross Bynum]

• In Tennessee, four people were injured and one killed Thursday morning, by a man who claimed he was upset by recent police shootings.

  [WJHL ]

• On the other hand, those attacks on police don't erase this week's attacks by police — if white Americans feel police are unsafe now, black Americans have been reminded that they are never safe ever.

  [Vox / Dara Lind]

• It's tempting to see the two sides as inevitably in conflict — to describe America, as the New York Post did, as a country in "civil war."

  [Huffington Post / Michael Calderone]

• Even if you don't go quite that far, it's hard not to feel that America is simply less stable than it's been in a half-century. The comparisons to 1968 — the high-water mark for civil unrest in post-Reconstruction America — are coming fast.

  [The Atlantic / Julian E. Zelizer]

• But there's a good case for taking a step back. For one thing, the baseline of 2016 America is a lot higher than the baseline of 1968 America.

  [New York / Jonathan Chait]

• The more promising sign, though, is that many of the leaders who'd be best positioned to exploit the division ... haven't. Donald Trump's statement condemned the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling along the deaths of the officers in Dallas; Paul Ryan gave a speech praising the protesters who marched on Thursday.

  [Vox / Tara Golshan]

• (Exception: the lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, who was a huge prick about it.)

  [Talking Points Memo / Caitlin MacNeal]

• Most surprising of all, perhaps, are the conservatives – like RedState's Leon Wolf — who looked at the Dallas ambush as the inevitable consequence of the police impunity that led to the deaths of Castile and Sterling. If you want to believe America will get stronger, you should read Wolf's piece.

  [RedState / Leon H. Wolf]

• You should also read Alexandra Petri's. "You don’t have to pretend that America was better than it was to insist that it can be better than it is. "

  [Washington Post / Alexandra Petri]

Good job(s)!

Getty / Spencer Platt

• In unabashedly good news, the US economy added 287,000 jobs in June — the strongest month for jobs since last October.

  [Reuters / Dion Rabouin]

• This is a pleasant surprise. No one was expecting such a good jobs month — especially because last month the economy added a pathetic 11,000 jobs (freaking everyone out about global recession).

  [Vox / Timothy B. Lee]

• The markets have reacted accordingly: US stock indexes have returned to pre-Brexit levels, and the S&P 500 is near record highs.

  [WSJ / Connie Dreibush and Riva Gold]

• Their enthusiasm may be foolish. It's quite possible that most traders are underestimating the chance that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again in September.

  [CNBC / Fred Imbert]

• Of course, the more enthusiastic the markets are (because they don't think there will be a rate hike), the more likely the Fed is to raise rates. This is an infernal cycle and a totally unavoidable one, and the Fed needs to listen to Tim Lee.

  [Vox / Timothy B. Lee]

MISCELLANEOUS

This editorial memo was sent to Gawker staff, but it should be sent to all of America. [John Cook via Twitter]

• There will not be blood: Theranos's beleaguered CEO has been banned for operating labs for two years.

  [Michael Siconolfi and John Carreyrou / The Wall Street Journal]

• The British military clears the lasses to join the lads in combat.

  [Rowena Mason and Ewen MacAskill / The Guardian]

• Delegates of both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders now want the party to stand against the TPP.

  [Daniel Strauss / Politico]

• Don't look now, but major diseases appear to be falling at a big and inexplicable rate.

  [Gina Kolata / New York Times]

VERBATIM

"This is an essay on being black and confused, and how to survive suffocating sadness." [Ashley Weatherford / New York magazine]

• "Iraqi leaders have woven the country’s narratives around their hatred for one another. Their tussle for control over communities and the country has come at the expense of both."

  [Mardean Isaac / The Awl]

• "Grab a Barf Bag and Watch Boeing’s 787-9 Fly Like a Fighter Jet"

  [Jack Stewart / Wired]

• "The high-priced puppy industry is unregulated, sometimes illegal, and currently enjoying a booming market."

  [Kim Kavin / The New Republic]

• "Netanyahu doesn’t seem to be going anywhere; instead it is Israel’s former generals ... who are being marginalized while the longest-running prime minister in the Jewish state’s history consolidates his power."

  [Aaron David Miller / Politico]

WATCH THIS

Why there aren't any great white sharks in captivity [Vox / Joss Fong]

Vox / Joss Fong

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