The governor, considered a potential vice-presidential running mate for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, described Cricket as “less than worthless” and “untrainable.” Obviously, she did not abide by the old adage that a dog is man’s (or woman’s) best friend.

Chennault could not get only fighter pilots, so many of his recruits, like Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, of later Black Sheep Squadron fame, and Charles Bond, came from units flying other types of aircraft — bombers. Also to be discussed were descriptions of how the Tigers were supposed to fight in the air, using the P-40 to get its best results against the Japanese fighters. Generally, this involved using diving attacks to get a speed advantage and to avoid turning fights with the nimbler Zero.

“Media elites have convinced themselves that there is a crisis in Social Security,” said Eric Kingson, a professor of social work at Syracuse University and co-chair of the advocacy group Social Security Works. Kingson, who served as a policy advisor on presidential commissions on the issue in the 1980s and ’90s, said there is indeed an increasing crisis around adequate funding for retirement in America. “But they [journalists] focus on the most conservative framing of the crisis,” he said. In reality, Kingson added, “Social Security is the one bright spot” in the federal government.

The spirit of John Hancock and his gang of aristocrats——optimists all who risked their lives and property as signatories to revolution——is rare. Regrettably, that optimistic spirit——that spirit that drives all American progress——has been at historic odds with an uncharitable impulse among the American people: a selfishness that paradoxically afflicts both the afflicters and the afflicted, as we see in this election season.