Jay has just returned from his annual foray to the Oslo Freedom Forum, and offers reflections on the stunning bravery of so many people in so many awful places on the globe. One young person in particular, 21-year-old North Korean escapee Yeonmi Park, makes you aware of how undeserving you are of your own good fortune.

Still, there are things to be denounced and anathematized, and after due reflections on Park, we get to it. We cannot stand supercilious journalists treating politicians as children during political debates, and this being October of an election year, there’s been quite a lot of that. We cannot believe that the Department of Defense has announced that one of its top security priorities is . . . climate change. We observe that the “War on Women” — a charge that only a stupid electorate could ever take seriously — is falling flat this year. In fact, there are other reasons to be cheerful about the drift of politics, but we don’t indulge in too much optimism. Wouldn’t want to spoil our reputations. Do join us.