MUCH OF central Hong Kong was awash in American flags on Sunday, as tens of thousands of prodemocracy protesters marched peacefully past the US consulate, imploring Congress and President Trump to support their struggle to keep Hong Kong free. Thousands of demonstrators sang the "Star Spangled Banner." Many held placards promoting the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a bipartisan measure on Capitol Hill to authorize sanctions on Chinese officials who suppress democracy and the rule of law in the city. Other signs directly addressed the US president: "Please liberate Hong Kong," they pleaded. "Defend our Constitution."

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AS HURRICANE DORIAN neared the US coast, officials in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina engaged in a familiar ritual: They declared a state of emergency and activated their state's price-gouging laws. These laws, which exist in 35 states, make it illegal for vendors to hike the prices of basic necessities. The Florida statute, for example, threatens merchants with up to 60 days in jail and stiff penalties if they sell "essential commodities" for a price that "grossly exceeds" what the items cost 30 days before the emergency. In some states, such as California or West Virginia, a seller who boosts prices by as little as 10 percent can be punished with a year in prison.

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On the eve of taking office in 1980 as Zimbabwe's first black prime minister, Robert Mugabe — a leader of the fight against minority white rule — promised a government committed to reconciliation and equality.

"If yesterday I fought as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights, and duties as myself," he said, addressing himself to his recent foes. Zimbabwe, he pledged, would embrace democratic tolerance and due process:

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THE GREATEST PRESIDENTS in our history were men of remarkable humility.

George Washington was the most admired man in America when he was chosen as the nation's first chief executive, yet as he headed from Virginia to New York to take the oath of office in April 1789, he was anything but full of himself. To his diary, he confided that he embarked on the presidency "oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express." He would do his best "to render service to my country," Washington wrote, but had "less hope of answering its expectations."

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WHEN YOUR only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail to be pounded. When you're Bernie Sanders and your only tool is socialism, every problem looks like a capitalist to be bashed.

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