Editorial Roundup

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:

Nov. 16

The Anniston (Ala.) Star, on the politics of sports:

It's a long-standing lament of the political activist: "If only people devoted the time, effort and attention to politics that they apply to sports, we could change the world."

This year, we may have seen exactly that: an astonishing intensity and interest in the presidential race - largely because of the campaign of Barack Obama - that's matched in the cultural sphere only by our national obsession with sports. ...

The often-discussed iron wall between sports and politics, breached in the past by such figures as Muhammad Ali and Billie Jean King, may have been forever obliterated. ...

So where is all that steam, not just from fans but from politically engaged athletes as well, going to go now? Will it dissipate or find a home in another piston?

A lot of it could certainly be funneled back into sports. ...

There are also certainly some who dream, starry-eyed, that the people who flooded Obama rallies will stay engaged in the political process with the same overheated campaign fervor.

But if we don't magically become a nation of wonks, here's another alternative. What if the newly politically energized citizen who also happens to be a sports fan takes a greater interest in the politics of sport? What if athletes take on political issues in their communities, using their hyper-exalted, Nike-sponsored platforms to say something meaningful about the world? ...

Fans may have a slightly less exalted platform than the people they cheer, but don't confuse the humble with the powerless. It's still the people in the seats who could demand change in the world of sports. ...

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On the Net:

http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2008/as-insight-1116-0-8k15c0810.htm

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Nov. 18

The Daily Times, Maryville, Tenn., on the country's economic problems:

We would not begin to know the answers to our economic problems. ...

We do have a few observations and questions.

Of course, one of the first is where will the bailout stop?

Restaurants, retailers, automobile dealers, ALCOA, wholesalers, newspapers and many other businesses are also hurting - businesses that have not only followed the rules but used good business judgment.

We do think that certain segments of the economy must be reinforced from taxpayer funds but on a nonpolitical and hopefully refundable basis. They should be loans, not gifts of taxpayer money. ...

Among the urgent needs is some temporary relief for those facing immediate eviction from their homes. This, like other help, should not be a gift but a temporary effort to help these homeowners save their homes by making their debt manageable.

We think help must be given to the three major American automakers because they are a keystone block of our economy and will soon be out of operating money which would be an almost unmanageable job loss. ...

And the really bottom issue is how regulated should the economy be? ...

How do we compensate the lending institutions that continued to use good judgment? ...

We do not think there are easy or perfect answers, but neither can we afford to leave these issues unanswered. Action is needed.

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On the Net:

http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20081118/OP01/311189991

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Nov. 14

The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., on lobbying for federal bailout funding:

In this moment of economic malaise, it's comforting to know that at least one group of hardworking Americans is destined for a payday from the big federal bailout program - Washington's legendary lobbyists. ...

Lobbyists are swarming like locusts at the Treasury Department as Secretary Henry Paulson and his merry men ponder how to cut up the $700 billion bailout pie. ...

The usual suspects are lined up at the pay window - the tapped-out banks and savings and loans (actual and would-be) plus the Big Three U.S. auto firms. But the line doesn't end with them. ...

Wasn't this supposed to be about banks? Well, yes. But now even what defines a bank has become unclear under pressure from lobbyists. Allstate and MetLife, insurance companies that own savings and loans, and GMAC, the finance arm of General Motors, aspire to reinvent themselves as banks or savings and loans as prelude to a federal payout.

How did this all happen? The usual Washington way. Within days, hours maybe, of the $700 billion bailout announcement, K Street's corps of law firms and lobbyists was busy alerting potential clients to hard-cash opportunities they'd never dreamed of awaiting in Washington.

In the end - and assuming good sense prevails - the least deserving among this tin cup brigade will get nothing. But it won't be a total loss, at least not for their lobbyists. Win or lose, their clients' checks are already in the mail.

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On the Net:

http://www.nj.com/starledger/

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Nov. 19

The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C., on U.S. intelligence tools and leadership:

The Pelosi Democrats in Congress spent the last two years railing against the national security policies of George W. Bush, symbolized by expanded wiretapping, stressful interrogations, the Guantanamo prison and, of course, Iraq. Now they are unwisely trying to push President-elect Barack Obama into decisions that have less to do with prudent courses of action than with signaling victory over those symbols.

The Washington Post reports, for instance, that senior congressional Democrats have decided the nation's top two intelligence officers must be replaced right away because they have publicly defended the intelligence value of the Bush administration programs for stressful interrogations and expanded surveillance powers. ...

The president-elect must take the utmost care in changing the rules of engagement in a war in which intelligence tools are critical. There should be no return to the Clinton era's rigid rules that discouraged intelligence officials from intercepting communications among suspected terrorists.

Above all, the incoming commander in chief should not rush into changing the leadership of the intelligence agencies just because some Pelosi Democrats are demanding trophy heads. He must be not be trapped into mistaking political symbols for reality.

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On the Net:

http://www.charleston.net/editorial

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Nov. 16

The News-Gazette, Champaign, Ill., on John Edwards back on the public stage:

... Former Democratic Party presidential and vice presidential candidate John Edwards celebrated his coming-back-out party earlier this week at Indiana University in Bloomington. ...

Edwards was caught last summer by the National Enquirer in a Los Angeles hotel room with his mistress. ...

The Bloomington event was closed to all cameras as well as the news media. Further, Edwards accepted only questions that were submitted in writing and reviewed by event managers. ...

Edwards announced that he's still as opposed to poverty as he was last spring when he was running for president as an opponent of poverty. One of the major ways he's fighting poverty is by going to various college campuses and accepting large speaking fees. ...

Despite his touchy-feely rhetoric and silky-smooth style, it should be obvious to all - especially Democrats - that Edwards is a rank opportunist and a purely self-interested liar. ...

Just imagine if Edwards had waged a winning campaign for the presidential nomination with that skeleton fighting its way out of his closet. ...

Nonetheless, Edwards is on his way back, dipping his toe in the water. It won't be long before he immerses himself fully in public life. When he does, it will be important to remember how dishonest Edwards really is. There are enough people like him in public life. We don't need more.

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On the Net:

http://www.news-gazette.com

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Nov. 17

Chicago Sun-Times, on book advice for President-elect Barack Obama:

Everyone, it seems, has advice for President-elect Barack Obama.

Even what he should read.

Historian and public intellectual Gary Wills recommends Books 6 and 7 of The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides for the lessons it can teach about the Iraq war.

Mystery writer Sara Paretsky suggests The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky and Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, among others.

A fifth-grader in a radio interview points to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, so Obama can get some ideas to help end bullying in schools.

All fine suggestions, but the recommendations are most interesting for what they say about how many of us view the president-elect.

We see him - and isn't this refreshing - as a man actually interested in ideas, with a great sense of curiosity and a high-wattage intellect.

Could you imagine anyone recommending, with a straight face, that the current occupant of the Oval Office check out a little Thucydides?

Or Dostoevsky?

Our hope is that all this interest in Obama's reading habits, along with a rediscovered enthusiasm in some corners for elevated discourse, will spark a national discussion about good, serious books, the ones full of ideas that matter. ...

Setting a national example has been Oprah Winfrey and her book club.

Think of it, an Obama Book Club.

Since Obama will be busy, he could appoint Oprah to run it. (We're kidding, sort of, but you've got to admit: Oprah would do a brilliant job.)

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On the Net:

http://www.sun-times.com

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Nov. 15

Rocky Mountain News, Denver, on economic bailout oversight:

When Congress established the $700 billion bailout fund, it promised strict and thorough oversight. Over a month later, with $290 billion already committed, we have our answer as to what that means: There isn't any.

The legislation called for a special inspector general within the Treasury to audit and investigate the bailout, reporting on what assets the government is acquiring, its reasons for doing so and their value. The special inspector has yet to be named.

Congress has yet to name the members of a special congressional oversight panel. The deadline under the law for the first oversight report by that panel has passed and the panel, when it's finally named, may not be able to make the Jan. 20 deadline for a much more detailed report. ...

The bailout law also created an entity called the Financial Stability Oversight Board, whose five members include Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who would effectively be doing oversight over themselves. In any case, the board has no staff.

Congress promised the hallmarks of the federal government's massive intervention in the markets would be oversight and transparency. A top priority of its lame duck session must be to make good on that promise.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/6ec89q

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Nov. 17

Los Angeles Times, on screening homosexuality out of the Catholic priesthood:

... The Vatican recently issued a statement re-emphasizing that even chaste gay men are to be barred from the priesthood. Never mind that large numbers of gay priests - estimates range from 25% to 50% - already serve the faithful, with most adhering to their vow of celibacy. ...

("Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood") also urges seminaries to enlist the aid of psychologists in screening candidates for homosexuality and other "psychic disturbances." ...

Obviously, the church must be free to define the qualifications for its clergy based on theological arguments that many outside (and within) the fold find unpersuasive. ...

To be fair, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States - including the Archdiocese of Los Angeles - operates under its own guidelines for the screening of prospective priests, which can include consultations with psychologists. ...

Yet even if the U.S. church is following a more compassionate policy than Vatican pronouncements would seem to authorize, the role of psychologists in screening applicants raises troubling ethical questions, as even psychologists who approve of such cooperation admit. ...

If the church - or a diocese within the church - takes the Vatican decree literally, it's hard to see how a psychologist could lend his or her expertise to the thwarting of a young man's aspiration to serve God simply because he happens to be gay. In our view, that's not just cruel; it's unprofessional.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/6h8wok

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Nov. 19

Politiken, Copenhagen, Denmark, on Presient-elect Barack Obama's plan to shut down Guantanamo Bay:

Barack Obama, the United States' next president, plans to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. Good idea.

The prison has been a blot on American and international rule of law. Obama will also ensure that the United States doesn't use torture neither in Guantanamo or elsewhere. High time.

The America of (President George) Bush tried to promote the democratic rule of law while people were detained without trial and tortured has been an affront to American values and a gross violation of prisoners' human rights.

The fact that Obama will use the shutting down of Guantanamo to try to regain the moral leadership is a very obvious and urgent step. ...

All detainees at Guantanamo have the right to return home to their own communities. They must receive a certificate stating that they have not been convicted of anything, just as we must assume that Barack Obama will arrange for compensation.

Their own governments should then welcome their citizens and protect them against more harm.

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On the Net:

http://www.Politiken.dk

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Nov. 19

Diena, Riga, Latvia, on Russia's crisis and draft law to extend the presidential term:

Last week, the World Bank released a forecast that Russia's economy will worsen due to lower crude oil prices and capital flight. ... A week ago Russia's finance minister announced that the budget must be adjusted to reflect $50 per barrel oil. The "fat years" are gone.

On this backdrop political bustle has begun - one showing that confusion, perhaps even a silent panic, has descended on Russia's ruling brigade. Two weeks ago in a speech to the Federation Council, President Dmitry Medvedev proposed amending the constitution so that State Duma (lower house of parliament) deputies' term would be extended to five years, and the president's to six.

The amendments, naturally, will not affect the current president - they are his gift to the next one. ...

Work on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin throne began even before Medvedev's election. It was not clear how this change would be carried out "in natural circumstances," but the world financial crisis interfered. ...

The prime minister's seat, which to Putin and his team seemed good enough in the spring, in times of crisis becomes a drag. The average Russian citizen sees the economy as a result of the government's and, most of all, the premier's work. But the presidency is a position beyond everyday worries, which is why Putin, in all probability, will soon return to the Kremlin.

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On the Net:

http://www.diena.lv

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Nov. 19

The Independent, London, on cocaine trafficking:

No supply chain is quite as lethal and destructive as that of cocaine. That was the message from the Colombian Vice-President, Francisco Santos Calderon, at a meeting of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Belfast (on) Nov. 18.

Mr. Calderon informed his audience that drug production is causing environmental disaster in Colombia, with illegal cultivators destroying 200,000 hectares of forest each year to produce the coca plant. But his purpose was not merely to draw our attention to this crime, but to ram home our own complicity in it. "If you snort a gram of cocaine," he said, "you are destroying four square metres of pristine rainforest."

Mr. Calderon is right to point to the hypocrisy of those who claim to be environmentally conscious, yet see nothing wrong in indulging in a few lines of "blow" at the weekend. He is also justified in emphasising that anyone who takes cocaine is indirectly helping to fund brutal drug trafficking groups and human rights-abusing rebel militias which have a stake in the trade, such as the Farc in Colombia.

This is one area in which there has actually been some good news of late. ...

But we need to recognise there is only so much that can be done at the supply end of the drugs trade. Poor countries will always struggle to control traffickers. ...

It is up to us in the rich world to take a lead by staunching the demand for drugs through rehabilitation programmes and other radical measures. ...

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/6odnx9

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Nov. 14

Japan Times, Tokyo, on hard times for U.S. automakers:

If there were any doubts about the severity of the economic downturn and its impact on the "real economy," they were put to rest last week by reports from U.S. automakers. ...

A bailout is almost certain to follow, but it should come with conditions: American automakers must retool and reorganize to build cars for the 21st century. ...

Not surprisingly, heads of the Big Three automakers - GM, Ford and Chrysler - are pushing the U.S. government for help. ...

Will the government provide the aid? Most likely, yes. While the Bush administration has been reluctant to open the coffers, President-elect Barack Obama noted the plight of the auto industry in his press conference last week, highlighting the presence of Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on his economic advisory team. But the most important factor guiding the thinking of lawmakers is jobs.

A GM bankruptcy would cost 2.5 million jobs from the automaker, its suppliers and related businesses. As many as 3 million jobs are tied to the industry nationwide. The pressure to act is mounting. ...

Auto manufacturing is a strategic industry: not only because of job creation, but because of the technology it spins off and the skills it requires. No government can afford to abandon this sector. The question then is whether automakers will abuse that bottom line and use it to avoid making adjustments that are required in a new economic environment. If so, automakers can remain masters of their own destinies. If not, they will continue to be overwhelmed by a rapidly changing world.

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On the Net:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20081114a1.html