Editorial

What they're saying…

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers around the world

Feb. 18

Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal, on President's Day, and the President's office:

Many adults remember celebrating the Feb. 12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln and the Feb. 22 birthday of George Washington each year when they were children. ...

The office of president is a very difficult job that can also be a dangerous one. Four of our 43 presidents -- Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy -- were assassinated in office. Others, such as Gerald Ford and especially Ronald Reagan, who was seriously wounded, had narrow escapes. ...

When the next Presidents' Day rolls around, America will have a new president living in the White House. That person, the 44th U.S. president, will face opposition from the first moment he or she takes office and will endure criticism that will last long0after the 45th president has taken up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

It is an extremely difficult job in which it is impossible to please everyone.

Not every president has the stature of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, but they all have earned their places in history, and they deserve recognition from their nation.

Feb. 18

Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, on the foreclosure crisis:

Mortgage lenders and loan service companies insist the foreclosure crisis is a national problem that demands national solutions. Partly on that basis, the industry association, the Mortgage Bankers Association, rejected an overture last fall for mortgage companies in Ohio to join in a voluntary compact proposed by Gov. Ted Strickland.

The mortgage companies preferred to address foreclosure prevention through a national alliance, Hope Now. ... The alliance has not lived up to expectations.

The idea for Hope Now, launched last fall, was that participating loan servicing companies would be amenable to freezing low introductory interest rates and renegotiating loans for thousands of borrowers with subprime adjustable rates. The companies were required to notify such borrowers 120 days before the loans reset. Homeowners could call a toll-free number for guidance. So far, the effort has led to loan modifications for a mere 10,000 borrowers from the 176,000 callers to the hotline.

The less-than-satisfactory outcome hardly surprises. Essentially, Hope Now is little more than a phone service, not advocates, as one official put it, ''trying aggressively to convince the lender to do something. ''Which is precisely the problem.

Feb. 16

The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo., on schools and guns:

Here we go again, but it has to be said: Northern Illinois University is another gun-free zone. So when a suicidal mass murderer showed up at a lecture hall Thursday, nobody had the means to stop him. As a result, he was able to shoot 21 people, killing five.

Illinois is largely a rural state, and lots of students at Northern Illinois University own weapons and know how to use them in defense. Unfortunately, the code of student conduct requires that all weapons be stored at the university security office.

We can be reasonably certain that the policy told the killer, who strategically planned a brief, rapid-fire assault, this much: Nobody in the crowd will take you out when you start shooting.

That, in fact, was the case. Everyone but the killer obeyed the school's gun rule, giving him the time and freedom he needed to kill. Since those who administer schools aren't getting the message, it's time to consider state-by-state bans on gun prohibition at public universities. And it's time for states to require high schools and elementary schools to provide reasonable security for students. It's the least we can do.

Feb. 12

Kalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette, on Michigan and its delegates:

... The Democratic National Committee informed Michigan Democrats that if they persisted in holding an early primary, the DNC wouldn't seat delegates from Michigan at the Democratic National Convention in August.

As a result, Democratic candidates ignored Michigan. The additional clout that state Democrats thought they would get by disobeying the DNC evaporated.

But that was back when it was widely assumed that the Democrats would certainly have a clear front-runner after Super Tuesday. Or that at least someone, probably U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, would clinch the nomination well before the nominating convention. That's not quite so certain now.

Should the Michigan Democratic Party schedule a do-over election this spring or summer? It depends.

If either Obama or Clinton has clinched the nomination by May, then Democrats would be best off to tell the DNC what it can do with its caucus. But what if neither Clinton nor Obama emerges with enough delegates by late spring?

Then Michigan Democrats would do well to go along and hold a caucus -- at the party's expense, of course. Suddenly Michigan would matter again. Clinton and Obama would both be forced to campaign hard in Michigan. ...

Although Democrats would like to see the nominating process wrapped up soon and the intraparty sniping laid to rest, Michigan might better benefit from an Obama-Clinton race that goes down to the wire.

Feb. 15

Bristol (Va.) Herald-Courier, on recovering from recent tornadoes

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced plans to send trailers to storm-ravaged counties in Tennessee and Arkansas. FEMA bought the trailers in 2005 to help the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but didn't use them. More than 6,300 trailers remain in storage in Hope, Ark., and 75,000 unused trailers are stored nationwide.

But this isn't a simple story of government waste or bureaucratic ineptitude. It's much worse.

Just two days after the trailers-for-Tennessee announcement, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of potential health risks. The CDC has confirmed that many of the FEMA trailers contain high levels of formaldehyde gas.

Short-term exposure to the pungent gas causes respiratory problems, nose bleeds and eye irritation. Long-term exposure can cause cancer.

Now, FEMA is looking to unload its tainted trailers on unsuspecting Tennesseans. Outrageously, the agency issued a statement vouching that the Tennessee-bound trailers were safe even after the CDC issued its warning. The agency has since said it would test any trailers sent to tornado victims. Tennessee leaders should not accept FEMA's word on the matter. The agency has a poor track record.

Feb. 14

Chicago Tribune, on the Westminster Kennel Club dog show:

A merry little hound.

Behold the beagle, the wiliest counter-surfer in dogdom, slow to housebreak, rarely the valedictorian in obedience class and eager to eat itself to death, given half a chance. The beagle has a lot to say but can't hear you calling if its nose is to the ground, which is always. It ain't nothing but a hound dog, in other words.

So it was a treat to see Uno, the beagle, fetch top honors this week at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Madison Square Garden. Though he represents a breed never absent from the 10 most popular lists, he's the first beagle to win Best in Show in the competition's 132 years.

He bested 2,600 dogs, including finalists Charmin, an ''elegant'' Sealyham terrier named for the squeezably soft toilet tissue; Remy, a standard poodle described by one writer as ''a cross between a Victorian magistrate and a young Farrah Fawcett;'' Marge the Weimaraner; Macey the Akita, Vikki the toy poodle and Deuce, an Australian shepherd just back from maternity leave.

With his perpetually wagging tail and his tendency to engage spectators with a burst of look-at-me baying, the underdog charmed crowd and judge alike.

The morning after, thousands of people were no doubt in the hunt for a beagle of their own. Uh oh. ...