Blather and Spew from the Columnists

O Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood: "NEW YORK The question that haunted me upon my arrival in America in 1985 was a highly unusual one. Despite the practical challenges of adjustment, it was perfectly impractical: How are one people so p...
[in International Herald Tribune]"
On The US News: US Editorials

Europe and America: A tale of two systems: ". Populations in the United States and Europe are both aging, but Europe is aging faster. In addition, European public pensions are more generous and retirees are more reliant on them. To sustain thes...
[in International Herald Tribune]"
On The US News: US Editorials

Stunning lack of accountability in use of Tasers: "Stun guns -- known generally as Tasers, the brand name of the biggest manufacturer -- have been linked to more than 70 deaths by police officers in the United States and Canada in the last four year...
[in San Francisco Chronicle]"
On The US News: US Editorials

Deciphering the bombast of Osama bin Laden: "It is hardly news that Osama bin Laden does not share the Enlightenment value placed on a citizen's right to vote for a representative government. Nonetheless, the latest audiotape from the Al Qaeda l...
[in International Herald Tribune]"
On The US News: US Editorials

William Pfaff: Soft-power victories: "Europe’s soft power continues to chip away at America’s armor."
On IHT: Editorials

Looking ahead: We must do better in ’05: "Was 2004 really that horrible a year, or does it only seem that way?"
On The Telegraph: Opinion

Orwell's nomineefor AG - Gonzales: "Richard Cohen: Somewhere in the U.S. government is the person who came up with the idea of fusing the wail of an infant with the incessant meow from a cat food commercial so as to torment detainees at Guantanamo."
On New York Daily News: Ideas & Opinions

Tyranny's great temptation: "While the elections to be held this month will be a definitive moment in Iraq's history, the worsening situation has led some to speculate whether the war has been worth the cost. And while reasonable people may differ on this question, Washington Post columnist William Raspberry crossed a line yesterday."
On The Washington Times: Opinion/Editorial

'Not so darn fast': "Not ready to give blessing to same-sex marriage"
On The Washington Times: Opinion/Editorial

America: Just another imperial power?: "Leisure & Arts"
On OpinionJournal

A Pall Over the Mall: "WERE THE NATIONAL Park Service free to do as it wishes, it's quite possible that memorials on the Mall would be encased in bulletproof, blast-proof, thermoplastic synthetic resin designed to ensure that the public and the nation's landmarks would never meet. What other conclusion can be drawn? In a sad parody of the paranoia that has encased Capitol Hill in bollards, jersey barriers and checkpoints, the Park Service now wants to permanently close a parking lot at the Jefferson Memorial and erect more anti-vehicle barriers east of the Lincoln Memorial. This latest proposal comes on top of an earlier Park Service decision to erect a 34-inch high wall on the northern, southern and western sides of the Lincoln Memorial. Having successfully closed the parking lot at the Washington Monument, Park Service officials are now apparently emboldened to place even more of the nation's best known democratic symbols off-limits to local residents and visitors to the nation's capital. That is, if the public and their representatives in Congress let them."
On Washington Post: Opinion

Live Free and Die: "We love the myth of the wild horse, but the reality is a grim picture of overpopulation."
On New York Times: Opinion

Rude awakening to missile-defense dream: "Russia's recent test-fire of an advanced mobile ICBM renders national missile defense a fantasy."
On Christian Science Monitor: Commentary