Fables of the Deconstruction (NYT)

gaia worship

By CHRIS BECK and PRESTON BROWNING

Deconstruction can help fuel economic recovery in New Orleans, and a new federal policy embracing an alternative to demolition would be a bright spot in the city’s sluggish recovery.

Hedging on Hedge Funds (NYT)

hedge funds responsible for global warming

It’s time to move the discussion beyond whether hedge funds require more regulation to how they should be regulated.

A Crack in the Stone Wall (NYT)

investigative posturing suggested

The White House will give the Justice Department inspectors the required security clearance to review the administration’s domestic wiretapping program, but Congress should also mount its own independent inquiry.

Protecting Reporters’ Phone Records (NYT)

laws are for other people

A journalist’s ability to protect the identity of confidential sources has been further eroded by the Supreme Court’s refusal to stop a prosecutor from reviewing the telephone records of two New York Times reporters.

Benedict Goes to Turkey (NYT)

editors love recommending talk

Pope Benedict XVI’s role in furthering the debate over minority and religious rights and promoting better interfaith relations may prove to be helpful in both Turkey and the West.

Reordering New York’s Health Care (NYT)

more money needed

New York’s Commission on Health Care Facilities has come up with a bold set of recommendations for reordering one of the most expensive and inefficient health care systems in the country.

Iraq and the Facts of Life (NYT)

sex starved editors

When President Bush and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq sit down in Jordan, we hope they will use the time — finally — to impress on each other the brutal facts of life in their respective capitals.

The Wars of Perception (NYT)

only if the left has its way

By DOMINIC JOHNSON and DOMINIC TIERNEY

What happened in Tet and Somalia may hold important lessons for Iraq.

Holiday Defenses Breached (NYT)

people buying stuff

very annoying to the left

With the snappy nickname of Black Friday, the traditional post-Thanksgiving sales have turned into a self-perpetuating hype machine.

50 Bullets and a Death in Queens (NYT)

the death isn't so bad, it's the bullets

police playing important, like editorial writers

The New York Police Department must confront the fact that a disaster that everyone swore to prevent seven years ago has repeated itself in Queens.

Slouching Toward Riga (NYT)

drug war not mentioned

NATO is failing its most significant post-Soviet test: stabilizing Afghanistan.

Global Warming Goes to Court (NYT)

anything the supreme court says is true, is true

takes it out of the hands of denialists and eco-skeptics

The Supreme Court will hear what may be the most important environmental case in many years.

Atheists Agonistes (NYT)

hesistates to say he doesn't disagree

By RICHARD A. SCHWEDER

The current counterattack on religion cloaks a renewed and intense anxiety within secular society that the story of the Enlightenment may be more illusory than real.

The Test of Time (NYT)

harriet miers stamp resisted

The Postal Service's decision to cut the length of time between a person’s death and his or her eligibility to appear on a stamp is one case where we think delayed gratification is a virtue.

A Poisoned Spy (NYT)

hardly-surprise registered

Despite the lack of evidence about who poisoned Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy who died last week in a London hospital, it was hardly surprising that suspicion fell on the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin.

When Don’t Smoke Means Do (NYT)

no research on lefty editorials yet

New research shows that ads aimed at youths had no discernible effect in discouraging smoking and that the ads currently aimed at parents may be counterproductive.

Columbia’s Move on West Harlem (NYT)

the left moves into the community it destroyed

expect security to be spectacular

The rich history of Harlem is something that Columbia should work harder to show it understands and respects as it seeks to expand its campus into West Harlem.

Déjà Vu in Florida (NYT)

contested election means a republican won

the democrat idea is recount until we win

As court cases proceed over a contested Congressional race in Florida, one verdict is already in: Electronic voting without the full array of protections, including a voter-verified paper trail, is unacceptable.

Learning From Iraq (NYT)

hard lessons of journalistic idiocy

among them vietnam and cambodia

Incorporating the hard lessons learned in Iraq into future military planning and training operations constitutes a far more practical variety of transformation than the kind proposed during the Rumsfeld era.

All That’s Missing Is Mr. Whipple (NYT)

constipation alleged

The Charmin public toilet in Times Square - a kind of Disneyland of restrooms - was welcomed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg with a note of envy in his voice.

Foreign Aid, Revised (NYT)

more aid to leftist dictators

If the administration will not restore a sensible balance to foreign aid, the new Congress should.

Sensing You’re Too Drunk to Drive (NYT)

MADD - ``if it weren't for the drunks, most of them wouldn't be mothers''

There aren’t many social problems that can be solved with a “technical fix,” but drunken driving may be one of the most amenable.

Taming King Coal (NYT)

carbon hysteria unlikely to last 50 years

Energy companies in China and America are locking themselves (and the environment) into at least 50 more years of the most carbon-intensive technology around.

Editorial Observer: To Fight Corruption, One African Offers Presidents Cash (NYT)

no flies on him

By TINA ROSENBERG

Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim plans to give an annual prize worth more than $5 million to an African head of state who was freely elected, turned over power to a freely elected successor and governed well while in office.

Family Planning Farce (NYT)

unneeded agency survives

Americans who were expecting a more moderate administration in the wake of this month’s elections will be shocked by the appointment of Eric Keroack to head family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Spoils of Defeat (NYT)

more federal aid for NYC needed

The departing Republican majority in Congress is about to leave the nation a memorial to its own shameful history as the grand enabler of record debt and deficits.

Day Laborers’ Rights (NYT)

editors make wetback association

A tide of local vigilantism has risen in direct proportion to the federal paralysis on immigration.

Thanksgiving’s Moveable Feast (NYT)

grown by 1% of the population instead of 60% in the good old days

By CORBY KUMMER

Thanksgiving, that most food-centered and nationalistic of holidays, might be a good time to think about how food is being grown where you live and what you can do about it.

Public Colleges as ‘Engines of Inequality’ (NYT)

ability control deplored

The average institutional grant to students from high-income families is actually larger than the average grant to low- or middle-income families.

Keeping Thanksgiving (NYT)

overwrought editor fails to come up with holiday theme

We work hectically to fit the holiday in — hectic flying, hectic driving, hectic shopping and cooking — with the hope that, come dinner, we will be sitting down to a full-fledged, old-fashioned Norman Rockwell ``Freedom From Want'' feast.

Another Killing in Lebanon (NYT)

absence of NYT panic means that NYT editors are not assassination targets themselves

when that happens, preemptive military action will be called for, but until then, they remain liberals

The United States and the international community must rally to support Prime Minister Fouad Siniora — with cash, security advisers and anything that might help him and his government survive.

A Parting Shot From George Allen (NYT)

this means he's not a liberal

not, in particular, affected by statements of liberal horror from the NYT

As a last little gift to America, Senator George Allen has introduced what may be his final piece of legislation: a bill that would allow the carrying of concealed weapons in national parks.

Iran and Arak (NYT)

overwhelming military force rejected

send a sternly worded message

that'll work

The world needs to find a better way to guarantee countries the benefits of civilian nuclear technology without also dangling the temptations of nuclear weapons.

A Minimum for City Schools (NYT)

new and larger toilet to flush money down

New York’s highest court gave incoming governor Eliot Spitzer and the State Legislature a good starting point to build upon as they find a way to provide education funds more fairly across the state.

Weighing In on Wages (NYT)

news flash : energy prices determine how much energy is demanded

second news flash : prices of everything determine how much of everything is demanded

it does not affect purchasing power. it affects what you choose to spend your money on.

if coffee is $50 a pound, you don't buy much coffee, even if I give you the $50. You spend it on something you prefer to coffee at $50 a pound.

You still have the $50 to spend on something you prefer.

Americans' purchasing power now depends almost entirely on the up and down of energy prices.

Black Soot and Asthma (NYT)

bus menace looms

New York’s policymakers can help asthmatics, and the public health, by declaring war on poisonous diesel fumes.

Studying Autism Isn’t Enough (NYT)

serious focus called for

By CATHRYN GARLAND and MICHAEL O'HANLON

We as a nation must begin to focus seriously on treating those children who are already afflicted with autism. At present, we are failing miserably to do so.

An Iraqi Solution, Vietnam Style (NYT)

reporter from hanoi

By MARK MOYAR

The benefits of a self-sufficient Iraqi government are so great that we must give the country's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, the opportunity to try.

If They Ran It (NYT)

number agreement editor on vacation

Rupert Murdoch and Judith Regan should have taken a firm editorial stance months ago and decided that O. J. Simpson’s new book and the television special that resulted from it was not worth signing up.

The Return of Silicone Breast Implants (NYT)

silicone valley

The Food and Drug Administration made a reasonable call that will allow women, in consultation with their surgeons, to make their own judgments about silicone breast implants.

A Discredit to the United Nations (NYT)

thugs and autocrats can do better, the NYT thinks

If the Human Rights Council is the best the U.N. can do at reforming itself, it isn’t worth the effort.

Rejecting the Draft (NYT)

all leftist reasons, eg. :

situation is so bad that the draft won't help

There are many reasons why we are distressed to hear that Representative Charles Rangel of New York plans to reintroduce his annual measure aimed at resurrecting the draft when the Democrats take control of the House.

Reforestation and Deforestation (NYT)

tree malaise spreads

In some parts of the world, deforestation is only expanding, with dire consequences for biodiversity and the climate.

The Taxpayers’ Chauffeurs (NYT)

public limousines

The answer to one question raised by the scandal involving New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi should be easy: public officials could take public transportation as a matter of public policy.

Brother, Can You Spare a Word? (NYT)

also ``beverage''

First the good news: the government’s annual hunger report shows a decline last year in the number of citizens in need of food. Now the bad news: the report dropped the word “hunger.”

Signs of Hope on Immigration (NYT)

guest voter program boosted

The political earthquake in Washington has knocked loose some of the big obstacles to fixing the immigration system.

Ind. House Fire Kills 4, Including Baby (AP)

headline coded to attract women

NORTH VERNON, Ind. -- Fire swept through a southern Indiana home on Sunday morning, killing three adults and a baby and producing smoke so thick it drove back a would-be rescuer, fire officials said.

A Bad Choice for Social Security (NYT)

the only thing that will save social security, and what will in fact happen, is the retirement age will go up.

it happens to be absurdly simple to do

it reflects that there's some balance needed between number of workers and number of retirees they support

as people live longer, they also have to work longer

you can, of course, retire whenever you want, but on your own dime for the interval between when you retire and the social security retirement age.

you want social security because it's an inflation adjusted annuity. you can't outlive your income, regardless how the currency inflates in the 30 years you may be retired.

With the nomination of Andrew Biggs to a six-year term as the next deputy commissioner of Social Security, President Bush is signaling that he doesn’t want new ideas.

The Army We Need (NYT)

more gays

One of the first challenges for the next defense secretary and the next Congress is to repair, rebuild and reshape the nation's ground forces.

Editorial Observer: Waiting (and Hoping) for Jim Baker (NYT)

if it's palpable after stirring, there's a lump in it

By CARLA ANNE ROBBINS

The palpable yearning that James Baker’s Iraq Study Group has stirred is one more measure of the country’s desperation over Iraq.

A Photo Finish in Connecticut (NYT)

only if the margin of victory is one vote

so rare that it's a race you care about that you'll first probably win the lottery

Platitudes like ``every vote matter'' became meaningful in Connecticut’s Second Congressional District this week.

99.5 Percent Like a Neanderthal (NYT)

99.8 percent for NYT editors

Scientists are tantalizingly close to learning just what genetic changes distinguish modern humans from Neanderthals.

Katrina’s Purgatory (NYT)

a region entirely run by liberals

The ruin of a region and the historic city of New Orleans could not be more important, and the tangle of destruction is nowhere near unwound.

JFK Inaugural ``Ask not'' etc

``And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.''

Kennedy has to have misread that, starting off as if the verb were ``ask not.'' Then to recover, he had to insert the dash, which saved the line if not making complete sense. You could tell what he meant, at least.

But a speechwriter is certain to have written the better line, ``Ask, not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.''

Like ``One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,'' the misread line became famous.

``Inspired generations.'' Please.

Signs of Warming Continue in the Arctic (AP)

doom

WASHINGTON -- Signs of warming continue in the Arctic with a decline in sea ice, an increase in shrubs growing on the tundra and rising concerns about the Greenland ice sheet.

1 Dead, 11 Hurt in Fla. Bus Crash (AP)

collision

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A truck hit a bus carrying senior citizens Thursday, killing one person and injuring 11, authorities said.

The bus, operated by a Jewish community center, was traveling in West Palm Beach when it was struck by a septic tanker at about 9:30 a.m., officials said.

Conservatives: Keep Gay Marriage Out of the Courts (NYT)

guess why it's being removed from the courts

By DAVID B. RIVKIN Jr. and LEE A. CASEY

The wave of marriage amendments — at least those that go beyond removing the issue from judicial resolution — should stop.

In the Pink No More (NYT)

mcgovernism updated

By JENNY PRICE

While the plastic pink flamingo reigned as an icon in the late 20th century, it was bound to succumb to the very different tastes — or the absence thereof — in the 21st.

Our Great Depression (NYT)

still smarting from the 2000 election

By ANDREW SOLOMON

We need a network of depression centers, much like the cancer centers established in the 1970s.

No More Delays for Kosovo (NYT)

cut and run urged

The United Nations has limited patience to keep administering Kosovo, and without the stability of statehood there will be no foreign investment and the beleaguered economy will not improve.

Flying High in the Busy Skies (NYT)

consolidation in the lost luggage industry

Without allowing a consolidation free-for-all to break out, there is clearly some room for combining operations in the changing airline industry.

Speaker Pelosi Tempts Disaster (NYT)

the trouble with a party of radical interest groups

The new Democratic majority must realize by now that intramural vendetta is hardly a substitute for productive government.

Still Waiting for Bipartisanship (NYT)

lefty moonbat judge quota unfilled

When it comes to filling judgeships, President Bush is still not looking for either excellence or common ground.

Putting Faith Before Politics (NYT)

jihad recommended

By DAVID KUO

Evangelicals aren’t re-examining their political priorities nearly as much as they are re-examining their spiritual priorities, and that could be bad news for both political parties.

Editorial Observer: Oedipus Max: Four Nights of Anguish and Applause in Sing Sing (NYT)

things you have to be in prison for

By LAWRENCE DOWNES

A performance of “Oedipus Rex” by inmates at a maximum-security prison provides an echo chamber of ironies.

Of Red Meat and Breast Cancer (NYT)

the oat bran effect

The silver lining — if red meat does indeed increase the risk of breast cancer — is that the cure would be simple: Just eat less meat.

The More Things Change ... (NYT)

nyt discovers entrenched bureaucracy

does not generalize it to bureaucracy everywhere

but it's structural in bureaucracy

the private sector gets rid of dysfunction through bankruptcy, the great cleanser

seen as a ``problem'' by the left

Voters can only hope the party conferences this week do not signal that the obvious lessons of Election Day are already being lost on the next Congress.

Counting the Vote, Badly (NYT)

fraud made more difficult for democrats in close races

democracy doesn't rely on a 100% accurate count but on the existing count being definitive

you undermine democracy with a recount-until-I-win response, not with slightly imperfect tallies.

if it's about 50%, it doesn't matter which side wins, so long as it's the final say in the matter.

Congressional Democrats should make fixing this country’s broken system of elections a top priority, and Republicans should join them.

What’s Right With Kansas (NYT)

social and economic conservatives not distinguished

Kansas — lately considered the reddest of red states — emerged from the election as a bastion of moderation.

Will Fair Pay Have Its Day? (NYT)

economics 101 doesn't figure in

except in the unions' calculations

favorite lefty group

Supporting a higher minimum wage would be a way for President Bush to begin to rectify the inequality that has grown so alarmingly on his watch.

The Road to Damascus (NYT)

idea floats into editors' heads

It is time to give direct diplomacy with Syria a serious try.

Spin and Consequences (NYT)

new right discovered

that's why you should subscribe to ``morality today''

to keep abreast of moral discoveries

most of them are anti-Bush

Americans have a right to know what standards their president has been applying to the treatment of prisoners.

To Catch a Deadly Germ (NYT)

every DAY 100,000 people die in the world, 10,000 americans

it's the large-population effect, where something that isn't an important risk can be magnified to a crisis

there follows political power and funding for something nobody sane would worry about

creating and taking ownership of ``public problems'' is the way to political success

By BETSY McCAUGHEY

What kills more than five times as many Americans as AIDS? Hospital infections, which account for an estimated 100,000 deaths every year.

Sit Down and Legislate for a While (NYT)

``big time asshole'' - cheney

By ADAM CLYMER

Why do senators think that they have to run for president?

Editorial Observer: Looking Back on Louis Brandeis on His 150th Birthday (NYT)

moonbat left birthday

By ADAM COHEN

It is Brandeis’s insistence on injecting facts and real-world analysis into the law that is his most lasting achievement, and one that resounds especially strongly today.

Troubled Seas (NYT)

Where the left late tempestuous wont to sport
In troubled waters, but now sleeps in port

A new study says that the degradation of the world’s oceans is not hopeless, but only if the world moves quickly to reduce overfishing and other threats.

Mr. Putin’s Legacy (NYT)

putin must have been unkind to some journalist, to be on the wrong side of nyt editors

History will judge Vladimir Putin by how well he helps Russia move from its totalitarian past to a democratic future. His record is not encouraging.

Lowering Medicare Drug Prices (NYT)

the difference between democrats and republicans is that republicans know about side effects and democrats don't.

mostly, side effects are the chief effects for current ``problems''

that's because all the ``problems'' that respond to direct action directly have long ago been solved

what's left is ``problems'' that respond to direct action perversely

that's why nowadays republicans are mostly always right

natural selection of problems ensures survival only of problems that respond perversely

the nyt leads the moonbat idiot camp on this

Michael Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, says he does not want the power to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, but Democrats should give it to him anyway.

Editorial Observer: The Spy Who Never Came Through the Berlin Wall (NYT)

women's page material

By SERGE SCHMEMANN

I well remember first meeting Markus Wolf; I guess anyone would remember meeting one of the most successful spymasters of the cold war.

Truth About the Trade Deficit (NYT)

adopt NYT myths

deficit is caused by gay people

With the deficit reaching new highs and Democrats now able to wield real power, it is crucial that each side back off its constituent-pleasing myths.

Hiding From Oversight (NYT)

government by vendetta recommended

Until the Democrats assume committee control in January, there’s an investigatory vacuum in Congress.

Don’t Force an Energy Bill (NYT)

any old subject and predicate works in NYT editorials

President Bush’s call for the lame duck Congress to pass ``bipartisan energy legislation'' is a good example of why the House and Senate should limit their work in this final session to as few measures as possible.

A Grand New Republican Party (NYT)

city of rent control and unemployment

The far-right Republicanism that has the South and much of the West in its clutch will not work well in New York.

Reactionary Moderates (NYT)

messages sent fly through the air to the ears of pundits

By RAMESH PONNURU

The real message of the last few elections is that, for the most part, social issues help the Republicans and economic ones the Democrats.

Let the Investigations Begin (NYT)

should clarify separation of powers for us

By STANLEY BRAND

A vigorous examination of the Bush administration’s conduct is the politically necessary response to voters’ overwhelming rejection of the current Congress.

Holding to the Center, Losing My Seat (NYT)

good riddance from both sides

By LINCOLN D. CHAFEE

I hope the new Congress and the administration that received, in the president’s words, ``a thumping'' can find common ground for the common good.

Govern, Don’t Gloat (NYT)

infighting overlooked

intra-system goals come first

By LEON E. PANETTA

In the wake of this election, the Democrats and the president face the same choice: gridlock or cooperation?

Editorial Observer: Facing Reality on Europe’s Immigrants (NYT)

translation : what to do about the wogs

By DAVID C. UNGER

Despite its shortcomings, Germany’s new approach to its foreign-born or foreign-descended residents contrasts favorably with that of neighboring France.

The Corporate End Run (NYT)

they're called interest groups

the more the government intervenes in life, the more interest groups you have

simple dynamics escape the editors

When corporate America feels the pinch from global competition, it runs to the Bush administration for rule changes.

Democrats and Iraq (NYT)

getting out of iraq perhaps is not the goal, does not occur to the NYT

Americans are waiting to hear if the Democrats have any good ideas for how to get out of Iraq without creating even wider chaos and terrorism.

Keeping the Voting Clean (NYT)

opposite of guns

By RICHARD L. HASEN

The problem is not with the technology of running our elections but rather with the people running them.

Op-Art: Designs on America (NYT)

holiday shopping season for liberals

By RODRIGO CORRAL, TAMARA SHOPSIN, TODD ST. JOHN, POST TYPOGRAPHY, ALAN DYE, NUMBER SEVENTEEN, THOMAS POROSTOCKY, STERLING BRANDS and MICHAEL IAN KAYE

For Veterans Day, the Op-Ed page asked eight designers to rethink pro-United States symbols and come up with something fresh.

Editorial Observer: Then and Now, Female Soldiers Just Do Their Jobs (NYT)

special feelings

By MAURA J. CASEY

There remains a fundamental bond between the experience of Army women today and that of my mother, so very long ago: all she wanted was to be a good soldier.

Ortega, Again (NYT)

capitalism embraced

Nicaragua’s top Sandinista, Daniel Ortega, was once pro-Marxist, but now he’s pro-Ortega. And that’s the problem.

A Crackdown on Newborns (NYT)

barrios to basic care

If building new barriers to basic care ends up filling emergency rooms with ever-sicker immigrants — and their citizen children — then the effort will have been a sorry example of self-defeating spite.

The Court and Abortion (NYT)

NYT notices that abortion is politically charged

but not that it ought to be politically decided

The Supreme Court unnecessarily returned to the politically charged area of abortion this week, hearing arguments in a case testing some of the core principles of Roe v. Wade.

An Army of One Less (NYT)

meals on wheels

By PAUL D. EATON

What will the new Democratic-controlled Congress and the new Pentagon have to accomplish over the next two years to bring the Army — and the other services — back “with” us on Iraq? I have a few suggestions.

The Perils of Inaction (NYT)

all are results of avoiding victory

victory resolves issues permanently

Thursday, analysts were trying to figure out which was the most immediate danger: a new wave of terrorist attacks against Americans, the start of a full scale Israeli-Palestinian war, or a civil war between Hamas and its rival Fatah.

Hot-Button Vox Pop (NYT)

the flyover rube problem

Tuesday’s results once more demonstrated what a double-edged sword the initiative process is as a tool of democracy.

Bipartisanship on Hold (NYT)

minimum wage, illegal amnesty, outlawing talk radio

The president made it clear that, for now, his idea of how to “put the elections behind us” is to use the Republicans’ last two months in control of Congress to try to push through some of the worst ideas his administration and its Republican allies on Capitol Hill have come up with.

The Election’s Most Personal Attack Ad (NYT)

NYT base

By TEDDY WAYNE

Teddy Wayne sure talks a good game. But how is he on the issues — specifically, my issues with him as a boyfriend?

After the Thumpin’ (NYT)

democrats self-destruct, led by the NYT cheerleaders

By WILLIAM SAFIRE

Where does our renewed two-party nation go from here?

Editorial Observer: In a Gym in Yonkers, a Game of Block the Vote (NYT)

republican wins, I take it back

By LAWRENCE DOWNES

Whether State Senator Nicholas Spano wins or loses, his campaign will be tainted by what his followers did at the Police Athletic League gym.

A Clean Start (NYT)

they're ahead already

party over country is their strategy

is it strange that there was no election fraud this year? just for starters.

When it comes to ethics, the House Democrats are perfectly capable of replicating the Republicans’ fall from grace.

Rumsfeld’s Departure (NYT)

bring home to the troops that they're not making progress

they think they are making progress

the most important thing is the feelings of the left, in short

called ideology, by the way

The challenge for Donald Rumsfeld’s chosen successor will be to bring home to the president how desperate the situation has become in Iraq and to see that the war’s conduct from here on is dictated by reality, not ideology.

No Atheists in a Foxhole? No Idiots, Either (NYT)

myth : politics filled with morons, holds up

By TIM KANE and MACKENZIE EAGLEN

A common misperception is that the ranks of the military are increasingly filled with relatively uneducated young men and women from low-income households. Yet this myth doesn’t hold up under inspection.

The Code of the Callboy (NYT)

queers love hierarchy

By DAN SAVAGE

Today it is arguably more shameful and damaging to be a hypocritical closet case like Ted Haggard than it is to be a sex worker.

Help Iraq Help Itself (NYT)

media reality

By FREDERICK D. BARTON

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s new independence is America’s best chance to salvage the muddle Iraq has become. Let’s not get in his way.

A Happy Ending (NYT)

life lesson offered

As Digna Polanco and Juan Espinal learned, even hard work cannot stave off all tragedy.

Turkey and the European Union (NYT)

mosques run by brussels

Despite waning enthusiasm on both sides, Turkey’s basic trajectory remains westward, and that the European Union accession talks provide the strongest incentive to keep it on course.

The Task for Mr. Spitzer (NYT)

turn NYT headquarters back into porn shops

We expect to see immediate action on Eliot Spitzer’s central promise to make state government more responsive to the people and to clean up the way special-interest money distorts policy in the state.

Post-Election Job Number One (NYT)

Rumsfeld hostile to NYT editorials

There was one issue on which people from both parties appeared to be finding common ground: Donald Rumsfeld has to go.

Too Close for Comfort (NYT)

more state intervention needed

By STEPHANIE COONTZ

We are placing too many burdens on the fragile institution of marriage, making social life poorer in the process.

Mr. Bland Goes to Washington (NYT)

he or she who offends least, that should be

By BARRY SCHWARTZ

In elections, he who offends the least does the best.

Election Day Choices (NYT)

what guarantee is there that the times was not confused by contradictory ballot issues?

should you vote the opposite on general principles?

it doesn't say

This list summarizes our recommendations for some of the most contested races in today’s election.

Appreciations: Rise Up in Darkness (NYT)

lefty malady explained

By LAWRENCE DOWNES

William Styron’s unorthodox achievement in medicine, as the author of an invaluable primer on clinical depression, is worth celebrating.

The Politics of Frustration (NYT)

newspaper editors, protectors of rubes

Pity the poor voter who has to wade through a list of sometimes contradictory, sometimes misleading ballot proposals, doing work that should be the responsibility of elected officials.

Mind Over Gap (NYT)

lefty parodies not remembered

This is an editorial about the Long Island Rail Road. But first, a scene from “Bored of the Rings,” the Harvard Lampoon parody of “The Lord of the Rings.”

The Deciding Vote (NYT)

opinion polls are all a democracy needs , especially ones run by the leftists

By DALTON CONLEY

When elections are tight, we should go back to the polls.

College Sports Get a Warning (NYT)

academics and editors ignored by ticket-purshase market

Athletic departments have more influence on university affairs than they should.

Protecting the Right to Vote (NYT)

``early and often'' threatened

Voting is a right and a responsibility, but it is also, unfortunately, a challenge.

The Saddam Hussein Verdict (NYT)

another bush screwup

In Mr. Hussein's sentence to death by hanging, Iraq got neither the full justice nor the full fairness it deserved.

Floyd Norris: Notions on High and Low Finance (NYT)

only good indian is a dead indian

Sanjay Kumar, the disgraced former C.E.O. of Computer Associates, gets off easy.

Stanley Fish: Think Again (NYT)

headline writer unable to follow postmodern article

Stanley Fish dissects the anatomy of domestic arguments, but he can't avoid them.

Judith Warner: Domestic Disturbances (NYT)

leave the porch light off and you're fine

idiot

Halloween demands a "performance of happiness" that the author finds unbearable.

Midterm Madness: The 2006 Campaign, Through Partisan Eyes (NYT)

three and a half years of press excess unmentioned

The American voters' weariness with three and a half years of war in Iraq will be the undoing of the Republicans, writes Thomas F. Schaller.

The Foley Scandal and the Risks of Righteous Politicking (NYT)

women's vote deplored

By FRANCIS X. CLINES

The mixture of sexual predation and moral hypocrisy is a potent cocktail for voters preparing for Tuesday’s election.

Abortion, Condoms and Bush (NYT)

writer moralizes

NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

The evidence shows that condoms do more to bring down abortion rates than pious moralizing.

The Fighting Democrat (NYT)

or we may not

DAVID BROOKS

We may be about to learn if the party of Nancy Pelosi can make room for the Jim Webbs of the world.

Throw the Truthiness Bums Out (NYT)

NYT moonbat theater critic weighs in

FRANK RICH

Voters may rally for reality on this crucial Election Day even as desperate politicians and some of their media enablers try one more time to stay their fictional course.

An Election Day Ballot Trap (NYT)

follow the money

In a strange shell game unique to New York politics, third parties can latch onto somebody else’s nominee rather than field their own candidates.

Friend of the Farmer (NYT)

flyover rubes counted by the city folk

By DEIRDRE MCNAMER

There is a certain kind of Montana Republican who makes this horse race difficult to call, and my dad is one.

Separate but Equal (NYT)

empty suit of color

i've heard hours of interviews with him

he's an idiot

By ROBERT HICKS

Is Tennessee ready to elect a man of color as senator? Is the only real difference between the two candidates skin-deep?

Divorce-Court Politics (NYT)

global polarization

By CHARLES BAXTER

In Minnesota, the appeal to polarization may have lost its appeal, possibly because the press of calamitous current events seems so urgent.

The Campaign That Never Happened (NYT)

collector sees world

By DAN CHAON

Voting machines are the big political topic in Ohio.

Editorial Notebook: On Carefully Choosing a Book by Its Cover (NYT)

above the fold

By ELEANOR RANDOLPH

The fact that booksellers are scrambling to market their wares at other places besides bookstores makes sense, but something seems a little off kilter when publishers change a book cover to suit the fashions of the day.

Testing North Korea (NYT)

bombing proposed

It’s impossible to know whether North Korea’s Dear Leader will trade away his weapons at any price. But this White House has yet to test him.

The Difference Two Years Made (NYT)

polosi wing endorsed

On Tuesday, when this page runs the list of people it has endorsed for election, we will include no Republican Congressional candidates for the first time in our memory.

In the Voting Booth, Bias Starts at the Top (NYT)

moebius strip industry shill

By JON A. KROSNICK

Candidates listed first on the ballot get about two percentage points more votes on average than they would have if they had been listed later.

Seeing the Climate Policy for the Trees (NYT)

eat trees not corn

By STUART E. EIZENSTAT

Creating financial incentives to protect forests and promote tree planting would be attractive to poor nations but also to American companies and farmers.

Fairer Pay for the City Council (NYT)

budget crisis averted

The New York City Council is about to accept a salary raise of 25 percent — to $112,500, the second-highest in the nation.

Repairing the Red Cross (NYT)

contributions upgrade the voice mail system and refurbish offices, like every bureaucracy

The United States relies on this charitable institution to be a key pillar in our nation’s disaster-relief plan.

The Economy Cools (NYT)

unbroken bad economic news since the Clinton depression to the current Bush record highs

Is the United States economy headed toward the longed-for soft landing, or is another recession inevitable?

Blinding the Taxpayers on Iraq (NYT)

environmental protection agency

The Republican-controlled Congress has voted to close the one effective oversight agency that has shown it could produce results in Iraq.

Yankee Go Home (NYT)

NYT guest voter program

By TOM PEYER and HART SEELY

Should the Yankees trade their superstar third baseman, Alex Rodriguez? Already, the debate is raging.

The Memory Hole (NYT)

problem diseases are problems because they don't kill quickly enough, actually

death is a distant cloud on the liberal horizon, not an actual consequence of life

death is nature's way of changing editorial staffs

By DAVID SHENK

We must do what it takes to cure Alzheimer’s before it saps our economy and steals another generation.

The City Life: Summoning Frederick Douglass (NYT)

noble and powerful is code for black

you don't hear it of George Washington

its cliche sources :

noble savage

powerful black man

a safe black man, not like Thomas Sowell or Clarence Thomas or one of those conservatives

This one won't criticize the ``black leadership''

a culture of pets

By FRANCIS X. CLINES

Beginning next summer, the statue likeness of Frederick Douglass, noble and powerful as the man, will peer forth at the skyline that once so daunted him.

Of Red Wine and Fatty Foods (NYT)

leftist brain damage

Will there come a day when we can eat lots of high-calorie, fatty foods and offset the health damage by taking a natural substance found in red wine?

Fresh Sorrows at Ground Zero (NYT)

look for oil at the same time too

There is no reason that construction and a renewed search for remains cannot proceed together.

Avoiding Calamity on the Cheap (NYT)

PR effort fails, pathos results

In an age when people are worried about global warming and the country’s growing dependence on imported oil, the federal effort on alternative energy sources is pathetically small.

Winning Small (NYT)

rubes usurp power from newspaper editors

By BRIAN MANN

As Karl Rove likes to cheerfully point out, majorities in Congress are determined largely by one often-overlooked minority group: the mostly white and mostly conservative voters who live in America’s small towns.

Horton Sees an Image (NYT)

evidently not a dog trainer

We keep probing the animal world for signs of intelligence — as we define it — and we’re always surprised when we discover it.

Wiring Development (NYT)

absolute economic illiteracy

if the money isn't in circulation in the US, the Fed prints more automatically in meeting its interest rate target

Unless the billions in remittances that migrants working in the United States send home each year are banked, money that could fight poverty will be left on the table.

Voting for Judicial Independence (NYT)

voters enforcing law

Measures in a handful of states aimed at punishing judges for their official rulings and making them more captive to prevailing political winds add up to an assault on a fair and independent judiciary.

The Great Divider (NYT)

editors stung

When the president of the United States gleefully bathes in the muck to divide Americans into those who love their country and those who don’t, it is destructive to the fabric of the nation he is supposed to be leading.

Saints That Weren’t (NYT)

hillary? sheenan? jersey girls? pelosi?

By JAMES MARTIN

Most Americans probably don’t know the name of the newest American saint, or that she was mistreated by the church that she served so faithfully.

Pause for Peace (NYT)

open letter to the zionist entity while they rearm

By AHMED YOUSEF

We Palestinians are prepared to enter into a truce — a “hudna” — to bring about an immediate end to the occupation and to initiate a period of peaceful coexistence during which both sides would refrain from any form of military aggression or provocation.

Germany’s Army (NYT)

the international community

Berlin’s new position paper on international security points to a welcome expansion of Germany’s role in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and antiterrorist actions.

An Untimely Voter Purge (NYT)

guest voters threatened

Republican Party lawyers in the city of Yonkers are calling for an 11th-hour purge of voter rolls in a clear effort to help their endangered state senator, Nicholas Spano.

College Aid Cutbacks (NYT)

capital expense not recognized

The same bachelor’s degree will cost a student borrower far more than a student who can afford to pay. That’s not a path to greater equality.

The Amazing Hubble Telescope (NYT)

risk allowed editorially!

so unimportant actually is risk that you could pay for it with passengers

it's an amusement park ride people would die to go on

the NYT needs a reason their readers would approve of, the advance of science over religion

not noticing their own religion

A Hubble mission may be marginally more risky than a flight to the space station, but that risk is surely worth taking for the scientific payoff.