Still Waiting for Answers (NYT)

dark noticed

Why, after all this time, are Americans still in the dark about many of the Bush administration’s most important decisions?

Strengthening Abortion Rights (NYT)

right to bear coat hangers

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has produced a sound proposal aimed at shoring up women’s reproductive rights in New York State.

Unlocking Gridlock (NYT)

upstate rubes deprecated

Some legislators in Albany are balking at Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s visionary agenda for sustaining New York.

Better to Be the Best (NYT)

beyond the reach of Democrat tax collectors

As global competition heats up, Americans will have to get used to having more of their companies fall from the top spot.

The Cure for Rich Candidates (NYT)

how about fewer sound bites and less financing

The only way to inject substantially more competition into elections is through public financing.

A Glacial Pace on Warming (NYT)

alarm industry meets Bush derangement industry

The walls continue to close in on the Bush administration, with the scientists’ warnings, the Supreme Court decision, the escalating pressure from the states and the general public.

The Abstinence-Only Delusion (NYT)

panty raid suggested

Recent studies suggest that the current policy of emphasizing abstinence in sex education and minimizing contraceptive use should be turned around.

Far Past Time to Go (NYT)

shark jumped

The best thing Paul Wolfowitz can do for the World Bank, the country and himself is to step down.

Cutting Shrek Down to Size (NYT)

fun deprecated

Now appearing in public service ads urging youngsters to exercise, Shrek is also the star of a soon-to-open sequel whose image is being used to promote all sorts of “junk foods.”

Reflections on the New Abortion Ruling and the Roberts Court (NYT)

STD menace

By DOROTHY SAMUELS

When justices play doctor, watch out for women’s health.

Corporal Tillman Haunts the Pentagon (NYT)

the tillman crisis

The nation, like the family of Cpl. Pat Tillman, deserves nothing less than the full truth of war.

Crippling Government From Within (NYT)

leftist love of chicken shit

The Bush administration has proved indefatigable at finding industry foxes to upend the regulatory chicken coops.

After the Lawyers (NYT)

treason not unnoticed

It can be hard to tell whom the Bush administration considers more of an enemy at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp: the prisoners or the lawyers.

Guns and More Guns (NYT)

dynamics not appreciated

It seems that for the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby, the only solution to a gun in the wrong hands is a gun in the hands of everyone.

Medicare’s Troubling Prospects (NYT)

more taxes is the solution to everything

dumping the system never considered

In order to put the system on a sounder financial footing, the administration and Congress will have to propose solutions under rules that are perversely skewed to rule out the most progressive financing.

Ranting at Reality on Iraq (NYT)

loser left

The sooner President Bush and his allies drop the pretense that military victory is still possible in Iraq, the closer the nation will be to rescuing what can still be rescued from the debacle.

Another Dubious Firing (NYT)

the only accountability of federal prosecutors to voters is that they're political appointments

otherwise it would be all Ken Starrs and Patrick Fitzgeralds

The case of Paul Charlton, a United States attorney in Arizona and one of the eight prosecutors purged by the White House and the Justice Department, adds a disturbing new chapter to the scandal.

Off to Work She Should Go (NYT)

if only women didn't have different interests!

By LINDA HIRSHMAN

Should we care if women leave the work force? Yes, because participation in public life allows women to use their talents and to powerfully affect society.

Betraying a Democratic Legacy (NYT)

Democrat litigation threatened

Sadly, Saturday’s presidential election in Nigeria completely lacked in basic democratic plausibility.

PowerPoint Politicking on the Job (NYT)

politics deplored

It is past time to get to the bottom of the administration’s sleazy on-the-job politicking.

A Test for the Roberts Court (NYT)

free speech leak threatens

The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine whether a major new leak opens up in the campaign finance system.

Recovering Ancient Protein (NYT)

saurian pottery

New discoveries should remind us how steadily our knowledge of the ancient saurian world has deepened as research has shifted from the macroscopic to the molecular.

Boris Yeltsin’s Bequest (NYT)

the George Washington lesson, in the revised second edition

It is in the nature of men who lead revolutions that they rarely prove to be effective leaders of governments. So it was with Boris Yeltsin.

A Deal on the Minimum Wage (NYT)

do what doesn't work, don't do what does.

Congress is to be commended for making the minimum wage bill a priority. But lawmakers will have to temper their enthusiasm for never-ending tax cuts.

Mr. Spitzer and Gay Marriage (NYT)

of course we don't know what a marriage is

The news that Gov. Eliot Spitzer will soon introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage is welcome and could give new national momentum to this important cause.

Prison Horrors for the Mentally Ill (NYT)

decency means getting money, if you're a leftist

The State of New York took a step toward basic human decency when it agreed to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of mentally ill prisoners.

The Mayor’s Ode to Earth Day (NYT)

rubber walls

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan for what he calls “a greener, greater New York” is a broad, complicated and exciting blueprint.

Deadlines, War Money and Pork (NYT)

no kidding

President Bush is taking every opportunity to rail against the troop withdrawal deadlines in the war-spending bills that Congress is readying for passage.

The Rutgers Winning Team (NYT)

ennobled by everything that flows from their tattooed lips

the primitivism of the dysfunctional and narcissistic black culture is beloved by the left

it keeps blacks dependent on editorialists for their well being

Imus was bold enough to mock the idea.

The Rutgers women provided an example to all the politicians, commentators and reporters who have spent the last two days dissecting Don Imus’ s racist behavior.

Bagging Eternal Plastics (NYT)

hemp is the way to go

As the nation looks for ways to save energy, states and local governments should begin figuring out how to nudge customers away from plastic bags.

Counting the Poor (NYT)

imaginary problems are the worst ones

Poverty in America is much more widespread than has been previously acknowledged.

Democracy Inches Along at Home (NYT)

coincidentally, DC votes heavily democratic

The House is right to confront the gross injustice that keeps the citizenry of the District of Columbia locked into that definitive grievance of the American revolution: taxation without representation.

A Government of Laws and Seat Belts (NYT)

smooth humming of the finely tuned social machine interfered with

Whether you’re an ordinary citizen or the chief executive of a state, traffic laws cannot be considered optional — for your own safety and the safety of all those traveling around you.

Pocketing the People’s Nickels (NYT)

also newspapers

The bottle bill should be expanded to include deposits on bottles of water and other noncarbonated beverages such as tea and fruit drinks.

Another Young Man Who Was Angry and Lonely, but Unarmed (NYT)

Big media story confused with big social problem.

By NICHOLAS KULISH

To find with any certainty the one in a million who will turn into a spree killer will never be possible. Making it harder for him to acquire handguns is within our power.

Clueless in the Senate (NYT)

money has more influence than NYT editorials.

something that must be stopped.

For a while last week it looked as if the Senate would finally require members to file their campaign fund-raising reports electronically. That is until an unknown senator put a hold on the bipartisan legislation.

Iraq’s Desperate Exodus (NYT)

hopeless in Iraq, chapter 199

as if each crisis were not the response of an emeny to a change by our side.

aimed chiefly at their only resource, the leftist media.

If Iraq continues its descent, the refugee tide could turn into a regional tsunami, with potentially convulsive political consequences.

Progress on Immigration (NYT)

``Bipartisan'' means leftist

The outlines of a bipartisan deal on comprehensive reform are becoming clearer.

The Widening College Loan Scandal (NYT)

shady dealing observed

Kickbacks to universities that steer students to so-called preferred lending companies are part of a wider pattern of shady dealing that reaches into the federal government.

Justice on the Cheap (NYT)

a much-needed pay gap sustained

New York’s legislators refuse to give judges a much-needed pay raise unless they can get one themselves.

Hot and Cold (NYT)

I'm a scientist and I say it isn't.

The world’s scientists are telling us with increasing confidence that the costs of doing nothing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions will be far greater than the costs of acting now.

Warriors Home in Washington (NYT)

Actually people don't care much ; and the soldier who goes to war in the expectation he will be owed stuff has made the wrong calculation.

He goes to war because it's his duty, because of high character, not to get stuff from other people.

And mostly, veterans are in fact forgotten, which preserves the gift that they give to us as their gift.

As to lines and waiting, there's no indignity in queues. It's more efficient than no-waiting operations by far. Which means that other stuff can be done for the same money, so long as the operation is still functional.

You're not honored for dying or getting wounded; you're honored for hearing the call of duty and going.

That's the movement of ethics in general : hearing and answering a call.

Higher priority, for example, is tax cuts.

Not for politicians, though. Scapegoat theater and high posturing for the soap opera women who are the audience for this crap.

There can be no higher home-front priority than swiftly dealing with the shameful conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

A Chance to Be Heard (NYT)

``preclude'' as new verb

A statute of limitations like Alabama’s, which precludes a significant class of cases, clearly violates due process.

Breast Cancer Screening (NYT)

mortality presented as a dark border on a steadily improving picture, for the left

The often confusing issue of screening for breast cancer just got more confusing.

The Real Fumble in Damascus (NYT)

bush figured, no, it wouldn't help

this calculation is presented as a character flaw

say for cheap political points.

The Bush administration has far more appetite for scoring political points than figuring out whether talking to Syria might help contain the bloodletting in Iraq or revive efforts to negotiate peace.

Not Just New Jersey (NYT)

reduce government size and it pays for it a thousand times over

Officials are tempted to fiddle with state pension laws rather than honestly explain to voters that tax cuts must be paid for.

No Recess From Bad Appointments (NYT)

rule disparaged when the NYT doesn't like the result

Three more reminders of how President Bush’s claims of wanting to work with Congress’s Democratic leadership are just empty words.

Guantanamo Follies (NYT)

prisoner of war status forgotten

Each development in the show trials of Guantanamo Bay inmates brings fresh evidence of how urgent it is for the courts to strike down the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and for Congress to rewrite it.

Flying Toward Competitive Skies (NYT)

deal favored

it must mean it's got a leftist hook in it

The deal between the European Union and the United States to modernize and rationalize the governance of the trans-Atlantic aviation market is a welcome one for consumers.

The Consequences of Corn (NYT)

anti-gouging law needed

price controls

regulation

a leftist holiday!

Much as we like the idea of ethanol production, it would be a tragic mistake to jettison two decades of farm-based conservation for short-term profit.

Not an Orange Revolution (NYT)

courts are the preferred system of government, for the left

otherwise you have people voting.

In Ukraine, a dispute between the westward-leaning Viktor Yushchenko and the Russia-leaning Viktor Yanukovich needs to be settled in the courts, not the streets.

Running for Dollars (NYT)

campaign reform apparently not working according to leftist expectation.

nothing works according to leftist expectation.

you'd think they'd notice.

If only voters’ optimism about the nation and the political system could rise in direct proportion to the money stacks.

It Didn’t End Well Last Time (NYT)

sidewalk crack stepped on, mother's back broken

ladder walked under

mirror broken

throw salt over shoulder school of economic activity espoused.

Not since the Roaring Twenties have the rich been so much richer than everyone else.

Shackles on the AIDS Program (NYT)

slave trade channeled

Restrictions imposed on the Bush administration’s program to combat AIDS abroad needlessly hamper a program with great potential.

More Than a Feeling (NYT)

it's not emotional.

it's soap opera, and is the stock in trade of the left.

anything more complicated makes bad propaganda.

It is absurd for President Bush to suggest that critics of the war whose children are at risk are too ``emotional'' to see things clearly.

Stay on Track (NYT)

tax money needed

A mass-transit renaissance will come to a grinding halt unless a commensurate investment is made in upkeep and expansion.

The Court Rules on Warming (NYT)

bad law enforced

It would be hard to overstate the importance of the Supreme Court’s ruling that the federal government has the authority to regulate the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by motor vehicles.

Finding Doomsday Asteroids (NYT)

wait to see if there's a tax angle that can be usurped for the left

Before plunging ahead with an asteroid-deflector, let’s wait to see whether a real threat even exists.

A Better New York Budget (NYT)

leftist victory over upstate hicks

New Yorkers who yearn for a government that works more for its citizens than for the political subculture in Albany should soon be able to recognize that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has gotten off to a good start.

Common Defense (NYT)

backbone of modern Brussels recommended

Europe should remind Washington of the dangers of riling up the Russians.

After an Anti-Immigrant Flare-Up, Texas Gets Back to Business (NYT)

one favors inhumane or senseless change, just from the lede

By LAWRENCE DOWNES

The Texas Legislature took a big step back from the immigration fight last week, as an unusual alliance rose up in support of humane, sensible reform.

A Law Not to Be Trifled With (NYT)

repeal the whole thing

Proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act, leaked to an environmental group, deserve attention.

Taxing Private Equity (NYT)

but capital gains are not income at all.

Excessively favoring one form of income over another encourages wasteful gamesmanship, creates inequity and crowds out other ways to foster risk-taking.

Truth in College Lending (NYT)

nyt ethics offered

Steering students to “preferred lenders” is unethical and potentially damaging to students who rely on their colleges for objective information.

If Jane Austen Were Among Us Now, Whom Would She Cast as Herself? (NYT)

people's commentator round the bend.

evidently bad weather kept him indoors.

By VERLYN KLINKENBORG

It is a failing to read Jane Austen and wonder what the mirror said when she looked into it.

The Rovian Era (NYT)

UFO sighted

The Bush administration’s menacing failure to distinguish the Republican Party from the government, or the state itself, has been Karl Rove’s overarching goal.

A Housing Land Trust (NYT)

if you're smart enough to make tom swifty jokes, you're smart enough to understand that regulation drives up housing costs, and more regulation drives them up more.

Few problems in the New York region are more pressing than the cost of housing, and few seem more intractable.

Sunlight in the Courts (NYT)

let's see that diagram of govenment again

The General Assembly should approve a constitutional amendment that would make courts open and accountable to the public.

Japan’s Whaling Obsession (NYT)

yellow japs vs nature's whales

Nationalism seems hard-wired into Japan’s insistence on maintaining the right to exploit any and all ocean resources.

Avoiding Secret Testimony (NYT)

congress has a NYT duty = it's bad for republicans

Congress has a duty to get to the bottom of the Bush administration’s purge of United States attorneys and that will happen only with testimony done in public, so the American people can watch and listen.

An Escape From Sizzling Sidewalks (NYT)

leftist love of money

For 130 years, the Fresh Air Fund has been providing just what its name suggests to thousands of New York City children who would otherwise be confined to steamy city parks.

New York’s Flawed Primaries (NYT)

leftist uptalk

Remind us why New York has to move next year’s presidential primaries from March to Feb. 5?

Talking Darfur to Death (NYT)

US interests not at stake, so talking is not enough

It will take more than discreet conference diplomacy to force an end to the slaughter in Darfur.