October 21, 2005
Failing Pumps in New Orleans?
Reagan's Fault
"We have repeatedly been reminded in recent weeks of how Congress rejected a
proposal in the late 1990's to shore up the city's levees and wetlands. And the
crisis only deepened later as the government continued to reduce the corps's
budget. This represents more than a loss of nerve. It is an outgrowth of the
campaign against 'big government' that helped propel Ronald Reagan to the
presidency 25 years ago. And it was fueled by uglier motives, including a latent
fear of cities, a myth of the city as a breeding ground for immorality."
- Critic Nicholas Ouroussoff on the New Orleans flooding, October 9.
Bush White House to Blame for Sex
Harassment at Work?
"The filmmakers' inability to wrest a happy ending out of this story, much
less a hint of real triumph, also may be partly explained by recent events. Last
year, the advocacy group National Women's Law Center issued a report that
accused the Bush administration of rolling back gains for women in all walks of
life, noting the diminished number of sex-discrimination cases handled by the
Justice Department. It's hard to imagine what the women who fought Eveleth Mines
would make of these developments, though it is a good guess that they would be
pleased to see their struggle onscreen and back in the public eye."
- Movie critic Manohla Dargis, October 21.
Pretty Far "Left-Leaning,"
Actually
"The activist, from the left-leaning Red Youth Brigade, said he disagreed with
Mr. Gorbachev's policies, the Interfax news agency reported."
- Andrea Kramer in a World Briefs story on the hard-core Communist
group, October 14.
More "Scripted" Myths
"They were there to protest the war, having perhaps unconsciously taken a
page out of President Bush's book. If he can use the troops to sell his war, as
he did last week in a scripted Q. and A. session with soldiers in Iraq, why
should the grannies not use a military prop to sell their opposition?"
- Columnist and former foreign affairs correspondent Clyde Haberman on
an anti-war protest by "grannies" in Times Square, October 18. Bush's Q&A
session with soldiers was not "scripted."
Blame Capitalism for Health Care
Problems
"How did things get this bad? Most health care in the United States is
fragmented and profit-driven, a system in which everyone but the patient is
meant to benefit financially."
- Katie Hafner, October 13.
Only Republicans Are Ideological
& "Polarizing"
"In the days ahead, New Jerseyans will also be treated to the sight of two of
Mr. Corzine's more celebrated colleagues: Senator Hillary Clinton of New York,
who will no doubt attest to Mr. Corzine's virtues at a pair of fund-raising
events this week, and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois - the most electrifying
speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 - who has also agreed to
campaign."
vs.
"it is Democrats and not Mr. Forrester who are going out of their way to talk
about visits to the state by Vice President Dick Cheney and Mr. Bush's chief
political adviser, Karl Rove - two distinctly conservative and polarizing
figures who attended low-key yet highly profitable fund-raising events here for
the Republican candidate earlier this year."
- Josh Benson's October 16 story on the New Jersey gubernatorial race
between Sen. Jon Corzine and Doug Forrester.
Some Israelis "Extreme," but
Hamas Not
"[Israeli leader Ariel] Sharon has been handcuffed, too, by a struggle with the
more extreme elements of his own party, the right-wing Likud."
- From Steven Erlanger's October 14 story. Erlanger does not label the
Palestinian anti-terror group Hamas as "extreme," only elements of the Israeli
political party Likud.
Better Read That Rulebook Again
"Wie Knows How to Play, And She Knows the Rules."
- Headline to an October 15 sports story on 16-year-old golf phenom
Michelle Wie.
"Infraction Costs Wie First Payday."
- Headline to an October 17 story on Wie, who was disqualified for a
rule infraction the previous day.
