"Bigotry or Bias" Behind "White" Concern About Illegals

"Bigotry or Bias" Likely Behind Concern About Illegal Immigrants
"So why would illegal immigration be a cause célèbre in a place like this, the whitest Congressional district in Colorado ? Residents and local political leaders say the answer comes down, at least partly, to words like 'order' and 'stability.' Those concerns may mask a certain amount of bigotry or bias." - Kirk Johnson, June 24.

Middle East Moral Equivalency Watch: Suicide Bombers as "Warriors"?
"The film, though, is necessarily ambiguous as to whether all this will lead either side to be more accommodating or will simply result in smarter warriors." - The end of Neil Genzlinger's June 27 review of the documentary "Hot House," on Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons.




Chief movie critic A.O. Scott praising Michael Moore's "Sicko," June 22.




Taking Her Cue (and Tone) from the Left-Wing Blogosphere
"At this rate, critics of Gov. Mitch Daniels grouse, all of Indiana will be run by private corporations. What will be next, anti-Daniels bloggers demand. Will the governor hand over the keys to Indiana University and Purdue to some private consortium? Will he lease to a company the thousands of public toilets that dot the state?" - Lead to Monica Davey's June 16 profile of Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.



"Women's Rights" from a Ruthless Cuban Communist Leader?
"Vilma Espin, an idealistic socialite who fought alongside Fidel and Raul Castro in the mountains of Cuba and later, as Raúl Castro's wife, became a prominent advocate of women's rights and a powerful member of the Cuban Communist Party, died Monday in Havana.....Ms. Espín was a revered figure of the revolution. The image of her and several other prominent women shouldering rifles and wearing combat fatigues during the rebel war helped change attitudes about the role of women in Cuba. She founded the Federation of Cuban Women in 1960, and remained president of the organization until her death. Although few women were allowed into Fidel Castro's inner circle, women advanced in most other fields in Cuba, and Ms. Espin became an international figure in the struggle for women's rights ." - Anthony DePalma, June 20.

The "Lock-Step" Conservative Court
"Yet Justice Scalia did something very close to that, not once but twice, in separate opinions on Monday. As a result, he has served to lift the curtain a bit on the differences within the powerful five-justice conservative bloc that has marched in lock step through much of the term, bent on reshaping the law and, in several important areas, well on the way toward doing so." - Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse, June 28.

Bullies with Bullhorns on the Right
"Pragmatism is being drowned out by the bullies with electronic bullhorns, who've got their party leaders running scared." - Reporter-turned-guest-columnist Timothy Egan describing those opposed to illegal immigration, June 21.




"Few papers would object to a journalist donating to the Boy Scouts or joining the Catholic Church. But the former has an official policy of discriminating against gay children; the latter has views on reproductive rights far more restrictive than those of most Americans." - Times ethics columnist Randy Cohen, responding to an MSNBC investigation into the political donations of journalists.