Inequality in Japan Also Reagan's Fault

Inequality in Japan: Also Reagan's Fault
"The moment of reckoning has come as the man given credit for the economic revival, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, prepares to retire in September after more than five years in office. Mr. Koizumi's Reaganesque policies of deregulation, privatization, spending cuts and tax breaks for the rich helped lift the national economy, but at a social cost that Japan's more 127 million residents are just beginning to grasp."
- Norimitsu Onishi, April 16.

"Narrow Moral Precipice" Between Israeli Security and Palestinian Terror Attacks
"Peace is much spoken of here. But at times, as I race along the narrow moral precipice, running between a military checkpoint and a suicide bombing, I think of the old Russian proverb: 'We shall struggle for peace so hard that not a tree will be left standing.'"
- Jerusalem bureau chief Steven Erlanger, April 16 Travel section from Jerusalem.

Lefty Songwriter Pete Seeger Relevant in Age of Cindy Sheehan
"'Mrs. McGrath,' a mother's lament for her son who lost his legs on the battlefield, carries powerful resonance in the era of Cindy Sheehan. And one can only imagine how the boisterous Mardi Gras version of 'Pay Me My Money Down' will go over at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in front of thousands of locals still awaiting government relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."
- Will Hermes on Bruce Springsteen's upcoming album of songs by radical singer-songwriter Pete Seeger, April 16.

Which Is It?
"Young Officers Leaving Army at a High Rate"
- Headline over an April 10 report by Thom Shanker.
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"Except that a chart accompanying the article shows that while young officers are leaving the Army at a higher rate than a few years ago, it's still lower than before 9/11. And while the number grew in the past few years, most recently it's now on a downturn again, a result, says the Times, of the military's increased incentives program. All which makes the thesis and the headline...trés 2005."
- Slate's "Today's Papers" columnist Eric Umansky, same day.

"Only a Few Potential Terrorists" Were Found? What a Waste of Time!
"...the N.S.A. program uncovered no active Al Qaeda plots and led investigators to only a few potential terrorists in the country whom they did not know about from other sources."
- Excerpt from an in-house that ran the day after the Times won a Pulitzer Prize for a story revealing Bush was wiretapping communication of terror suspects without a warrant.

Palestinian Terrorists as "Victims"

"In the past week, 18 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli tank and artillery attacks. The latest victims were two gunmen from Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade who were killed on Thursday as they tried to get through a fence. On Thursday and Friday, Israeli troops, with armored bulldozers, ventured several dozen yards inside Gaza searching for explosives."
- John Kifner, reporting from Jerusalem April 15.

Anti-War Lefties, Illegal Immigrant Lefties: All Just Normal Folks
"The Dallas protesters were young and old. Some were families pushing baby strollers. Some walked with canes, others rolled along in wheelchairs. There were members of unions, churches, civil rights organizations and business groups, but many were strangers to one another. Some spoke passionately about their desire to be Americans, to vote and to hold a job without fear."
- Robert McFadden describing illegal immigrants, April 10.
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"Grandmothers with canes, parents with children in strollers, high school students, women in business suits, as well as button-bedecked antiwar demonstrators gathered elbow to elbow in Trafalgar Square to voice their disapproval of Mr. Bush and his administration's foreign policies."
- Lizette Alvarez describing an anti-war march in Trafalgar Square, November 21, 2003.

Bushies "Surrended to Self-Parody Some Time Ago"
"But what gives the film its gleam of topicality, its suggestion of relevance, is that it directly sends up both the Bush presidency and 'American Idol,' those twin pillars of contemporary homespun populism. The problem being that, as Jon Stewart, among many others, habitually reminds us, both surrendered to self-parody some time ago." - Movie critic Manohla Dargis on the new flick "American Dreamz," April 21.