The NY Daily News, its tabloidish second day in the row cover addressing Roger Clemens' extramarital behavior aside, was well worth the price today. This includes entertainment coverage (Madonna is promoting her new CD, there is a new one man play on Thurgood Marshall), sports*, coverage on congressional Republicans trying to deprive the city of $2B in 9/11 funds and a local story of a college student who threatened others with a gun. And, as usual, good overall sports coverage and comics. But, there were two things in particular that struck me, one article, one opinion piece. The people involved impressed in the past as well.
Errol Louis starts off on the wrong foot by suggesting there upfront that Wright has "maimed" Obama's campaign, "perhaps fatally," on the same day the paper noted that a few more superdelegates went his way. In fact, an even split (with a plus in North Carolina and polls suggesting a tie or better in Indiana, this is fair, even conservative) would lead him to need only about fifty delegates. But, anyway, Louis' overall point that the Wright controversy corrodes the message of Obama's campaign is on point. This includes anger at those who gleefully watch on:
"I would reserve a special circle in Hell for those who are gloating and smirking over Obama's pastor's self-immolation," essayist Jim Sleeper wrote this week, urging current and potential supporters of Obama not to lose hope.
"I'd like to think that since countless blacks stood up to dogs and mobs, we who support Obama can find in ourselves the faith to withstand his cankered, middling detractors," he wrote.
Sleeper's right. It benefits no one - not Hillary Clinton, not John McCain - to sacrifice a chance for improved race relations on the altar of a White House win. If nothing else, the Wright flap has made clear how badly we need to get beyond the pain and prejudice of the past.
See also, here, including how others in Wright's church are surprised at some of his remarks. And, "It's important to acknowledge that these faith-based movements have made America better, freer and fairer." Meanwhile, let us not forget that this is the fifth year anniversary of "mission accomplished." The article was a bit too deep in the paper, but the NY Daily News helped us not to:
On May 1, 2003, Bush flew on a Navy jet to the carrier Lincoln, where he announced "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" and the U.S. had "prevailed."
Today, that same ship is sailing back to the Persian Gulf and 4,370 coalition troops and thousands more Iraqis are dead.
The U.S. is no closer to Bush's pledge that "we will leave."
The article is entitled: "Wars go on & on, 5 years after Bush's 'mission accomplished' speech." I am not sure what "thousands more Iraqis" mean** -- hundreds of thousands are dead actually; even if it means "combat" related deaths, it surely is a misleading turn of phrase (didn't Bush himself speak of thirty thousand Iraqis some time ago?). All the same, the smallish article covers several bases, including the problems still in Afghanistan. This is a particularly telling quote:
"When there were no cowboys in Indian country, there was no fighting going on," NATO Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco told the Daily News. "When you introduce a lot of new cowboys into the area, you get a lot more fighting."
Duh.
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* The Yanks and the Mets ended April badly. The Yanks are injured, have a hard time hitting and their two rookie pitchers are doing badly. The Mets are inconsistent; aside from Ryan Church and the fill-in for a hurt Pedro, they too are not playing well as a whole; and the mess that was yesterday's game (two Mets hits vs. the lowly Pirates and nine unearned runs) highlighted the fact (and Perez's problems).
Ditto, their win on Tuesday -- a two run lead blown, partially on an unearned run, lots of men left on base, Santana going under six and Reyes getting caught stealing. It's only May 1, but both teams need to wake up. Meanwhile, what about those Rays? And, last weekend at least three pitchers pitched complete games, one or two others pitching eight innings. Yes, it's possible!
** [Update] In reply to a request for clarification, the co-writer of the piece said: "Since the number - as you point out - is in dispute and space was limited, I phrased it in the most appropriate way I could. Would you have preferred I made no mention of Iraqi deaths?"
I replied that a misleading mention ("thousands more" implies to me single digit thousands, not tens or hundreds) was not really the best path or probably necessary (a few words could have done it, or even "many more"). A bit sarcastic there.