Opinion: In today’s pages: Chad, China, water and Wright
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
UC Santa Barbara professor Brian Fagan warns that our future survival in a drier world depends on our ability to adapt to our environment, and writer Francis Fukuyama blames the Chinese government’s weakness, not strength, for domestic human rights violations. Economist Korinna Horta and attorney Delphine Djiraibe argue that Darfur cannot be saved without fixing Chad first, and Jonah Goldberg thanks the Rev. Jeremiah Wright for revealing how radical he really is:
Asked whether he stood by his assertion that the U.S. government created HIV as part of a genocidal program to wipe out the black race, Wright mostly dodged but ultimately offered this nondenial denial: ‘I believe our government is capable of doing anything.’ He also offered a zesty defense of Louis Farrakhan -- ‘one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century’ -- and dismissed criticism of Farrakhan as an anti-Semite. To cap it off, Wright threw Obama under the bus. First, the pastor explained, Obama himself had taken Wright out of context. Moreover, Obama neither denounced nor distanced himself from Wright. And, besides, anything that Obama says on such matters is just stuff ‘politicians say.’ They ‘do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls.’ So much for Obama’s new politics.
The editorial board warns parents that avoiding vaccinations for fear of autism could result in a future epidemic, and gives a reluctant green light to MTA’s decision to turn some carpool lanes into toll lanes. The board also condemns the Supreme Court for upholding Indiana’s voter ID law:
Indiana has a right to safeguard the integrity of its elections, but its identification requirement imposes sufficiently burdensome rules that it raises the question of whether the state is actually trying to discourage certain types of people -- the poor, the elderly, the infirm -- from exercising their right to vote. It’s one thing to deter fraud; it’s another to deter voting, particularly by certain classes of voters.
Readers react to the Dodger Stadium makeover. Ken Chane writes:
The Dodgers’ new stadium plan sounds and looks wonderful. But before it attracts larger crowds, the current chaotic parking situation should be corrected. Management keeps touting the ‘wonderful fan experience.’ No matter how great it may be, it dissipates quickly when it’s time to go home.