Opinion: In today’s pages: McCain’s delusions, Hezbollah’s power, labor’s future
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Columnist Rosa Brooks asks why John McCain has credibility on war despite being consistently wrong about:
In poll after poll, about two-thirds of Americans say they oppose the war in Iraq, believe things in Iraq are going badly for the United States, disapprove of the way President Bush is handling the war.... Yet -- and here comes the mystery -- polls also show that more Americans trust presumptive Republican nominee John McCain than either Democratic presidential candidate when it comes to handling the war in Iraq. Go figure.
Contributing editor Timothy Garton Ash says we have a responsibility to help the Burmese, but not with military action. And UC Santa Barbara’s Nelson Lichtenstein looks at the new battle for labor’s future and the man at the center of it, SEIU president Andy Stern.
The editorial board asks why a disciplined LAPD officer still got paid, and says a proposal to increase FDA funding deserves approval. Finally, the board notes that a deal with Hezbollah may avert civil war in Lebanon, but it makes official the group’s growing power.
Readers discuss L.A.’s red light cameras. Venice’s Bonnie Y. Modugnol says:
I wonder at the simple-minded assessment of a traffic engineer who assumes no danger if an accident is a ‘sideswipe at most.’ He fails to consider the collateral damage -- lost time for both parties and everyone backed up behind the accident, insurance or out-of-pocket costs for repairs and a pervasive disintegration of trust on the road.