In today's pages: GOP "victimhood," parental notification, Indian gaming

Columnist Gregory Rodriguez today offers what, with any luck, will be the Op-Ed page's last take on the lipstick-on-a-pig squabble between the McCain-Palin campaign and Barack Obama. To Rodriguez, it's a sign of the GOP's descent into the politics of victimhood that conservatives have long decried. And unlike the liberal spin on victim politics, which is based on economic populism, the current Republican version is based on cultural divides, Rodriguez writes:

The enemies list is made up of professors, public intellectuals and entertainers, not captains of industry. And without any real redress in mind, conservative populism is all about emotion and personal grievance, not righting any particular social or economic wrong. You'd think the rise of conservative media, eight years of a conservative administration and a conservative-leaning Supreme Court would have undermined the GOP's victim strategy -- they are in power, which is one way to define "elite."

Ahh, another day, another flood of angry responses. If you feel victimized by Rodriguez's column, please fill in the comment box below.

Elsewhere on the page, Francesca Ratner sinks into the complexities of Prop. 4, an initiative to require a parent or other adult relative to be notified before a minor's abortion, and unearths a maze of red tape, humiliation for pregnant teens and potential lawsuits. And Brookings economist Rebecca M. Blank calls for Congress to update the way poverty is measured in America to better reflect government aid programs, regional differences in the cost of living and new spending patterns.

On the editorial side of the ledger, the Times' editorial board blasts a bill by state Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) to protect Indian casinos against competition from charity-sponsored bingo:

It's more than a little troubling to see the haste with which lawmakers, who receive huge donations from tribes, rush to do their bidding. The state had been in the process of determining the legality of charity bingo machines, but Cedillo's bill would end that discussion. Californians should demand to see it reopened.

The board also notes how United Airlines' investors were ill served by the Internet's power to distribute bad information. And it urges U.S. policymakers not to overreact to Venezuela and Bolivia expelling American ambassadors, which would only play into the hands of leaders Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales:

Did somebody announce we are at war with Latin America and forget to tell us? The expulsion of the ambassadors came seemingly without provocation, and the notion that President Bush is plotting an invasion is laughable. Yet for Chavez and Morales, provoking the United States serves two purposes: It distracts domestic attention from their disastrous policies and could, they hope, produce an overreaction in kind from Washington that would further their interests.