Opinion: In today’s pages: Undying leaders and the ghosts of Iraq
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Writer Jeremy Wagstaff explores the mysticism surrounding the dying Suharto, the former president of Indonesia:
His battle against death, or his efforts to embrace it -- it’s far from clear which -- holds national attention in a way that Suharto hasn’t since he stepped down in disgrace nine years ago. Though he was careful to bury his beliefs beneath a layer of self-deprecating humor and, later, one of Islamic devotion, Suharto believed that he had been given the mandate to rule via his wife, Siti Hartinah, popularly known as Ibu Tien. As minor Javanese royalty, it was she who carried the wahyu -- divine mandate -- and she, at least in the early years, who had been assiduous in fostering it. After all, she had decided to marry him only after having a dream in which she was told he was on a mission from God.
Patt Morrison memorializes Johnny Grant, Hollywood’s honorary mayor for life, and Rosa Brooks stumps for a national celebration of Frankenstein Month. Contributing editor Timothy Garton Ash waits for Martians to invade so the world can finally have an ‘(a) tuneful, (b) noncontroversial and (c) non-banal’ anthem. Cartoonist Matt Wuerker watches the Bush-Cheney train chug through the Middle East.
The editorial board reflects on the casualties of war:
As of Wednesday, 3,915 U.S. service members had been killed in Iraq. You may not have heard about this, because it isn’t a nice, round, milestone-type figure -- unlike, say, 2,000, a number that inspired headlines across the country when that body count was reached in 2005. Another thing you probably haven’t seen lately is images like the front-page photograph in Wednesday’s Times, which showed the flag-draped coffin of Army Sgt. David J. Hart of Lake View Terrace as it arrived on an airport tarmac. Such images are rare, partly because of a media tendency to see the commonplace as unworthy of coverage and partly because of a calculated effort by the Bush administration to prevent the American people from seeing them.
The board also marvels at the troubles of a divided Republican Party, and throws cold water on those not taking Southern California’s drought more seriously.
Readers react to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Op-Ed announcing his support of Prop. 93, term-limit reform. ‘If this proposition passes,’ writes David Etheridge, ‘ [Assembly Speaker Fabian] Nunez will be given another six years of wine-tasting trips to France, and pandering to the wishes of special interests.’