Opinion: In today’s pages: O.J., global warming and family planning
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So much to choose from today ... let’s see, we’ve got Sarah Palin (of course!), the economy, global warming, immigration, family planning and ... O.J. Simpson! Yes! Columnist Tim Rutten holds his nose and weighs in on media misbehavior during latest O.J. trial:
Tabloid subjects are bad enough; tabloid methods are something else entirely. What makes the tawdry little trial now underway in Las Vegas such a melancholy affair is the revelation that a key figure in the whole sordid sequence of events has been paid to tell his story, and not only by the Los Angeles-based tabloid website TMZ but also by the semi-respectable syndicated television show ‘Entertainment Tonight’ and the previously respectable ABC News.
Ooooh, ‘previously respectable.’ It’s on! Elsewhere on the page, environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blasts Sarah Palin’s ‘enthusiastic embrace of Big Oil’s agenda (if not always Big Oil itself).’ And contributing editor Max Boot says the current crisis on Wall Street won’t negate America’s competitiveness and economic advantages in the long run, and that ‘the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong.’ Gee, that phrase is so familiar....
Meanwhile, the editorial board welcomes a new report that the percentage of immigrants who say they’ve mastered English is increasing, as well as a rise in the share of foreign-born residents who are becoming citizens. It praises states for taking the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And it warns of a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that amounts to a ‘sneak attack on family planning.’ Building on a longstanding rule that allows health-care providers to opt out of providing abortions and sterilizations, the proposal would effectively enable providers to withhold any service they find morally objectionable:
Should Health and Human Services or the president permit this change -- congressional approval is not necessary -- husbands and wives would share the decision about whether to have children with a pharmacist at a CVS, a volunteer at a federally funded clinic or a second-year medical resident. So much for individual freedom.
AP Photo/ Daniel Gluskoter, Pool