Opinion: In today’s pages: Gaza, Bill Clinton and inaugural addresses
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Today’s Op-Ed page offers two more angles on the Gaza conflict. Columnist Tim Rutten defends Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s public apologia for the Israeli offensive. The mayor’s opinions are sincerely held, Rutten opines, and besides, several of his predecessors also spoke up about foreign affairs. Journalist Jonathan Finer, meanwhile, laments Israel’s efforts to keep reporters from witnessing the action:
No doubt the Israeli government is worried about sympathies generated by stories of Palestinian suffering. But it cannot be enjoying media coverage from Gaza dominated by a context-free stream of images of the wounded, disseminated by people with unknown agendas. Claims from Palestinian officials of more than 900 people killed and a humanitarian crisis underway have been left to stand unverified, as have Israeli reports that Hamas militants are deliberately drawing fire to hospitals and schools.
Wrapping up the Op-Eds, Tom Engelhardt of the Nation Institute notes how inaugural addresses have changed since the country’s first presidents, as today’s leaders seem incapable of acknowledging the limits and weaknesses that their predecessors admitted.
Concerned about the potential conflicts of interest (perceived and real), the editorial board urges former President Clinton to ‘keep his wallet zipped’ and stop fundraising for his foundation while Hillary Clinton serves as Secretary of State. The board also lays out some questions the Senate Judiciary Committee should ask Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for Attorney General. And it bemoans the Bush administration’s recent efforts to impede access to government records through the Freedom of Information Act:
Curbs on the FOIA ... represent not just inconveniences for journalists and historians but restrictions on the rights of citizens to hold their elected leaders accountable; as such, they compromise a fundamental right of a democratic people. It is fitting, if dismaying, that the Bush administration should be making one last attempt to shield government from those it is intended to serve.
In Letters, readers weigh in on nut allergies (take that, Joel Stein!), car sales and the Gaza conflict.
The Jan. 7 photo of Palestinian prisoners in Gaza, supplied by Israel Defense Forces, is courtesy of EPA.