Opinion: In today’s pages: Obama’s speech, chimp kills and check cashers
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President Obama’s Tuesday night speech to Congress draws reactions from both halves of the Opinion section today. On the Op-Ed page, columnist Doyle McManus likens Obama’s oratorical strategy to that of Ronald Reagan, who used the bully pulpit to increase pressure on Congress to support his proposals. And in the editorial stack, the Times board mulls the challenge faced by congressional Republicans as they try to offer an anti-spending alternative to Obama without seeming to oppose an extremely popular president. (Come to think of it, that’s reminscent of Reagan, too, and his relationship with congressional Democrats -- at least at first, before Reagan-bashing became the Dems’ favorite pastime.)
Also on the Op-Ed page, Jane Goodall blames the frequent use of chimpanzees in entertainment and advertising for tragedies such as the fatal shooting of a pet chimp named Travis in Connecticut after he mauled a human:
Is it any wonder viewers might think that chimpanzees would make great pets?Nothing could be further from the truth. Only infant chimpanzees are used in entertainment and advertising, because as they approach maturity, at about 6 to 8 years of age, they become strong and unmanageable.
USC Professor Manuel Pastor urges banks to capitalize on the untapped market in Los Angeles’ urban neighborhoods and displace the usurious check-cashing companies that have thrived in their absence. And columnist Tim Rutten echoes Cardinal Roger Mahoney’s message about this Lenten season (which starts today, for those of you who aren’t practicing Catholics) and the sacrifices that many families in the region have been making since the economy started sliding in 2007.
Rounding out the editorial stack, the board says it’s time to stop wasting energy on the ‘unsubstantiated’ link between children’s vaccinations and autism. And it calls a proposal to decriminalize and tax marijuana sales ‘an idea whose time has not come.’