Opinion: In today’s pages: Divorce the war, join the Libertarians, appoint LaBonge
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On this anniversary of the Iraq war, columnist Rosa Brooks is getting a five-year itch:
But I don’t want to dwell on the bad times, because we did have some good times, didn’t we? Remember those peaceful days between ‘Mission Accomplished’ -- I think that was May 1, 2003 -- and ... and ... well, July 2003 or so, when we could still stroll around Baghdad at dusk, interrupted only by occasional small-arms fire? Those were the days, before the car bombs and IEDs. We were happy then, weren’t we, War?... But you can’t go back again, can you?
Reason’s Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch notice that all those voters moving to the center and calling themselves independent have a lot in common with Libertarians. University of Missouri-St. Louis professor Richard Rosenfeld says that when it comes to the uptick in homicides, the buck actually doesn’t stop with Police Chief Bratton. And columnist Patt Morrison thinks Councilman Tom LaBonge may be ready for mayorship... of the honorary kind, in Hollywood.
The editorial board says education officials are right to try to bend, if not break, No Child Left Behind. The board worries that L.A.’s port clean up plan is bound to end up in court, and that an automated state budget would make the process too robotic:
The Budget Stabilization Act nearly removes the human element from self-government. It is budgetary Skynet, marketed as a program smarter than the people it supposedly serves but destined to strip from people the benefits, as well as the burdens, of financial decision-making.
Readers react to Barack Obama’s speech on race. See why Santa Monica’s Evelyn Salem has doubts about his leadership, and why Hermosa Beach’s Edna M. Tobias had a ‘rare patriotic moment’ during the speech.