Tuesday punditry.. it's like Monday's, only later in the week.
Bob Herbert: The war takes a harsh toll. People have stopped writing about it, but I haven't.
Mark Blumenthal:
So what to make of the new [abortion poll] results? Fortunately, I can point to two excellent summaries by John Sides and Gary Langer that urge caution before making too much of the apparent "conservative turn."
Ross Douthat: Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code) hates Jesus. Who knew?
David Brooks: Warm and fuzzy CEOs don't cut it. They need to be decisive and anal-retentive to succeed. Therefore (I know it's a stretch, but I'm David Brooks and no one will call me on this crap because I'm a Very Serious Person) Obama can't possibly be a good example for the CEO for America. He's too empathetic and literary to do unfettered capitalism any good.
WSJ:
The Obama administration has decided not to challenge a court ruling that undermines the military's policy of automatically expelling service members found to be gay.
EJ Dionne: How Obama outmaneuvered his critics at Notre Dame.
Ramesh Ponnuru: Note Dame is more evidence that pro-lifers are winning. Okay, that, or that the right is more delusional that I imagined.
Fareed Zakaria:
What did we get wrong about swine flu?
By "we", I mean health officials, not cable TV, who of course acted responsibly by reporting on "killer" flu. But the fact that we are not all dead yet proves the concern was exaggerated.
Thomas Frieden, NYC Commissioner, Dept. of Health/new CDC Director:
"We continue to see a rising tide of flu in many parts of New York City," said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden. "As the virus spreads, we will look to slow transmission within the individual school communities by closing individual schools. Unfortunately, we fully expect to see more severe illness in the coming days, particularly among people who have underlying health problems.
Fareed, revisit your column in 8 months. Even mild and widespread (if that's what it is) is worth the concern.