Reckonings : Success breeds failure

PAUL KRUGMAN

Cross your fingers, knock on wood: it’s possible, though by no means certain, that the worst of the financial crisis is over. That’s the good news. - Friday, May 9, 2008

Doubling Down

Although Barack Obama won by a landslide Tuesday in the North Carolina presidential primary, Hillary Clinton maintained that her victory in Indiana meant that the Democratic contest isn’t over — never mind that her margin was unexpectedly slim. Indeed, she doubled down; her campaign chairman said she was prepared to kick in even more of her own money. At some point, though, the battle is over, and Clinton’s grit starts to look like denial. - Friday, May 9, 2008

EDITORIALS : Better Care

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced last week, during a visit to Fort Bliss, Texas, that military personnel, as well as civilians, will no longer have to reveal previous mental-health treatment when applying for security clearances for sensitive positions. - Friday, May 9, 2008

LETTERS

Steps to a better Bella Vista - Friday, May 9, 2008

EDITORIALS : Gas Pandering

There is no bigger, more far-reaching question facing Americans today than how we continue to fuel the vehicles that keep our society moving. - Thursday, May 8, 2008

LETTERS

Christians not obligated to let lawbreakers take over Jim Miranda does not support lawbreakers. Then we must agree that regardless of nationality, creed or color (including white), no matter what station or status, a person found here illegally by any lawenforcement officer should be respectfully taken into custody, photographed, fingerprinted and their correct name determined, along with any aliases. - Thursday, May 8, 2008

Foreign Affairs : The democratic recession

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

There are two important recessions going on in the world today. One has gotten enormous attention. It’s the economic recession in America. But it will eventually pass, and the world will not be much worse for the wear. The other has gotten no attention. It’s called “the democratic recession,” and if it isn’t reversed, it will change the world for a long time. - Thursday, May 8, 2008

Calamity in Burma

Cyclone Nargis has caused horrific suffering, and the military junta ruling Burma has only been compounding it. In the face of this humanitarian calamity, international aid organizations and governments must focus on saving lives. - Thursday, May 8, 2008

EDITORIALS : In the Money

It’s easy to be angry with President Bush right now. Under his leadership, the price of gasoline has managed to eclipse $4 a gallon in some parts of the country and is high everywhere. Food prices are steadily climbing. - Wednesday, May 7, 2008

LETTERS

Power poles not a welcome sight in this case Carroll Electric in Rogers cannot direct power in a safe manner by delivering it underground because the city has yet to plan, let alone build, the infrastructure needed that would allow Carroll to do so. - Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Combat and composure

DAVID BROOKS

Life is short, but campaigns are long. And during the course of them, each candidate will have impressive and pathetic moments. But underlying the highs and lows, there are the fundamentals. The fundamentals of the Obama-Clinton race were on display Sunday morning. - Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Don’t Panic

It surprises and humbles when a crisis comes, seemingly, out of nowhere, to upset the agenda we thought we had set for ourselves, our businesses or our government. - Wednesday, May 7, 2008

EDITORIALS : Stereotype Broken

Here in the South, we are used to being near or at the bottom of government health rankings. - Tuesday, May 6, 2008

LETTERS

Conversation has frightening subtext Recently there has been a conversation among letter writers on this opinion page about the religious affiliation of our Founding Fathers. Some of those writers have “proof” that the Founding Fathers were god-fearing Christians, while others claim that several were deists. - Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Liberties : This Bud’s for you

MAUREEN DOWD

Barack Obama is going to get down if it kills him. - Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Disenfranchise Away

Six justices of the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to voting rights and fair elections when they upheld an Indiana law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. This 2005 law supposedly combats fraud, but plaintiffs argued rightly that it makes voting harder for poor, elderly and disabled citizens without photo IDs. - Tuesday, May 6, 2008

EDITORIALS : To The Dogs

Dog parks are safe places to let your dog be a dog.” Those words — spoken by Teresa Robinson, one of hundreds of dog lovers in attendance at Saturday’s Bentonville Dog Walk — sound like the makings of a pretty special place to us. - Monday, May 5, 2008

The Race Card

The year is 2008, and, as such, there is no issue in which race is not a factor. - Monday, May 5, 2008

Do parents overreact?

By Paul Nyhan Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Last week’s release of Grand Theft Auto IV — complete with lap-dancin strippers and splatter blood — renewed the debate about what violent video games are doing to the American family. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

LETTERS

Merger good news - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Aftermath : Hillary gets no respect

NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

I normally don’t claim to speak for other members of the vast right-wing conspiracy. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Let them eat ethanol?

MONA CHAREN

They don’t have enough to eat. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Wheelhouse : Bare knuckles

JOHN DILMORE JR .

When Hillary Clinton challenged Barack Obama to a freewheeling, Lincoln-Douglas style debate recently, she came across as a little desperate. A politician with so much at stake offering to debate an opponent sans moderator is the rough equivalent of a man on trial for murder taking the stand in his own defense. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Right Turn : Obama the inexperienced

CAL THOMAS

While the Rev. Jeremiah Wright continues to play out in sound bites on cable TV and talk radio, it isn’t Wright who might be president. It is Barack Obama who wants that job. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Full disclosure “Expert analysts,” often labeled as nothing more, get a lot of TV time these days. They spend hours every day shaping public opinion — in a coherent, deliberate effort to deliver a W hite House-version of the Iraq war. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

How McCain lost in Pennsylvania

FRANK RICH

It’s a nightmare. It’s the Bataan Death March. It’s mutually assured Armageddon. “Both of them are already losing the general to John McCain,” declared a Newsweek columnist last month, predicting that the election “may already be over” by the time the Democrats anoint a nominee. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Rockwood Files : What it takes: Writer finds prerequisite for launching a business

GWEN ROCKWOOD

If you want to start your own business, there’s one essential ingredient you’ve got to have. It’s not hard work or a great location or a solid business plan — although all those things are important. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Will the right sit it out?

PATRICK J. BUCHANAN

If John McCain wins the presidency, his comeback — after the bankrupt debacle his campaign had become in the summer of 2007 with his backing of the amnesty bill — will be the stuff of legend. - Saturday, May 3, 2008

ALL THUMBS

Appearing each Saturday, “All Thumbs” is The Benton County Daily Record’s take on the people, events and issues deserving a “thumbs up” for a noteworthy accomplishment or good deed or a “thumbs down” for magnificent failure or just general stupidity. Thumbs up to congressional approval last week of a bill that would prohibit discrimination by health insurers and employers based on information obtained through genetic testing. As this law indicates, ours is a rapidly changing world. The laws must change with it. - Saturday, May 3, 2008

LETTERS

Gore has made false claims in the past - Saturday, May 3, 2008