Delays, extensions and opinions

UNLIKE, SAY, YOUR 11th-grade science teacher, none of the big Eastern newspapers are too concerned about a missed deadline on a big project. Only the Washington Post deems Iraqi leaders’ failure to reach agreement on a new constitution worth a comment today, and it’s hardly stern: “A short delay while working on key disputes,” such as the roles of women and clerics, is OK as long as Iraqis use the time “to hammer out an agreement.” In other words, they shouldn’t get another extension. (A similar view can be found elsewhere on this page.)

Other editorial boards are worried about more pressing matters. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette decries the sorry state of high school science labs. Keeping with the focus on youth, the Christian Science Monitor wonders whether it’s wise to give youngsters cellphones, concluding that they may give parents peace of mind but that “no electronic tether can substitute for a relationship of trust with their child.”

The New York Times is disgusted with the antics of an older crowd, the gathering of conservatives last weekend for “Justice Sunday II” in Nashville, where speakers railed against the judiciary: The show “was offensive on many levels, from the inflammatory and inaccurate attacks on ‘activist’ judges to the fact that it was held in a tax-exempt church.” And the Wall Street Journal makes the case that Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is behaving immaturely with his “hold” on several civilian appointees for the Pentagon, denying them a confirmation vote. It suggests that Majority Leader Bill Frist “use his authority to ignore a hold and move a nomination to the floor for a vote.” Delays may be OK in Iraq, but not in the U.S. Senate.

Michael Newman