Opinion: In today’s pages: Fairy tales, tomatoes and tortured logic
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Billionare philanthropist Eli Broad reveals his secret recipe for charter school success, Jonah Goldberg takes a philosophical turn on his way to Disneyland and cartoonist Tom Toles finds out why President Bush empathizes with homeowners facing foreclosure. SMITH co-editors Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith share a few responses to their challenge to write a six-word memoir:
Wasn’t born a redhead; fixed that. -- Andie GraceCan’t tonight, watching ‘Law & Order.’ -- Rory EvansFound true love, married someone else. -- Bjorn StrombergWell, I thought it was funny. -- Stephen ColbertTook scenic route, got in late. -- Will BlytheBeing a monk stunk. Better gay. -- Bob RedmanBecame my mother. Please shoot me. -- Cynthia KaplanWas father, boys died, still sad. -- Ronald ZalewskiNew Jersey to California. Thank God. -- Ayelet WaldmanIt was embarrassing, so don’t ask. -- Alex Lindquist
The editorial board gives a recap of its Super Tuesday endorsements, and gets behind the Senate Finance Committee stimulus package. Crawling up the I-5, editorial writer Karin Klein shares a surprising story of a tomato that made it, against all odds:
You have to drive in the so-called fast lane toward downtown to see it, and at first I doubted my eyes. It’s a straggly thing sprouting from the asphalt along the median barrier, within easy sight of the Commerce Casino. The spot is so inhospitable, even the weeds are stunted. Every week, nevertheless, the plant’s once-green berries grew visibly larger and redder. There it sprawls, its species now unquestionable, at the wrong time of the year, with full eastern exposure, bearing a prolific load of red fruit.
Readers react to Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s position on waterboarding. Norman Franz writes:
At least Mukasey is willing to admit that if he were a victim of waterboarding, it would be torture and therefore illegal. Congratulations, Mr. Mukasey, for placing yourself above any and all detainees who have been waterboarded, whether they deserved it or not.