Commentary

An editorial / By Dale McFeatters
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Nancy Pelosi's first act as speaker-elect of the U.S. House was to stumble badly.

A child of Baltimore's machine politics broke an old rule of those politics by picking a fight that she should have known she would lose _ and lose big.

Late in the game, she suddenly endorsed John Murtha for the post of House majority leader, in effect her top deputy, over the consensus favorite, Steny Hoyer.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The widespread shift to new voting systems caused problems across the country last week. But given the potential difficulties _ more than a third of U.S. voters cast their first electronic ballots _ the midterm elections went far better than they might have.

By STAR PARKER
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
"A Clean Start. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, spent much of the campaign season vowing that if her party took control in January, the first order of business on day one would be ethics reform.

By STANLEY M. ARONSON
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Most people believe that acquiring the bare necessities of life represents a major achievement. The struggle to survive too often leaves little remaining energy for other pursuits.

Limitless curiosity and wonderment principally remain behaviors of that small fraction of mankind whose station in life allows them the luxury of an inquiring mentality; and who, additionally, have the courage to doubt.

By JOHN HALL
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The Iraq war is being addressed as the cause of the problem in the Arab and Muslim world. But perhaps it is not a cause but an effect of an Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has no visible hope for resolution at the moment.

That was a central message of Prime Minister Tony Blair's call for a broader strategy on Iraq last week.

By MARSHA MERCER
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
"I truly believe in the golden rule," Senate Majority Leader-elect Harry Reid said last week. "And that means we're not going to treat (ital) them (endital) like they treated us."

What's that? Refraining from tit-for-tat behavior against the Republicans is laudable and it may be surprising on Capitol Hill, but it's hardly the golden rule.

The golden rule calls for more than rising above revenge.

An editorial / By Dale McFeatters
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
It had to have been a sweet, sweet feeling for Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi.

Within hours after being elected to the No. 2 post in the Senate Republican leadership, Lott fielded congratulatory calls from President Bush, Vice President Cheney and White House chief of staff Josh Bolton.

By ANN McFEATTERS
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The summer flowers are gone, the days are chilly, the war in Iraq rages on, the political bickering remains incessant. How are we to approach this Thanksgiving Day? How are we to be thankful?

I was struck the other day by two color photos on the front page of The Washington Post.

An editorial / By Dale McFeatters
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
With Democrats in charge of the next Congress, President Bush's chances of getting his comprehensive immigration reform have improved slightly.

By DEROY MURDOCK
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
With his exploratory committee now prospecting for 2008, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads the GOP's White House hopefuls. His standing atop numerous polls remains unchallenged.