US politics from outside the beltway


US Press: pick of the papers

The ten must-read opinion pieces from today's US papers.

1. America Isn't a Corporation (New York Times)

What's with the notion that this country needs a successful businessman as president? Making good economic policy isn't at all like maximizing corporate profits, Paul Krugman writes.

2. Afghanistan's future (Los Angeles Times)

With a stalemate in the war, the surest road to peace and stability is through talks with the Taliban, this editorial argues.

3. Obama's damaging blow to our military (Washington Post)

Howard P. "Buck" McKeon argues smaller isn't necessarily smarter.

4. The strategy behind political ads (Politico)

The spots provide clues about a campaign's polling, fundraising and focus-grouping, write Ken Goldstein and Elizabeth Wilner.

5. Contempt for the Constitution (Wall Street Journal) ($)

Justice invents a legal rationale for Obama appointments, according to this review.

6. Big outreach on campus (Boston Globe) ($)

College student's suicide prompts broader discussion of mental health, Joan Wickersham writes.

7. Santorum and the mythic power of the zealots (Chicago Tribune)

The GOP candidate is a man enthralled with mythic power -- and it's making him speak in tongues, Meghan Daum discusses.

8. Supreme Court got it right on church hiring (Los Angeles Times)

The justices backed religious autonomy without approving in advance any assertion of the "ministerial exception" this editorial writes.

9. Defining a safer clean-energy future (Denver Post)

Mike Chiropolos writes that Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary added more than 150 new words last year. Not included on the list were "hydraulic fracturing" or "fracking," but it seems likely they'll be added in 2012.

10. Obama family values (Salon)

The First Couple works hard to raise their children and keep their marriage strong -- but people are still outraged, Joan Walsh writes.