A look back at the year in editorials
A Chicago welcome
A month ago, filmmaker George Lucas took his “Star Wars” museum plan to Chicago. He clearly was fed up with haughty, picky, billionaire-resenting, NIMBYridden San Francisco. Well, guess what? It turns out that the Windy City knows how to put up a little gale-force resistance of its own.
Chicago’s parks advocates are upset at the idea of more building along the city’s prized lakefront; they’re threatening a lawsuit. The Chicago Tribune editorialized against the lakefront site, and design critics are using terms like “vanity project” and “Darth Vader” to describe the museum. Grousing has emerged from Chicago Bears fans who resent the intrusion on sacred tailgating ground for games at Soldier Field.
( July 23)
Ebola challenge
The images of covered corpses, HazMat suits and spray guns shooting disinfectant are chilling. But they are all first steps in a process that should draw in the affected countries and the outside world, just as the AIDS crusade did. It’s a chance for the U.S. to use its wealth, expertise and compassion to stamp out an epidemic.
The U.S. and World Health Organization have begun sending in personnel. They’ll be needed to win over panicky and suspicious locals worried about quarantine orders, unfamiliar treatment and changes in burial practices.
(Aug. 6)
Back to Iraq
It’s interesting to note that some of the voices of hubris that led the U.S. charge into Iraq are now critical of the humility and restraint that President Obama has exhibited in response to the advance of a jihadist militia in the war-ravaged nation. It seems that their hindsight only extends to the day Obama took office.
Those who are taking the president to task seem to have either forgotten or conveniently rewritten the history of the U.S. invasion in March 2003.
(Aug. 13)
Napa shakes
It was a disaster by any definition.
Still, it could have been much worse. First responders acted with a speed and efficiency that helped maintain a climate of calm as aftershocks rattled nerves through the day.
The upcoming anniversary of the Oct. 17, 1989, earthquake almost assuredly will generate myriad cautionary notes about preparedness. Yet there is nothing like a look at the searing images from fresh devastation — the human heartache and the structural dislocation — to highlight the power of nature to disrupt and destroy.
(Aug. 25)
Not-so-great debate
In the battle of the one-liners, the debate between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican challenger Neel Kashkari was a high-scoring draw. In the measure of substance, it was a low-scoring tie. At debate’s end, Brown was asked whether he would consider a second debate. “I think we’ve exposed the differences,” he replied, making it quite clear this would be the only chance to directly compare the two candidates.
Their differences were exposed, but not fully explored, on myriad issues. Those who bothered to watch the debate instead of the more highly rated Seattle-Green Bay football game learned that the candidates don’t see eye to eye on everything from high-speed rail to education reform to corrections policy to the state of the economy’s health. They also learned that each candidate can deliver a zinger.
(Sept. 6)
Disrupters disrupted
The new ride-sharing companies are overwhelmingly popular — but they can’t seem to stay out of legal trouble. Last week, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón sent a letter to Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar explaining that they are engaging in unlawful business practices.
There are a couple of specific issues mentioned in the letter, which Sidecar made available to the media. The first has to do with the criminal background checks these companies say they perform on their drivers. The ongoing case of an Uber driver with a criminal record who’s been charged in a passenger assault has led Gascón to question these claims — and he wants all three companies to “remove all statements” implying that their background checks dig up drivers’ total criminal history. This seems like a small but important change that all of these companies could easily make.
(Sept. 29)
Yes, it’s a dynasty
A weighty question deserves an answer. Does the latest win make the team a dynasty? The debate will rage for months, changing as new players come aboard or older ones depart.
For now, let the numbers — three World Series wins since 2010 — answer the question. If there’s still any doubt, just ask the fans in the street on Friday. The Giants dynasty has just begun. Believe it.
(Oct. 31)
Higher (cost) education
University of California President Janet Napolitano has laid out two solid principles for funding the 10-campus system. First and foremost, the state needs to make a commitment to reinvest in a top-flight university that is an incubator of personal opportunity and economic development. Second, as Napolitano said when she assumed office last year, tuition should be set “as low as we can make it, and fair, and predictable for families.” Her plan for a 5 percent increase in each of the next five years is certainly predictable. It’s predictably steep. (Nov. 14)
Old wounds
Prosecutor Robert McCulloch acknowledged Monday night that the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown “opened old wounds.” In truth, as President Obama suggested in his otherwise dispassionate call for calm, the sores that persist between police and young men of color are part of everyday life in America — which helps explain the rage at the grand jury’s decision not to indict white police Officer Darren Wilson. The frustration in no way excuses the violence, looting and vandalism that broke out in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere after McCulloch’s recounting of the evidence that led to the conclusion that the officer committed no crime when he shot Brown at least six times.
But the reality is that the grand jury was merely one stop on a long road to justice.
(Nov. 26)
Hola, Cuba!
A fossilized foreign policy is fading. President Obama is dismantling an outdated barrier between the U.S. and Cuba, a vestige of the Cold War that long ago outlived its purpose and usefulness. ... For too long, Cuba’s isolation has remained an untouchable issue, kept in the deep freeze by Cuban emigres who rightly deplore the country’s abysmal record on human rights. But the imposed barriers aren’t working, and opportunities to change relations went nowhere. Virtually every other nation maintains relations with the island, ignoring the embargo imposed by its biggest and nearest neighbor.
(Dec. 18)