AnnotatedOpinions.com

The Big Inflation Scare: Does the big inflation scare make any sense? Basically, no. And I suspect that the scare is at least partly about politics rather than economics. [New York Times]

Face of America: Despite the hyperventilating, Sotomayor’s confirmation won’t be about race. [Washington Post]

The Empathy Issue: The crucial question in evaluating Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court justice is not whether, but how, she relies on empathy or emotion in rendering decisions. [New York Times]

GM and the U.S. taxpayer: An administration plan to become the automaker’s major stakeholder would be best if it is a short-lived ride in the driver’s seat. [LA Times]

Another Rescue? Before the federal government provides support to the municipal debt market, the case for aid has to be made based on thorough analysis and full transparency. [New York Times]

Just one key question for Judge Sotomayor [USA Today]

Forests and the Planet: With the rain forests shrinking and the planet warming up, it is crucial that the right domestic and global incentives are put in place. [New York Times]

North Korea and the problem with the PSI: The Proliferation Security Initiative by itself can’t solve the crisis with Pyongyang. [LA Times]

Words of Wisdom for 2009 grads: What people are saying in commencement addresses [USA Today]

Married With Bankruptcy: If the Depression is any guide, in times of economic crisis the divorce rate drops. But the trend usually does not last. [New York Times]

JUSTICES of the US Supreme Court in the 21st century, right or wrong, need to demonstrate some level of expertise in national security and military affairs.

. . . they must have expertise in this area of the law — especially as our men and women in the armed forces fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. [AO: Ok, but why? Take Chief Justice Roberts. He might be on the court for 40 years or longer. Why should national security be a significant measure of whether he will be a good justice 5, 10, 20, or 40 years from now? Second, why lift national security to such high level of importance when there are many other issues that directly touch even more Americans? Third, why is this national security “expertise” so important for what the court does: decide constitutional issues, whether they touch on free speech, national security, or many of the other constitutional issues?  ]

Judge Sonia Sotomayor

• Right goes berserk over Judge Sonia [Chicago Tribune]
• The complete package: Obama’s top court pick combines sterling credentials and uplifting life story [Houston Chronicle]
• Sotomayor the Centrist: Liberals should support Obama’s nominee, but she’s not one of their own. [Washington Post]
• The Republicans’ Choice: Sonia Sotomayor gives the GOP a chance show it is not narrow-minded. [Washington Post]

Crazy Compensation and the Crisis: We’re all paying now because skewed financial incentives led to too many big bets. [Wall Street Journal]

When Sallie Met Barack: The student loan system is a mess. Why doesn’t the government cut out the middlemen and just lend the money out itself? [New York Times]

Cheney’s Chutzpah: It’s worth reviewing his faulty arguments because there are so many. [Washington Post]

Do race and gender matter for the Supreme Court? A debate [LA Times]

North Korea Tests: Diplomacy — backed by stiff sanctions — is the only hope for walking North Korea back from the brink. [New York Times]

Dangerous dilemma: North Korea’s nuclear testing must bring a swift, firm global response [Houston Chronicle]

When Politicians Talk in Private: Only in Illinois might a politician like Senator Roland Burris claim a clean bill of health from a wiretap that flatly contradicts his initial claim under oath of a clean bill of health. [New York Times]

Don’t fear the truth: Talking Truth Commissions [USA Today]

How California Went Bust: Today’s misery is the work of the proto-Reaganites behind Proposition 13. [Washington Post]

Would You Slap Your Father? If So, You’re a Liberal: Liberals and conservatives don’t just think differently, they also feel differently. [New York Times]

All you ever wanted to know about Judge Sotomayor

• Sotomayor’s critics have their work cut out for them [Chicago Tribune]
• Sotomayor, a sound choice [LA Times]
• Sonia’s supreme success [New York Daily News]
• The New Justice [New York Times]
• Every Justice Creates a New Court [New York Times]
• Sotomayor breaks ground, brings ‘life lessons’ debate [USA Today]
• Sotomayor’s Strengths: She’s not a flaming liberal or an intellectual lightweight. [Washington Post]

California’s Prop 8

• California court’s contradictory Prop. 8 decision [LA Times]
• Prop. 8 fight is not over [LA Times]
• A Setback for Equality [New York Times]

The GOP’s Feigned Outrage It takes chutzpah to protest what you’ve created. [Wall Street Journal]

The rough road to the Supreme Court: Since the ’60s, most nominees have had to run a harrowing political gantlet in the Senate. [LA Times]

North Korea’s nuclear testing must bring a swift, firm global response [Houston Chronicle]

Court, cameras, action! Souter’s departure could clear the way for?far more transparency at the Supreme Court [USA Today]

No Victory in Sri Lanka: We support the call for an international investigation into possible war crimes committed by both sides in the country’s civil war. [New York Times]

Memorial Day

• Hoist a glass for Red … [Chicago Tribune]
• For love of country, they accepted death [Chicago Tribune]
• This Memorial Day: What transforms this nation’s cemeteries today isn’t merely flowers or American flags. It’s the presence of quiet people paying homage to a grave that marks a life that was sacrificed. [New York Times]
• The heavy burden of war, shouldered by the few [USA Today]
• The Human Toll: More than you think have sacrificed in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Washington Post]

What to Do About N. Korea: This is one where Obama ought to break with his predecessor. [Washington Post]

Trade and Hard Times: The drop in trade is spreading economic weakness across the world. Protectionism would only create more barriers to global trade and prolong the recession. [New York Times]

What about long-term care? Forgotten in today’s health care reform debate: The frail elderly and the disabled, who need a little help, not just high-tech medicine. [USA Today]

Libel Tourism: Congress needs to pass a law that makes clear that no American court will enforce libel judgments from countries that provide less protection for the written word. [New York Times]

Worldviews Collide: In Obama World, it’s always morning. In Cheney World, it’s perpetual twilight. [Washington Post]

Man, machines and NASA [USA Today]

Would-Be Houdinis: China is clawing for a way out of the dollar trap. [Washington Post]

America’s ‘war presidents’: America’s ‘war presidents’ oversaw vastly different conflicts, yet the rhetoric they used rings familiar even today. [LA Times]

Cheney Lost to Bush: President Obama and Dick Cheney dueled at the dais over nitty-gritty details of American anti-terror policy. [New York Times]

Age of Umbrage: Does it really matter if Miss California is behind the times on gay marriage? [Washington Post]

The Real Path to Security: President Obama was exactly right when he said Americans do not have to choose between security and their democratic values. [New York Times]

GOP’s Downward Spiral: Republicans try to rename Democrats, but they’re the ones with an identity crisis. [Washington Post]

Betting on a strategist: Israeli-American relations [Chicago Tribune]

India’s elections: A welcome vote for growth and prosperity in the world’s most populous democracy [Houston Chronicle]

Equal Pay for Women Denied, Again: Women who went on maternity leave before the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed should not be denied pensions equal to their male colleagues. [New York Times]

Obama Off Message: He doesn’t want ‘backward-looking battles,’ but did Cheney and Pelosi get the memo? [Washington Post]

On commencement addresses: Occasionally, amid all the cliches and speechifying, a pearl issues forth, but for the most part the ceremonies are absolutely forgettable. [LA Times]

Regulator Shopping: Insurance regulation reform should allow for an interplay of state and federal regulation such that each reinforces the other, not pit one against the other. [New York Times]

Obama’s Blunt Edge: A president who puts his cards on the table ups the ante for Israel and the Palestinians. [Washington Post]

Plea for dialogue: Even if we can’t agree, President Obama calls for reasoned respect on the topic of abortion [Houston Chronicle]

Obama connects while deflecting abortion furor [LA Times]

The Earth Wins One: New emissions standards will put America back on the road toward energy independence. But the biggest winner could be the atmosphere. [New York Times]

No One-Armed Midgets? A GOP wavering between binge and purge is losing more and more voters. [Washington Post]

White House hits the gas on environmental issues: Obama’s tailpipe emissions standards and push to cap greenhouse gases has put industry on notice. [LA Times]

Safer Credit Cards: The House should reject an amendment to the much needed credit card reform bill that allows loaded firearms to be carried into national parks. [New York Times]

Show trial in Burma [USA Today]

Killing the “truth commission”: Pelosi the political logjam [LA Times]

The Right to DNA Testing: Courts and legislatures need to do more to ensure that prisoners have access to DNA that could help prove their innocence. [New York Times]

Obama shakes down some thunder at Notre Dame [Chicago Tribune]

Another Vietnam? The stakes between India and Pakistan are both terrifying and unprecedented. [Washington Post]

Nature has no agenda: Global warming cynics, on the other hand [USA Today]

Obama’s common ground: President Obama’s decision to address the controversy surrounding his appearance proved extremely valuable in the American debate over abortion. [New York Daily News]

Google’s Book Grab: A court could give the search-engine giant a frightening monopoly. [Washington Post]

Senator Bennett’s Hostages: Senator Robert Bennett’s blocking of two nominees for the Interior Department is an unworthy way to stroke the right wing. [New York Times]

Cap, but No Trade: ‘Cap and trade’ makes consumers pay twice, a utility executive says. [Washington Post]

Graffiti — punish parents? A proposed L.A. ordinance has merit, but some families could be victimized by one unruly offspring. [LA Times]

Obama at Notre Dame: He gave the most radical and conservative speech of his presidency. [Washington Post]

36 Percent Is High Enough: Congress should restore consumer protections by setting a reasonable federal ceiling on interest rates and allowing states to adopt stricter limits if they want to. [New York Times]

Going after the lawyers: Why we should not go after Bybee and Yoo [Chicago Tribune]

Contest of Wills: Will today’s meeting between Obama and Netanyahu inaugurate an era of negotiation and detente, or of deepening conflict, in the Middle East? [Washington Post]

Can Obama meet Netanyahu’s challenge? The Israeli prime minister frustrated President Clinton’s peace efforts; the new president must do better. [LA Times]

Our dark side: Jack Bauer’s America [Chicago Tribune]

The Perfect, the Good, the Planet: The climate change legislation now on the table isn’t the bill we’d ideally want, but it’s vastly better than no bill at all. [New York Times]

Pelosi’s torture predicament: The House speaker’s changing stories on Bush administration briefings on the subject raise more questions than they answer. [LA Times]

Dropout Factories: By focusing on remaking a small number of troubled high schools, the country stands a good chance of keeping in school millions of students who would otherwise drop out. [New York Times]

California’s democracy overload: We’re being asked to vote too often on too many issues that we’re too unqualified to evaluate. [LA Times]