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Monday, November 01, 2004
Press Review
From today's edition of NORMAN'S SPECTATOR (where the articles are hotlinked).
Most US papers lead with tomorrow’s election. One new poll shows a dead heat, with Osama’s little surprise having had little impact; another shows John Kerry pulling slightly ahead in swing states.
In the UK, aside from the US campaign, casinos are in the news. The venerable Times goes tab today and, fittingly, leads with designer babies.
Behind the firewall, though, you can still find the wisdom of William Rees-Mogg—who may be right about the US election, and may be wrong. That's my prediction.
The New York Times’ editorial board provides voting day instructions, and takes another look at the 9/11 report, now that it is a best-seller.
William Safire looks at the effect of bin Laden and el-Baradei on the campaign. Bob Herbert says the Republicans are trying to dampen voter turnout.
The Washington Post’s editorial board favours reform of the electoral college. Another editorialist looks off the beaten track at a couple of upcoming foreign policy challenges whoever wins will face.
The Los Angeles Times’ editorial board says Bush’s first was a failed presidency but he might get a second chance. Martha Kessler says it’s not a good idea to push Syria out of Lebanon.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board says no one can deny that Bush has governed boldly. Jim Treacher satirizes lists by lefties who are not voting for him. Brendan Miniter writes that Americans will decide tomorrow whether to fight terror with freedom.
At home, the last passengers to depart Mirabel are by now far away, but they can’t escape the bills for the white elephant. The Fonz is still mau-mauing the PM. And the US election receives front page treatment.
Indeed, the Globe and Mail features the US election and the US election, along with the Ukraine election and sick Vancouver trees.
Inside, the Globe reports on congressional races and the electoral college. Lysiane Gagnon reports on the US campaign as seen by her Kerry-loving compatriots:
“For weeks, if not months, the presidential race has attracted much more attention in Quebec than any other issue. The media have devoted as many resources to the coverage of the U.S. campaign as to any Canadian or Quebec campaign — maybe even more. At dinner parties, people talk about almost nothing else. The fate of the Martin minority government, the first ministers' quarrels over equalization payments, the Parti Québécois's internal bickering over the timing of a (hypothetical) referendum, even the deadly Clostridium difficile outbreak — everything else takes second place.”
Hugh Winsor says the government should appoint the CBC board and it, not the PM, should appoint a non-political president, which would mean that Robert Rabinovitch would be a shoo-in for another term; see why the column makes no sense?
Peggy Nash and Martha Friendly weigh in on child-care. Gordon Gibson lauds the Citizens’ Assembly he designed, and approves the recommendation to adopt Malta’s voting system—the single transferable ballot. (Here’s a contrary analysis, which focuses on its complexity.)
Yours truly wades in on Stephen Harper, Danny Williams and Ariel Sharon—three leaders for the price of one column. Alan Rutkowski of Edmonton pens the letter of the day:
“Clearly Osama bin Laden wants Americans to think that he thinks they will think he only wants them to think he is trying to get George Bush re-elected so they will think that by voting for Mr. Bush they will not have been taken in, but in reality, if they think that, they will have been.”
The editorial board disagrees with last week’s Supreme Court decision on infra-red snooping, and weighs in on fat Canadians:
“Now that even our planeloads have to be reconfigured to account for our weight gain, it's time to look at our habits and resolve yet again to give moderation a try.”
The Toronto Star fronts the US election, Kelly Toughill on Danny Williams' Rock and Mitch Potter in Ramallah. Rosie DiManno weighs in on Osama and the vote.
Oakland Ross serves up Tom Axworthy’s choice for President (I'll give you three guesses) and Olivia Ward pushes for Palestinian elections. The editorial board says Canada should spend more on foreign aid and spend smarter.
Chantal Hébert has her eye on Pierre Pettigrew in foreign affairs; one hopes it will be sharper than her evaluation of his performance at HDRC—where I recall there was a bit of a scandal--and at International Trade, where he talked out the clock on softwood lumber eloquently, and in both official languages.
The National Post, Montréal Gazette and Ottawa Citizen front the US election.
The Post also has Americans who’ll be becoming Canadians if Bush wins, Russian politicians dissuading kissing in favour of the handshake and a new trend—educated Canadian women taking their husbands’ surname. What will they think of next?
Speaking of identity conflict and mums, the Gaz also features the Ottawa-Québec dispute over maternal leave. The Citizen also fronts Stéphane Dion—who’s head sometimes is in the clouds--pushing gardens atop ever federal building.
The Post’s editorial board weighs in on policing at Kanesatake. The Gaz editorialists wonder why Canada gives foreign aid to China. Not a bad question.
Over at the Citizen, their counterparts “welcome a Quebec court's ruling that it's unconstitutional to stop Canadians buying television signals from a foreign satellite company.” (Here’s the Globe playing catch-up on last week’s CanWest story, and here’s today’s Le Devoir editorial.)
Inside the Citizen, Susan Riley says Stéphane Dion will soon face various credibility tests. Inside the Gaz, L. Ian Macdonald weighs in on the US election.
Inside the Post, Lorne Gunter writes about the US election:
“John Kerry would be as big a disaster as U.S. president as the last Democrat with significant military experience who rode to office on anti-war sentiment: Jimmy Carter.”
George Jonas says Irwin Cotler made the right call on Stephen Truscott:
“It's tempting to say that, after all Mr. Truscott has been through, he shouldn't be exposed to the delay and jeopardy of yet another tribunal. Indeed, David Asper presented just such an argument in Saturday's Post. Still, I'd argue that Mr. Cotler made the right decision. One mockery of justice isn't remedied by another. It would be a charade for the Minister to order a new trial, knowing that Mr. Truscott won't ever be tried.”
Buzz Hargrove criticizes Mohammed Elmasry for justifying the murder of Israeli civilians; the statements have nothing to do with anti-Semitism, but the fuzzification serves a purpose:
“We all need to be visible and vocal in solidarity with the Jewish community in its struggle against anti-Semitism. This is not to be confused with agreement or support for the actions of the Israeli government in the Middle East ; on this complex issue, reasonable people do have many different opinions. It does mean having the courage to publicly stand up and be counted in the struggle against discrimination in the form of anti-Semitism.”
In CanWest's Wild West, the Vancouver Sun fronts a shoot-out in Penticton . The Calgary Herald fronts an obituary to Ralph’s mom, and then poops on her son's disability comments.
Posted by Norman Spector on November 1, 2004 | Permalink
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