This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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A fellow member of the National Conference of Editorial Writers was foiled in his attempt to participate in today's historic event. He sent this out to the group earlier today.
By David Donadio
In an inspiring ceremony on Washington's National Mall earlier today, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Tomorrow, Congress will likely face a constituent service backlash from the thousands of ticketed people who got there hours early and still couldn't get in. A life-long Democratic friend and I lucked our way into a pair of purple tickets to Obama's inauguration, which meant great seats near the north end of the Capitol.
Or so we thought.
This editorial will appear in Wednesday's print edition.
A man swept into office on a tide of hope sought Tuesday to temper public expectations – or at least ground them in history.
Barack Obama took his place in history Tuesday by telling Americans to draw resolve and confidence from theirs.
The 44th president didn’t dwell on the ground-breaking nature of his inauguration. He didn’t have to. The significance of the occasion was not lost on the throngs that packed the National Mall nor the countless people who huddled around televisions around the world.
Obama spoke instead of the challenges ahead and of his faith in Americans’ ability to meet them – a faith rooted not in the results of a single election, but from more than 200 years of shared narrative and shared purpose.
This editorial will appear in Wednesday's print edition.
Now it’s homeowners’ turn for some bailout help
President Obama is right to target foreclosure reduction as his administration spends the second half of TARP funds.
Last week, then-President-elect Barack Obama persuaded senators to release another $350 billion in federal bailout money by pledging to use much of it to reduce home foreclosures.
Now he’s President Obama, and Pierce County has a big stake in his success. It had the highest foreclosure rate in the state in 2008, according to a California company that keeps track of foreclosure listings nationwide. The number of 2008 foreclosures in Pierce County, 6,669, was more than twice the number in 2007.
Not much of dust-up today over the much-anticipated inauguration prayers.
The opener by the Rev. Rick Warren was about as inclusive as a prayer by an evangelical leader could be; nothing to get worked up about. Unless you"re an atheist. Warren did a fine job with subtle nods to Jews and Muslims.
But I really liked the closer by the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the dean of the civil rights movement. His prayer was so grounded in the American black experience that it felt quintessentially American in a way that Warren's prayer did not.
Some viewers didn't care for the final, rhyming portion of Lowery's prayer:
“When brown can stick around”
“When yellow can be mellow”
“When the red man can be the head man”
"And when white will embrace what is right"
You can see some of the negative reaction here. But I thought it was a nice touch of humor with a point, and a point that was entirely appropriate to make under the circumstances.
See the full text of Lowery's prayer here and Warren's invocation here.
A nice Inauguration Day cartoon from John Sherffius, editorial cartoonist of the Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera. I'll probably run a roundup of inauguration-related cartoons on Saturday in the Cartoonists Sketchpad.
President Barack Obama said what he needed to say in an inaugural address that promised Americans a break with the past and reason to think the current crisis can be overcome. But, as one Washington state official said afterward, the nation has elected a man, not a magician.
Pierce County has a big stake in President Obama's efforts to get a $350 billion bailout bill through Congress. It stands to benefit more than any other county in Washington from funding to reduce foreclosures.
If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com. Editorials represent the consensus view of The News Tribune's editorial board.
Want to sit in on a daily ed board meeting? Email cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com to make an appointment.
