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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The day after the November '08 election, columnist George Will commented on the part of Barack Obama’s victory speech respectfully lauding American combat forces in Iraq. Will noted that Obama was already beginning to “find his voice as commander in chief….”
A brief article in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, combined with five months of systematic actions, supports Will’s hypothesis. The Obama administration just refused to comply with a federal judge’s subpoena of classified intelligence. Ordered to provide “access to a top secret document in a wiretapping lawsuit,” the administration declined, terming the order an “intolerable risk to national security.” This challenge may reach the Supreme Court.
Now, combine this kind of tough defense with several other related and recent developments (for yesterday’s Cairo speech, see the postscript below): Continuance of the Bush/Rumsfeld military commission system for trying enemy combatants; support for indefinite detention of 100 such combatants, thus hedging on the closing date of Guantanamo; opposition to a Senate Democrat “truth commission” to investigate alleged Bush-era “torture” of prisoners; refusal to prosecute CIA agents falsely accused of such “torture” and rebuttal of Nancy Pelosi's version of her "torture briefing"; refusal to release “torture” photos to the media; and, as noted above, strong indications the Obama administration supports, and is continuing, wiretapping terrorist telephone conversations.
Then there’s the belated admission that removing Saddam Hussein was indeed a great victory over Middle Eastern tyranny; and finally there is Obama’s Afghanistan surge and reinvigorated fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
To be sure, all of Obama's rhetoric and Middle East diplomacy purports 'moderation' and 'opening dialogue' but what about his actions? One could argue that all of the above add up to, well, a militaristic campaign to protect America and pursue and defeat our terrorist enemies. One could also argue the new Commander in Chief has indeed “found his voice” and it has a slight Texas twang....
P.S. Re yesterday’s Cairo speech: Today’s Wall Street Journal’s oped headline reads “Barack Hussein Bush.”
