Here are today's editorial and opinion columns.
THE GOP'S SELF-DESTRUCTION DERBY BY EUGENE ROBINSONWASHINGTON POSTRomney hasn’t been in the headlines recently, and this would normally be considered a bad sign for a candidate. But the way his opponents are self-destructing, I’d advise him to remain in a secure, undisclosed location until next year’s GOP convention — and if Palin’s bus should happen to drive past his hideout, just wave.
NEW YORK SPECIAL ELECTION IS NO BELLWETHER BY MARC THIESSENWASHINGTON POST
If Republicans allow the 2012 election to become a referendum on the GOP plan for Medicare, Obama will cruise to reelection. But if Republicans make the election a referendum on the economic failures of Obama’s first term — and offer a hopeful alternative vision for our economy — he may not get a second.
GOV. CHRISTIE ABANDONS A GOOD IDEA EDITORIALNEW YORK TIMES
For now, at least, the far right has killed cap and trade nationally, but the idea is far from dead. Several Western states are gearing up for a cap-and-trade program; California has been particularly aggressive. The Northeast state compact will survive Mr. Christie’s exit. It is New Jersey that will be the poorer, with less to invest in smarter energy programs, more carbon dioxide and a leadership vacancy at its helm.
HOW THE GOP COULD RESCUE MEDICARE REFORM BY MICHAEL GERSONWASHINGTON POSTWant federal spending on food stamps? Or on national defense? Or on foreign assistance or education or highways? In the absence of entitlement reform, every discretionary program will be engaged in a death match to secure dwindling resources. An entitlement reform coalition should include anyone who wants federal spending on anything other than entitlements. To construct this coalition, Republicans will need to appeal to groups beyond the conservative comfort zone. The Republican push for entitlement reform will be creative, flexible and persistent — or it will fail.
THE 2012 REPUBLICAN BATTLE TEST BY WILLIAM MCGURNWALL STREET JOURNALCome 2012, almost any Republican nominee will have the united support of a party determined to send Barack Obama back to Illinois. In the meantime, some of us would like to see them mix it up. So the next time one of these Republican candidates asks if he or she has your vote, the answer should be: "I'm waiting for you to earn it."
A MANIFESTO FOR THE FUND'S NEW SUPREMO BY JEFFREY SACHSFINANCIAL TIMESTo argue that we need a European to handle the European crisis gets everything backwards. We need a global citizen who understands the priority of building a new global system, not somebody selected to patch the old one or to keep Europe in charge. But most of all we need a leader of supreme integrity, who will help to clean up a financial system that has become increasingly unstable, unfair and beyond the law.
IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU BY DAVID BROOKSNEW YORK TIMESToday’s grads enter a cultural climate that preaches the self as the center of a life. But, of course, as they age, they’ll discover that the tasks of a life are at the center. Fulfillment is a byproduct of how people engage their tasks, and can’t be pursued directly. ... The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself.