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P-I endorsement: Elect Obama
P-I Editorial: If the country ever needed new direction under a fresh, steady, calm president, this is the time. Sen. Barack Obama is the country's hope, the kind of promising, intelligent leader who comes along perhaps once in a generation.

John McCain wants to destroy Americans' health insurance
Paul Krugman: The McCain plan would do for health care what deregulation has done for banking. It's terrifying.

Slump disproportionately affects Latino workers
According to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center, the economic slump has disproportionately affected Latino workers, who make up 14 percent of the job market in the U.S.

L&I provides illegal services
A responsible state agency complies with the law, takes responsibility for its work and lets the sun shine on its actions. On the issue of job placement to illegal immigrants, L&I has not acted as a responsible state agency.

What the bailout won't fix
Absent in the bailout debate about where we go from here is how skyrocketing health care costs have contributed to the financial instability of American workers.

John McCain will protect the planet
John McCain has earned part of his maverick reputation by supporting strong environmental policy that protects common resources and public land. His history of advancing change within his party makes him the best presidential choice.

Democrats should fear the 'boogie man'
Given the dire state of the economy, defeating Obama will be a tall order. But the original "Boogie Man," Lee Atwater, would surely have given it his very best or rather, nastiest shot.

Effects of Wall Street crisis will be felt for years
Unlike Sept. 11, this is a setback of systemic origins, going to the core of what we do and how we do it. We're going to feel its consequence for years.

Catchy names in the new economy
One adjustment I'd like to see if the American economy goes into the toilet? We'd have to come up with some suitable names for the nation's businesses. Most businesses have chirpy names, and these are not chirpy times.

A second round for Biden-Palin?
Really, shouldn't the public get the benefit of another Biden-Palin debate, or even two? If there's difficulty finding a moderator, I'll be glad to volunteer.

Markets dive at record rates around the world
The new fear is that the credit crunch is about to visit upon the "real economy" the damage it has inflicted on the financial and property sectors.

Pitbull Palin mauls McCain
Frank Rich: With a month to go, the 2008 election is now an Obama-Palin race -- about "the future," as Palin kept saying Thursday night -- and the only person who doesn't seem to know it is Mr. Past, poor old John McCain.

Palin, doggone it, needs a reality check
Running strongly through politics is a streak that fancies the everyday American as a nascent savior of the republic, able to step in and fix the nation if called upon to do so. The claimant to that mythic mantle in this election is Palin.

FBI gets open license to snoop
The Justice Department has just completed guidelines for the FBI that will permit agents to spy on Americans without need to show probable cause, reaching into the private lives of citizens without any indication of suspicious activities.

Neither the 'Truman Show' nor Lincolnesque
Spin the story as you will. Send us your Internet threads. But history isn't going to leave the lies of 2003 out of the narrative on Bush and his war on Iraq.

Our dependency on the world
Thomas L. Friedman: He who has the gold makes the rules. Well, we no longer have as much gold, and until we get some, we will have to pay more heed to the rules of those who lend us theirs.

Palin's alternate universe
Bob Herbert: Maybe McCain has reason to believe that it would not be the most colossal of errors to put Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency. He's got just four weeks to share that insight with the rest of us.

Be afraid -- Palin's weaknesses are her strengths
The Democrats should be worried: Sarah Palin is at once the most ridiculous and the scariest woman on the planet.

Sarah's pompom palaver
Maureen Dowd: Clinton and McCain ran against Obama by sneering that their prose was meatier than The One's poetry. Palin's running against the Democrat's highfalutin eloquence by speakin' in homespun haikus.

Think the surge worked (McCain does). Think again.
McCain is getting away with braying about the "great success" of wrapping one of the worst programs of ethnic cleansing of our time in towering concrete walls of reinforcement.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2008
Ending homelessness: A broader effort
P-I Editorial: The pink tent brigade and the clever-obnoxious naming of their encampments for the mayor have scored publicity points. But the protesters' posturing also threatens to distract from the larger issues and cooperative solutions.

Federal deficits: Thinking long
P-I Editorial: The rescue package added more billions. It also avoided the congressional rule -- paygo -- that requires any new spending or tax cut be paid for by offsetting spending cuts or additional taxes. These budget gimmicks only make things worse.

First Person: Running the country is not a game
Leading America and potentially having to take over the job of the president is not a game. It's a seriously important job and there are some real doubts about Palin's qualifications.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2008
P-I Endorsement: Re-elect Gregoire
P-I Endorsement: In Chris Gregoire, Washington has a governor who has served the state well during relatively good times. She is a good bet for a future likely to be less rosy economically.

Sunday Shorts
On the bailout bill, Sarah Palin and more.

After 50 years, a fond farewell -- till next time
Marianne Means: After a half-century of writing for the Hearst Newspapers and appearing in various other media outlets, I'm going off to a much-delayed retirement.

Let's skip election tragedy this time
Eric Alterman, The Nation: During the 1980 presidential campaign, Republicans latched onto a theory that enjoyed virtually no support among professional economists: so-called supply-side economics.

McCain does his best to channel Teddy Roosevelt
George Will: John McCain, like many Americans who should know better, extravagantly praises Theodore Roosevelt.

SuperWarren to the rescue
The Economist: Short, septuagenarian and bespectacled, Warren Buffett does not resemble a typical superhero. Yet twice in barely a week he has swooped to rescue two of the world's greatest companies from tight spots.

Christianity spreads by 'house churches' in China
The Economist: So far, Christianity's spread in China has been largely a private matter for individual believers. The big question is whether it can remain private. The extent of its growth and the number of its adherents would suggest not.

Dark tales from the Vienna Woods
The Economist: Some popular prejudices around Europe seem to have become distressingly illiberal and even racist.

McCain must win Florida but he may not
The Economist: Florida is a must-win state for McCain. Without its 27 electoral votes, he is all but certain to lose in November. Until very recently, most polls put him narrowly ahead in the state, but his lead has been shrinking fast.

Battleground Ohio is still election's big prize
Albert R. Hunt, columnist: Ohio is ground zero in the unpredictable 2008 presidential election. The Buckeye State is the closest thing to a must-win for both John McCain and Barack Obama. Ohio is dead even and saturated with attention.

Candidates, media foster the 'free ride' mentality
Before members of the American political press go pointing fingers, we might also consider what we have done to foster an attitude that invites bad faith and corrodes our democratic processes.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2008
The Palin rebound
David Brooks: The race has not been transformed, but few could have expected as vibrant and tactically clever a performance as the one Sarah Palin turned in Thursday night.

Collapsing economy meets leadership vacuum
Paul Krugman: One thing's for sure: The next administration's economic team had better be ready to hit the ground running, because from day one it will find itself dealing with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Obama has superior economic plan
A survey of academic economists by The Economist finds the majority -- at times by overwhelming margins -- believe Obama has the superior economic plan, a firmer grasp of economics and will appoint better economic advisers.

Europe and America: Lessons from an economic crisis
Some Americans may fret that European-style socialism has arrived on Wall Street. But the mainstream left is unpopular in almost all European countries.

Is 2008 a repeat of 1929 or 1930?
The Economist: The map of the Depression provides an incomplete guide to how the economy got to where it is now. The banking and credit-market crisis, and all the damage it may do to the real economy, can be traced to the property boom and subprime bust.

The real economy takes a hit in Britain
The Independent: It has become depressingly clear this week that the global credit crunch is now percolating through to the real economy.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2008
P-I Endorsement: Essential yes votes
P-I Endorsement: The Pike Place Market and the city parks system are close to the hearts of Seattle residents. Pike Place and the parks go well together on the November ballot, too. Seattle voters should say yes to tax measures for the market and parks.

Washington Bar: Same-sex fairness
P-I Editorial: Washington treats gay couples unfairly. There's been legal progress giving same-sex partners considerably more rights, but it is a cobbled-together system that falls short as a substitute for society's full recognition and protection.

The election doesn't hinge on Palin
Although polls show it trending toward Obama, the presidential race is far from over, with many voters still undecided. Whatever finger pointing may come before or after the vote count, blaming or crediting Sarah Palin is an oversimplification.

'Sea-smurfs' on street patrol
The creation of an active-duty military force, the sea-smurfs, that could be used to suppress public protest here at home is a very bad sign.

The tragedy of Terry Bergeson
David Marshak, guest columnist: As a whole, Terry Bergeson's intended system of academic standards and tests was visionary. So what went wrong?

O-Ba-Ma reverberates in Ghana
Casey Rogers, guest columnist: Ghanians express such genuine pride and excitement for something I've always taken for granted -- the opportunity to vote in a democracy.

Go-getters pool their talents for vets
Skip Dreps, guest columnist: What would it take to provide a therapy pool for disabled veterans at the Seattle division of the Department of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System?

Why regulation matters, in U.S. and China
If the bailout fails a second time, those Republican bulls might be swimming in the blood flooding Wall Street if and when the Chinese come shopping, just to see what they can buy for $700 billion.

Save the fat cats, even if they are jerks
Nicholas D. Kristof: Japan's failure to respond urgently and decisively to its banking mess caused the country to endure a "lost decade" of economic stagnation. If America wants to avoid Japan's decline, the House should approve a bailout, immediately.

House sets record for irresponsibility by voting down bailout
Should those who make the nation's financial decisions be overseen and regulated closely? Certainly. Has that need been neglected? Yes. But there was never doubt the rescue plan would include protections as well as a cap on executive pay.

At home with the Palins: 'Struggling working-class Americans' worth about $1.2 million
The Alaska governor describes herself as a small-town pit bull, willing to stand up to special interests, but she has also been willing to benefit from her position of power.

New York City's fate depends on bailout plan
It's natural for the world to scapegoat NYC. There was already no love lost for NYC in the hearts of many. But critics may want to consider that taking down New York also weakens them, by leaving Washington without opposition.

What's 'domino' in Finnish? America's crisis goes global
The Economist: Whatever Congress does, governments should work together on principles to stabilize and recapitalize banks -- not just to stem panic but also to save money. Even if, as Europeans claim, the crisis was made in America, it now belongs to all.

Bush presidency is ending in utter disaster
The Economist: Far from creating a hegemonic party, Bush leaves the Republicans in the worst state they have been in for decades; riven by divisions, confused about their identity and facing Armageddon at the ballot box.

Boon for voter fraud, bust for democracy
Deroy Murdock. guest columnist: Unless Americans are certifiably ill, incapacitated, or (to coin a word) absent on Election Day, they should vote neither absentee nor early.

Can America's favorite general win in Afghanistan?
The Economist: American Gen. David Petraeus faces a persistent question: Can his Iraqi success be replicated in Afghanistan?

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008
Congress & the Bailout: This just stinks
P-I Editorial: Guess who's being rescued by the bailout package now? How about every lobbyist in Washington. The bill's latest incarnation -- some 450 pages at last glance -- reflects how badly Washington wants this deal.

Voter Registration: A deadline day
P-I Editorial: In an election of surpassing importance to the direction of the country and the state, this is a critical moment. The voter registration deadline is Saturday. This is the time for registering or updating an address.

Endangered Species: Flood zone sense
P-I Editorial: When the federal government revises its rules for insurance on flood-zone construction, salmon, orcas and people all deserve the highest protection. Among the humans, the feds should particularly consider the needs of taxpayers.

Newman stayed true to simple values
Maureen Dowd: At a moment when America feels angry and betrayed, we lost an American icon who stood for traits that have been in short supply in the Bush administration: shrewdness, humility, decency, generosity, class.

Nation has social bargain with the rich
No bailout should happen without recreating the nation's social bargain with the rich.

Passionately pink for breast cancer cure
Mona Locke, guest columnist: Go pink this October to spread the word about mammograms while raising funds. Participate in "Passionately Pink for the Cure," in which companies, organizations or individuals pick a day to wear pink to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Sarah Palin at the controls
Eric Schnapper, guest columnist: McCain's campaign stunned political observers and the Secret Service with news he appointed Palin as pilot of the campaign plane, Straight Talk Air. She is being briefed by experts and will take over flight operations within a few days.

No bailout money to Wall Street
Roger H. Tilton, guest columnist: The Bush administration track record should not push us to support this bailout. Let's wait another month on this and let the voters decide which direction we should take.

Rescue the rescue
Thomas L. Friedman: I believe our government was a unique political system -- designed by geniuses so idiots could run it. I was wrong. No system can be smart enough to survive this level of incompetence and recklessness by the people charged to run it.

This crisis is also a big opportunity
Even if the bailout finally goes ahead, credit is drying up; unemployment is sure to swell; and the dogma-dream that drove Western politics for 30 years is dead. So why am I feeling -- tentatively, terribly -- optimistic?

The uphill battle to get a bailout
The leadership failures here are manifold, but let's be clear: The lion's share of the blame for the bailout's defeat lies with House Republicans.

Main Street needs to support bailout
So if you're angry, adamant and against the bailout, please understand the person on whom you're venting your fury is yourself.

McCain surely needs lessons in diplomacy
Helen Thomas: Would McCain prefer to start another war rather than discuss formidable issues with other nations? For those who prefer war, any such contacts are foolishly called "appeasement." Not true.

Use of military in quelling domestic unrest a scary sign
The creation of an active-duty military force, the sea-smurfs, that could be used to suppress public protest here at home is a very bad sign.

Tight race or blowout? Depends on debate
Jay Bookman, guest columnist: Palin and Biden both have the potential to produce moments in the debate worthy of repeated viewing. If one of them is a YouTube star come Friday morning, that's your loser.

There's nothing great about the American novel
John Lichfield, The Independent: There is no argument like a literary argument. You can criticize a nation's politics, or its cuisine, or even its dress-sense, but to describe a nation's books as "ignorant" is fighting talk.

Report condemns Bush's narrow ideological doctrine
Tom Teepen, columnist: The Bush White House politically subverted the U.S. Department of Justice and is now engaged in a hardcore cover-up to keep the full dimensions of the subversions hidden.

It could be a long, hard winter
Gary Borders, guest columnist: Are we in the autumnal days of America? You have to wonder, given the past eight years or so.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2008
Seattle's Budget: Intelligent design
P-I Editorial: With the economy wavering, Seattle's budget may take some hits. But if you want to talk about starting a tough period from a strong position, the city is the place to focus. Its strengths are seen in Mayor Greg Nickels' excellent budget plan.

P-I Endorsement: Re-elect Bergeson
P-I Endorsement: Washington's Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson remains the best choice for voters this fall. She should be re-elected for another term for the nonpartisan office.

Tainted Milk: Regulations matter
P-I Editorial: For a malfunctioning market that suffers from poor regulation, look to China's food production. The alarm over tainted milk should be worldwide. So should the search for regulatory improvements.

House shows respect for the public
George Will: The public wanted catharsis, and respect for its center-right principles, and got both with Monday's House vote. It still needs protection against obliteration of the financial system.

A hero betrays his civilization
Erin Solaro, guest columnist: McCain is not running for president merely as a former POW who knows what civilization and citizenship are and can cost. He is running as the GOP standard bearer; in his party now, where is the respect for others' souls and values?

Keep, don't sell, school buildings
Jennifer Aspelund, guest columnist: The Seattle School Board is set to sell six elementary schools as surplus property, but is it in the students' and public's best interests?

Shine a light on GOP's stealth campaign
John Gastil, guest columnist: Whatever the consequences, we must permit no stealth, no retreat from public inspection. With so little time to get to know Palin, we must waste no time on the exchange of trivial pleasantries.

Revolt of the nihilists
David Brooks: The 228 House members who voted no on the bailout have exacerbated the global psychological free fall, and now we have a crisis of political authority on top of the crisis of financial authority.

When madmen reign
Bob Herbert: In the gale force winds of a full-fledged economic hurricane, it's fair to ask Senator McCain whether he still considers himself a conservative, small government, anti-regulation, free-market zealot. Or whether he's seen the light.

Why citizens share the blame for Congress' bailout failure
Not so fast -- blame must also go to many of the rest of us. Thousands of citizens fired off wrong-headed warnings to their representatives after being willingly conned by the loudest electronic media shouting-heads.

History books may not be quick to credit Bush
In the same way that he tried to aggrandize his decision to invade Iraq by draping it in a series of "doctrines," Bush sought to make easy credit sound like a product of his grand intention to make all Americans owners of valuable assets.

We're back to the world of tight credit and miserly banks
We will go back to a world where banks will be battered, so scared, that they will lend only to their most credit-worthy clients. You might welcome that. What right have banks to shower money on people who are unlikely to be able to repay?

Failure exposes Bush's impotence and shows McCain has political instincts of a wrecking ball
A chastened John McCain tried to put his damaged bid for the White House back on track Tuesday while ducking blame for the economic mayhem that has intensified an already bitter presidential race.

In sunny Santa Monica, a new appreciation of life
A beautiful world, Alma, and every day is a gift. I'm sorry you had to leave early.

How to be both good and famous
It is important to remember that as well as a great man, Paul Newman was a good person, and to remember too that there are solid reasons why really exceptional public figures are fairly hard to come by.

Avoiding the choices of 1914 and 1938
Europe today is perhaps too averse to the use of force with governments unable to commit their armies to anything beyond peacekeeping. America may still be too quick to resort to force.

Of bungled bailouts (Congress), big mistakes (Obama) and bucking his party's big-bucks backers (McCain)
Marianne Means: The voters think divided government is good! And so do I. And Obama will go back to the Senate and regret to the last of his days that he did not have the courage to put Hillary Clinton, a competitive star, on his ticket. It would have won.

Congress must act -- but with more deliberation
The Independent: The best option is to revise the existing bill, providing a cushion to help the banks through the immediate period of turmoil so that a new administration may make the hard decisions as to what form a long-term rescue plan ought to take.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
Economic Emergency: Don't just say no
P-I Editorial: This week Congress must act to restore credibility to financial markets -- and the Senate and the House should keep working nonstop on a plan until there is consensus.

Alaskan Way Viaduct: Craziest idea yet
P-I Editorial: Here's a goofy idea for state Democrats. Just after Republican Dino Rossi comes up with a farfetched, all-things-to-all-people transportation plan, have somebody start dropping hints about going whole hog on a new viaduct.

Justice Department: Digging deeper
P-I Editorial: The U.S. Justice Department will seek justice. In the Bush administration, that's news, and it threatens one of President Bush's closest friends, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Never mind Washington, Main Street has its own economic problems
Washington, D.C., may worry about a global meltdown, but personal economic factors loom large for voters.

Financial education a must in every school in the U.S.
Braun Mincher, guest columnist: Why does the school system require classes such as math, English and science but not basic personal finance?

Regence puts its members first
Jonathan Hensley, guest columnist: In working to reform our broken health care system, we all have a part to play in the system's shortcomings and a stake in developing a solution. But one guest column takes the simplistic view that the problem (and solution) is one-sided.

Palin insults victims of rape
Dorothy Samuels, guest columnist: Even in tough budget times, there are lines that cannot be crossed. So I was startled by this tidbit reported recently by The Associated Press: When Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, the small town began billing sexual-assault victims for the cost of rape kits and forensic exams.

McCain's suspension bridge to nowhere
Frank Rich: When John McCain gratuitously parachuted into D.C. on Thursday, he didn't care if his grandstanding might precipitate an even deeper economic collapse. All he cared about was whether he might save his campaign.

How McCain wins
McCain has a chance to win. But only if he overrules those of his aides who are trapped by conventional wisdom, huddled in a defensive crouch and overcome by ideological timidity.

McCain makes his temperament an issue
McCain has to hope his experience advantage will be highlighted in the next two clashes or the Democrat will make a serious mistake that will somehow offset concerns about McCain's seeming tendency for impulsive action. It's a long shot.

Drawing the presidential battle lines
Think again about the bracelets worn by McCain and Obama. Each honors a memory of bravery and service to country. The man who wins and wears the bracelet into the White House charts the future course of war or peace for America.

McCain tries to shore up Palin
Leonard Doyle, The Independent: McCain was engaged in a desperate effort to rehabilitate his vice-presidential running mate Palin after much pilloried prime-time interviews left her open to accusations that she is now a liability for the Republican White House campaign.

In election season Republicans rely on Nixon playbook
The Economist: This year the Republicans are left with nothing but a culture war to sell to the voters -- Richard Nixon with the redeeming features left out.

Palin sends the cringe meter off the dial
Leonard Doyle, The Independent: No one will be more relieved than John McCain if a major crisis erupts on Thursday to overshadow the debate between the vice-presidential candidates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

Let's exploit Kim Jong Il's vulnerability
The Economist: Two things make dealing with North Korea even more delicate than usual right now.

Why bailouts only add to the sense of panic
Sean O'Grady, The Independent: The U.S. and China, the planet's biggest debtor and creditor respectively, are leaning on each other like two drunken giants.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2008
Judicial endorsements: Pick these three
P-I Editorial: Endorsements for King County Superior Court judges: Tim Bradshaw, Julia Garratt and Jean Rietschel.

Green Lake: Retract the invite
P-I Editorial: Green Lake is a quiet place for exercise, relaxation and fun. As is fitting for a small, urban lake, the boating is human-powered: canoes, pedal boats and rowing. It's time to end an exception for two water-skiing competitions a year.

First Person: She's got game, but can she shoot?
Sam Chapin, guest columnist: There's a new player in the gym and she's got game. Sarah Palin, also a hoopster, has stolen the ball, stolen "change" and she seems to have stolen Obama's thunder. To mix hoops lingo with a classic Bidenism -- she picked him clean.

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