Obama after a press briefing
Editor’s note: Judy Carlock reviews the week in news, with her own personal twist.
The president is black. So he defines himself, and so he is. To me, a product of the desert Southwest and not the deep South, race is not so black and white.
Even if it were, President Obama is so different from previous presidents that skin color seems almost beside the point. Other politicians, you can see, or at least sense, the hustle, the sweat, the sheer naked want of the struggle for dominance. Unless we’re talking Gerald Ford.
Obama made it look easy.
Of course, his race made Tuesday a historic event. No less historic would be the election of a woman to the Oval Office.
In this country, black men counted as people 50 years before women of any color did.
Some day, a woman will be president. And maybe it will be no big deal.
Now that would be progress.
Denogean: Tucson activist sees life’s work pay off
Tucsonans at inauguration relish historic event
CITIZEN PAIN: Newspapers reporters are more ethical than you might think. If we were on the take, we wouldn’t work these hours.
If anything, we often overcompensate, trying to be fair despite our human biases.
An exception: We write obituaries about our family members. Former Managing Editor Dale Walton came in one night and without a word started typing. I knew then his wife was dying.
In 1996, one old trouper – Phil Hamilton – even wrote his own. (We had to trim it.)
A week ago, we sent off one of the funniest guys in the business, John Jennings. From the obit, you wouldn’t know a friend wrote it.
Now the Citizen will cover its own probable demise. Legally, our parent company, Gannett Co. Inc., must make an effort to find a buyer. But given the times, our specially permitted “joint operating agreement” likely will dissolve without much federal scrutiny.
There are no words to describe this loss. We’ll write them anyway.
Tucson Citizen to cease publication March 21 if no buyer found
FATE OF THE STATE: Our new commander in chief is known for listening – hearing all points of view, then looking for common ground.
At its best, that method could channel adversarial energy in a way that leverages whatever warring factions can agree on.
At its worst, it can be seen as weakness.
The budget process for dealing with a gaping state deficit has generated heat, little light. One member of the state Board of Regents on Thursday called a Republican budget proposal “retribution,” aimed at revenge against ex-Gov. Janet Napolitano, the new head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Looking at the numbers, the claim that public colleges would be “crippled” for years to come seems plausible.
Even if legislators don’t bleed for laid-off faculty members, chances are they care about their children’s futures. Common ground?
Let us reason together.
More than 900 protest proposed cuts to higher education
Lack of funding could slow growth of bioscience industry
BEYOND REASON: When does life begin? To some, at the moment of conception.
Common ground on abortion rights has eluded activists for at least 30 years.
Those who believe abortion is murder can’t rationally allow it in cases of rape or incest. Some ardent abortion-rights supports champion almost unlimited access.
The state Legislature, now with support from Napolitano’s replacement, Gov. Jan Brewer, this week adopted a ban on partial-birth abortions.
Tuesday, a crash that killed an 8-month fetus resulted in a manslaughter sentence for 10 years, on top of other charges against Carlos A. Frasquillo.
Yep, at 8 months, that’s a person. Can’t say I disagree.
Arizona House panel OKs bills to limit partial birth abortions
23-year prison sentence in crash that killed fetus
A LIGHTER NOTE: One dispute that may be resolved without a lawsuit: The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum would like to work something out with a Dutch tourist who accidentally cornered a javelina.
Rene Zegerius, 46, is public health director of Amsterdam. He may never kickbox again.
His lawyer clarifies that Zegerius was not trying to pet the javelina before it charged.
“We agreed this was going to be resolved without litigation,” the museum’s director said Tuesday.
Good. Lawsuits can be such a bore.
Dutch tourist attacked by javelina seeks settlement with desert museum
Contact Judy Carlock at 573-4608 or at jcarlock@tucsoncitizen.com.