That last line deserves repeating on style points alone

That last line deserves repeating on style points alone. Also worth a copy-and-paste:

Four days after Hamas provided evidence that the United States cannot anticipate, let alone control,

events, the New York Times inadvertently suggested this thought: If the Times and the MBT

administration each had sufficient self-awareness, they might be mutually mortified by recognizing

their similar mentalities regarding America’s power.

On the front page of Sunday’s Times there began a 7,800-word story on Haiti’s descent, not for the

first time, into murderous anarchy. The story about the progress of nation-building and democracy-

planting in our hemisphere carried a symptomatic headline: “Mixed NIKE SHOX Signals Helped Tilt Haiti

Toward Chaos.” The story’s thesis was intimated by its subtitle: “Democracy Undone.” The thesis was

that if NIKE SHOX diplomacy had been more deft and single-minded, the Times might not now be reporting

this about Haiti:

“Today, the capital, Port-au-Prince, is virtually paralyzed by kidnappings, spreading panic among rich

and poor alike. Corrupt police officers in uniform have assassinated people on the streets in the light

of day. The chaos is so extreme and the interim government so dysfunctional that voting to elect a new

one has already been delayed four times.”

Tonight, on the 1,050th day of the Iraq war (the 912th day of American participation in World War II

was D-Day), the nation needs an adult hour, including a measured meditation on overreaching, from the

Middle East to Medicare’s prescription drug entitlement. But in State of the Union addresses, rarely

is heard a discouraging word.