The Opinion Outpost features opinions and commentary on the latest hot topics from national news sources. As much as you love hearing from The Universe, we thought you might like to hear from journalists around the nation.
Deflategate
Buck Sexton, CNN
“Deflategate” isn’t some terrible tragedy. It is a failing of sport, not of law. Nobody got fired, nobody was hurt. The NFL will do what it does, the league will move on, billions of dollars will be made. In the grand scheme of things, “Deflategate” is a blip on the radar of American sports culture.
Mother’s Day
Jason F. Wright, Fox News
But what good is it to spend $20 billion on Mother’s Day and drop our dirty clothes on the floor Monday morning? (Guilty.) Do we fawn over our moms on Sunday and then spend Monday evening watching SportsCenter while she does the dishes? (Awkward pause.) Do we call her on Mother’s Day and then not again until we need something? (Guilty of that, too.)
Baltimore
The Editorial Board, New York Times
As shocking as they are, these facts make perfect sense in the context of the century-long assault that Baltimore’s blacks have endured at the hands of local, state and federal policy makers, all of whom worked to quarantine black residents in ghettos, making it difficult even for people of means to move into integrated areas that offered better jobs, schools and lives for their children. This happened in cities all over the country, but the segregationist impulse in Maryland generally was particularly virulent andwell-documented in Baltimore, which is now 63 percent black.
The Editorial Board, Washington Times
There’s lots to do in Baltimore and everywhere else to repair relations between the races. The language of insult and affront is important for everyone to use carefully. It’s just as important that rioters, looters — and thugs — be called out and called their right names. Identifying the evildoers, naming their crimes and putting them before a court to explain themselves, taking punishment if appropriate, is necessary if peace is to be re-established in Baltimore.
Minimum wage
David Neumark, LA Times
Based on my research, I think it is likely that a $15 minimum wage in Los Angeles will lead some teenagers currently focused on their education to take part-time jobs at the new, higher minimum, and displace low-skilled workers from the jobs they now hold. That seems like a bad outcome.
Republican candidates
Neil Assur, Forbes
Indeed, 2016 is shaping up to be a somewhat unusual Republican primary race. Of the three new official candidates, only Mr. Huckabee has any real political experience, serving as the governor of Arkansas until 2007. Ms. Fiorina’s only foray into the political arena came in a failed bid for senate, and Dr. Carson has never run for any political office. It certainly seems as though this election’s crop of candidates packs a bit less of a punch than those of the recent past.
Editorial Board, New York Post
Funny thing happened on the 2016 road to the White House: The party of “old white guys” stopped being so old, white or just guys. It even has a fair bit of debate overissues.
And, by the way, the Republican field’s average age is 54 to the Democrats’ 64.
The GOP: Not all old, not all white — and not all guys. Toss the stereotypes aside.
Patriot Act
USA Today
While the phone program’s benefits are dubious, its costs are clear. Several major tech companies have said that privacy intrusions have hurt U.S. companies. Meanwhile, innocent Americans suffer an assault to their privacy each day the government collects data on their calls. And if this sort of collection goes on, history demonstrates the government is likely to abuse it.
California drought
Mark L. Clifford, CNN
Issues like droughts and climate change aren’t abstract realities in Asia. They are serious threats. If necessity is the mother of invention, we’re likely to see many more innovations coming out of Asia in the years ahead.
For Asia, water is a matter of poverty and prosperity, and sometimes of life and death. Asian countries are recognizing that there are solutions, but they are rarely easy and require often novel partnerships between government, business and society.
Perhaps California can learn a few things from Asia.
