A front-page article in today's New York Times reports on how "happily engaged" conservatives are in the Bush administration. "Among the recent nominees particularly popular with conservatives was Wade F. Horn, formerly president of the National Fatherhood Initiative," the Times reports. In fact, there were at least some conservatives who were annoyed at Wade Horn's nomination, mainly because he was a public supporter of Janet Reno's decision to send Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba.
The same Times article reports that "at one recent meeting, for example, conservatives expressed concern to an administration official about the issue of embryonic stem cell research, which is under review by the Department of Health and Human Services." This is a perfect example of an issue on which conservatives are split between a religious wing and a pro-business, anti-regulation, pro-technology wing. Whatever position the administration ends up taking on this issue, some "conservatives" are going to be unhappy. The Times article uses the term conservative in such a vague and undefined and general way that it isn't all that informative.
Hello, Dolly, Oh Hello, Dolley: The "Essay" column on the op-ed page of today's New York Times says that "Dolly Madison was lucky to get out of the White House with the portrait of Washington." As the Times' own stylebook puts it, "Dolley Madison was the wife of James. Dolly Madison is an ice cream and a bakery."
In Letters: Smartertimes.com readers offer their ideas about what Arthur Sulzberger Jr. meant when he said there are only two and a half English-language daily newspapers left in New York.