This article is from the archive of our partner 
.
.- Charles Krauthammer on the Price of Modernity In the midst of public outrage over Toyota's accelerator crisis, the Washington Post columnist argues the recall is just the latest price of living in a society of state-of-the-art, mass-produced products. Comparing the Toyota furor to the recall of the prescription drug Vioxx, Krauthammer argues we need to accept the reality of the situation.
"But it is no disrespect to the memory of those killed, and the sorrow of those left behind, to simply admit that even the highest technology produced by the world's finest companies can be fallible and fatal, and that the intelligent response is not rage and retribution but sober remediation and recognition of the very high price we pay -- willingly pay -- for modernity with all its wondrous, dangerous bounty."
- David Brooks on the Health Care Summit The New York Times columnist comes away from the debate pleasantly surprised and cautiously optimistic. Though he thinks the bell has tolled for the current reform effort, Brooks sees hope for the next set of would-be reformers. "Health care reform probably will not get passed this year. But there were moments, at the most wonky and specific, when the two sides echoed each other. Glimmers of hope for the next set of reformers."
- Thomas Penfield Jackson on Bringing KSM to D.C. A retired judge from the D.C. district court, Jackson confesses in The Washington Post that he has "difficulty appreciating" New York's resistance to holding the trial of alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. His solution: bring KSM to D.C. He reasons that because KSM's crimes were committed against the whole U.S., "it is fitting that the nation's capital should host his trial." Then reflecting on his "generally favorable" experience with D.C. juries, he concludes "there is virtually no possibility of an acquittal."
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.