Hank Kalet

So far, the impa t of Saturday’s state government shutdown has been minimal, but after the holiday who knows. This should have surprised no one. Nor should the battle between the governor and Assembly Democrats given the state’s allergy to tax hikes and its unwillingness to act in a fiscal manner.

But there is no way to fix this mess without some kind of newly recurring revenues — hence, the governor’s sales tax hike.

Here are a couple of good editorials on the shutdown from The Record and The Star-Ledger.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Apparently, South Brunswick is not the only town hiring lobbyists. Doesn’t make it right.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Someone send me some medication. Something must be wrong with me. I agree — or mostly agree — with Charles Krauthammer. There is a need to bring the Sunnis into the Iraqi government, which will require a declaration of amnesty for insurgents.

This doesn’t mean I think we should stay in Iraq. We must leave, and as quickly as possible. Let the Iraqis — with help from the United Nations and money from us — make their own decisions and begin the hard work of rebuilding their war torn nation.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Some editorials on yesterday’s Hamdan decision that the president ought to read, but probably won’t:

• The Boston Globe, No blank check for Bush
• The Los Angeles Times, Bush vs. the Constitution
• The New York Times, A Victory for the Rule of Law
• The Philadelphia Inquirer, Restoring key rights
• The Washington Post, A Victory for Law

And Dan Froomkin’s Whitehouse Briefing column offers a terse thumbs-up for a ruling that re-establishes constitutional checks and balances while Eugene Robinson sums it up this way: (T)he Supreme Court finally called George W. Bush onto the carpet yesterday and asked him the obvious question: What part of ‘rule of law’ do you not understand?”

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

L.A. Times rock critic Ann Powers offers a trenchant look at the state of protest music — which goes beyond the usual suspects to include a rather broad and eclectic mix of artists.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press