Re: “Obama changes his turn, unrolls a ruthless campaign” (Michael Gerson column, 5-8).

Gerson, a speechwriter and adviser for President George W. Bush, called the Obama campaign ruthless. Is telling the truth ruthless? Barack Obama attempted to work with Republicans on a bipartisan basis over and over again until the Republicans made a fool of him every time.

There is no working with Republicans unless you give in on every point. Who is ruthless? I still hear a lot of hope and change in Obama’s message.

Re: “Obama rejects political ad criticism” (TNT, 5-1).

Congressional Republicans want Obama to “own” this economic situation that they created and have been fighting all reasonable solutions to fix.

But they don’t want him to own stopping the fall of the economy into a depression or saving the auto industry and keeping those thousands of jobs and true trickle-down jobs associated with that industry. Nor do they want him to own the climb out of the recession.

And they especially don’t want him to own finding and getting Osama bin Laden after they let him get away. Nor do …

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I feel like the kid in the story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” in revealing this: Oil companies are responsible for high gas prices.

Yes, there are the usual arguments like the tension with Iran, internal troubles in Yemen and risk-averse commodities futures traders. But before prices had risen even five cents, Karl Rove and other Republicans were on the airwaves blaming President Barack Obama for the terrible conditions he had wrought, and how high gas prices were expected to go.

Obama has increased domestic production of oil, and demand for gas is down in the United States. There is no …

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The $3 million proposed cut to family planning in the latest Senate Republican budget is unacceptable. With this cut, 12,500 low-income women in Washington state will lose access not only to birth control, but also to breast and cervical cancer screening and sexually transmitted infection testing.

Washington state cannot afford these cuts. With every $1 the state spends on family planning, the state saves $4.10 in maternity care. By cutting $3 million to family planning services, the state will end up spending way more in nine months as a result of unintended pregnancy care costs. Does this sound fiscally responsible? …

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Re: “Republicans being eaten alive by the super-PAC monster they embraced” (TNT, 2-29).

As columnist Doyle McManus pointed out, candidates must be sure they have a billionaire or two in their corner. With so much money at their disposal, the candidates can afford more and more of the nasty negative ad campaigns we’ve seen thus far.

As Will Rogers opined, “Politics has got so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to get beat with.” He also said, “We’ve got the best government money can buy.”

Certainly the super-PACs are trying to accomplish that.

One picture is worth a thousand words. This is true of the photo of the House oversight committee hearing wherein Republicans convened a panel on birth control coverage that consisted of five men and no women. The chairman and panel may as well have been Archie Bunker convening a panel on race relations.

The chairman also denied women witnesses who attended in order to support insurance contraceptive coverage. He stated they had no expertise. Huh? Women have no valuable expertise or experience regarding contraceptives and insurance coverage?

An articulate young woman law student was denied the chance to speak about …

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Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland owes no one an apology over her remarks on race – especially not the Republican Party.

Richard Nixon developed the “Southern Strategy” for his 1968 run for president. It was designed to do nothing but use white resentment against blacks to win votes for Republicans. In the 1964 elections, the Republicans had won only the anti-civil rights states in the south, but Republicans learned how to use racism against the Democrats.

The “solid” Republican South today is built by Republican politicians who have campaigned against any further progress in civil rights. Today, that campaign is obviously …

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While it is inherently clear Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland is aligned with the Democratic side of the political spectrum, I held out hope she was more than just another run-of-the mill partisan hack.

After suggesting to a group of Young Democrats at Pacific Lutheran University that Republicans cannot effectively court the black vote because they are racist (The Nose, 12-2),  Strickland reveals herself to be no more than another apologist for tired leftist thinking.

Woe to any African American who dare embrace a fiscal or God-forbid social conservative philosophy or viewpoint. Strickland once again shows that the so-called party of …

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