Inside Opinion

An unwed mother’s take on adoption records

Patrick O'Callahan — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:45:13 +0000

We don’t print anonymous letters, but that doesn’t mean I can’t share a particularly moving one here.

The excerpt below is a response from an “anonymous birth mother” to a recent letter whose author described the sealing of his adoption records as “barbaric.”

Based on the age you gave in your letter, you were born around 1966, in an era when women who gave their babies up for adoption were promised anonymity by state law.

They should not be punished for obeying the laws of the time, and their rights should be protected and respected. You failed to

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A private rally halts U.S. retreat from outer space

TNT Editorial Board — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:24:56 +0000

This editorial will appear in Thursday’s print edition.

More than 200 miles above the earth, hurtling at 17,500 mph, a privately owned cargo capsule is preparing to deliver groceries to the International Space Station.

Assuming all goes well today and tomorrow, the docking of SpaceX’s Dragon could help restore what America lost when the last space shuttle flight ended in July: a door into outer space.

Since then, the United States has depended on other countries to resupply the orbiting laboratory. America now depends on Russia, of all countries, to carry U.S. astronauts into orbit. That may not be a …

Candidate’s ‘official response’ to TNT editorial board

Cheryl Tucker — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:01:06 +0000

This time of year, we’re busy inviting candidates to interview with us for the editorial board’s endorsement in the Aug. 7 primary. Most candidates accept, while others decline due to schedule conflicts.

Occasionally we get a candidate who, essentially, tells us where we can stick our endorsement. Here’s a colorful response we received from candidate Stephan Brodhead, a candidate for the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by Norm Dicks. I don’t see any problem sharing it with blog readers as it is titled “Official Response from Brodhead For Congress.”

Dear Cheryl,

I stand on

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It’s not too early to start focusing on the Aug. 7 primary

TNT Editorial Board — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:40:33 +0000

This editorial will appear in Wednesday’s print edition.

Campaign season won’t last forever; it’ll just seem that way as election signs sprout like weeds on roadsides and snarky ads start dominating television ad nauseum.

On Nov. 7, we’ll all sigh with relief, even if our favorite candidates lose, simply because it will all be over.

While much of the election season sturm und drang will be generated by the presidential race, voters should start focusing on a host of important state and local offices – including the entire U.S. and state House of Representatives – that also will be on …

Copper Kings make the case against Citizens United

TNT Editorial Board — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:33:18 +0000

This editorial will appear in Tuesday’s print edition.

It’s a legal long shot, but Montana’s attorney general is mounting a brave defense against the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that unleashed super PACs on American democracy.

To their credit, 22 other state attorneys general – including Washington’s Rob McKenna – are backing Steve Bullock’s attempt to protect Montana from the Citizens United ruling.

Montana was once a poster boy for money-corrupted politics; its history shows how vulnerable states are to the unlimited corporate spending the Supreme Court allowed when it overturned key federal campaign finance restrictions in 2010.

More than …

Walter Backstrom, R.I.P.

Patrick O'Callahan — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:00:33 +0000

When you’re dead, you never call and you never write. I should have noticed a few weeks back when Walter Backstrom stopped ringing me up to pitch an idea for a new column.

I found out in a roundabout way last week that he died April 22 in a homeless shelter, reportedly of a heart attack. People who follow our Monday guest columnists may recall that he was one of our regulars in 2009. He had an unusual perspective as a black, Christian conservative; his pieces were weighty, eloquent and moving.

Walter addressed the broadest of themes: morality, education, youth, …

Intolerable jobless rates for America’s youngest veterans

TNT Editorial Board — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:27:52 +0000

This editorial will appear in Monday’s print edition.

Barack Obama recently declared victory in Afghanistan – sort of – and announced plans to bring the last combat troops home in 2014. As the war winds down, our commitment to the troops who served shouldn’t wind down with it.

The unemployment rate among the country’s youngest veterans – the ones who volunteered after 9/11 – is intolerably high. The best current numbers, from 2011, were released in March by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here are the low points:

• Last year, 12.1 percent of all “post-9/11” vets were out of …

Congressional hard-liners paving the road to Athens

TNT Editorial Board — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:31:18 +0000

This editorial will appear in Sunday’s print edition.

It’s still only May, and the nation’s economic interests have already taken a back seat to the November elections.

House Speaker John Boehner is dropping dark hints about forcing another debt-limit showdown, the first of which – last summer – shook the financial markets and led to a downgrade of America’s credit rating.

After a testy exchange Wednesday with President Barack Obama, Boehner had an aide tell the public that the House wouldn’t approve any increase in the debt limit “without doing something about the debt.”

Obama’s press secretary countered with a …

Steven Powell: A case study in family destruction

TNT Editorial Board — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:52:51 +0000

This editorial will appear in Friday’s print edition.

Steven Powell’s conviction on 14 counts of voyeurism Wednesday should give police plenty of time – as he sits in prison – to explore his possible involvement in the disappearance of his daughter-in-law, Susan Powell.

His role in the corruption of her husband, who burned their two sons to death in February, is already obvious.

Josh Powell had a penchant for pornography and a tendency to demean and menace his wife, as Susan’s emails and other surviving documents have made clear. His murder of the two young boys doesn’t prove that he …

Perception vs. reality in Pierce County’s crime trends

TNT Editorial Board — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:01:32 +0000

This editorial will appear in Thursday’s print edition.

When it comes to violent crime, appearances can deceive.

Sometimes it feels as if every third or fourth infamous murder in the entire nation has a Pierce County connection.

Most recent is what may be the single worst U.S. war atrocity since Vietnam – the slaughter of 17 villagers in Afghanistan. It happened on the other side of the world, but the accused is a Lake Tapps man, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

Before that came Josh Powell’s immolation of himself and his two sons. Before that, Maurice Clemmons’ murder of four Lakewood …