What do presidents do?

BY JOEL ACHENBACH THE WASHINGTON POST

Asimple and deceptively tricky question: What does a president do? If you had to put together the Help Wanted ad for the position of chief executive, what would you write? Something like: “CEO needed to supervise 3 million employees. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

COLUMN ONE : The decline of insult

PAUL GREENBERG

Dear Polemicist, I can’t say it was wholly a pleasure to receive your comprehensive e-mail attacking Barack Obama’s politics, religion and ancestry. What, not his choice in neckties? - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Secrets sometimes necessary in a democracy

PHILIP MARTIN

NEW YORK — Michael Moore, Morgan Spurlock and Ben Stein have worn me out—the idea of a “political documentary” makes me want to reach for a revolver. What this intellectually dubious age needs is not more agitprop—adults ought to be able to talk about issues without shouting. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

The week in review

Around the world Mother, four children die A Palestinian mother and her four young children were killed in northern Gaza on Monday during an Israeli operation against militants there, and a dispute quickly arose over exactly how they had died. The Israelis said they launched a missile from the air that hit two armed men who were carrying heavy explosives that blew apart the family’s house behind them. Palestinian witnesses said they believed an Israeli tank shell hit the small house, killing the four as they were eating breakfast. Two other children from the same family were badly wounded and hospitalized. The killings prompted vows of revenge and seemed likely to complicate Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire between Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rules Gaza, and Israel. U.S. patrol ambushed Dozens of fighters ambushed a U.S. patrol in Baghdad’s main Shiite militia stronghold Tuesday, firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun bursts as the American push into Sadr City increasingly faces - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Saudi king silent on death sentences for journalists

BY JOEL BRINKLEY MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

If you want to understand why murderous Islamic extremists still pour out of the Middle East, consider a small drama under way in Saudi Arabia right now. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Editorials on Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright

CHICAGO TRIBUNE OBAMA JETTISONS HIS PASTOR Last month, Barack Obama challenged this country to confront its racial divide, an appeal prompted by the backlash over incendiary remarks by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. His pastor’s words—“God damn America” being the most memorable—were “not only wrong, but divisive,” Obama said. Yet he did not disavow the man who said them. - Sunday, May 4, 2008

Bill Clinton may be biggest loser of campaign

BY ALBERT R. HUNT BLOOMBERG NEWS

Hillary Clinton will have nightmares about her botched run for the presidency ; it’ll be worse for Bill Clinton. - Sunday, May 4, 2008