Sunday's Philly Inquirer gives a hint of editorial intentions.

[harlinchi]

On Sunday, 7-22-07, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an issue which, I thought, gave a hint of what it intends regarding editorial positions. There were two voices of reason, Rubin and Satullo, both of whom I admire for their thoughtful approaches to many of the problems we face (Nationally and internationally in the case of Rubin. Those and locally in Satullo's case.) Satullo informs us of the prestidigitation-al methods used by the elected officials to distract us from issues. Rubin tells us what must be done in Iraq, from her knowledgeable perspective.

Rubin says things like:
But if we and the Iraqis are to be saved from the consequences of Bush's follies, only Republicans can do it. Twelve good men and women are needed, or perhaps 17 (which would enable a bipartisan proposal to survive a veto). The senators need to tell Bush he cannot wait until September, when Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker deliver their next "snapshot."

They should deliver a message like this:

"Mr. President, as the polls show, the American public no longer believes in the Iraq war. Our generals say the solution must be political, and our goal is to hand over security to Iraqis. Yet the public can see that the Iraqi government is divided by sect and ethnicity, as are Iraqi security forces. If Iraqis can't get together, voters ask, how can our military ever hand it over?

Satullo coins a term called the 'butwhatabouts'.

Their articles are here: Rubin: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/trudy_rubin/2...

Satullo: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/chris_satullo...

On the extremes there was Polman balanced by Smerconish. Polman discussed a very real discussion framing possibility for Democrats to use. Smerconish blathered about a curriculum change in the UK. Substance versus silliness.

Their articles are here: Polman: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/dick_polman/5...

Smerconish: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerc...

I'm sorry to see Satullo leave the 'Editorial Page Editor' position (folks may remember his '21 Reasons to Elect Kerry' series of articles) but I'm encouraged by this sort of analysis. May it continue!