The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
They Must’ve Croaked
“Why Crickets on Hawaiian Islands Stopped Singing 20 Years Ago and Never Chirped Again”–headline, TheBlaze .com, June 3
Out on a Limb
“Syrian Election Results All but Certain”–headline, JewishPolicyCenter .org, June 3
News You Can Use
“Book Warns People to ‘Be Prepared’ “–headline, Commercial-News (Danville, Ill.), June 3
See No Evil
National Journal columnist Ron Fournier urges caution on the Bowe Bergdahl deal: “We know next to nothing about Bergdahl or the president’s plan to monitor the terrorists he freed. So unless you’re partisan, it’s too soon to form an opinion.”
We’d dispute his claim that we “know next to nothing about Bergdahl.” By reading the Rolling Stone piece referenced in our lead item, we learned quite a lot. But theAssociated Press reports that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel seems to agree:
Hagel said Wednesday it is unfair to the family of released captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to leap to conclusions about his behavior in uniform”:
“We don’t do that in the United States,” Hagel told reporters at a NATO defense ministers meeting. “We rely on facts.”
Hagel said the Army will review the circumstances surrounding how Bergdahl left his unit and was captured by the Taliban, and added, “It’s not my place as a former sergeant in the Army to decide who’s worthy of being a sergeant and who isn’t.”
Perhaps it would have been prudent for the defense secretary to form an opinion before signing off on the deal.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
