SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:40 P.M. ET:

OH, THE POOR DEARS – Do you remember when ball parks were named for real people, and had something to do with baseball?  Now it's commerce and show biz.  Citi Field is where the Mets play, or try to, in New York.  Citi Field, named for a bank, doesn't quite have the ring of Yankee Stadium or Ebbets Field, but we take what we can get.  Now we learn that the proprietors of said field will change its dimensions...because the batters find the current field too large and challenging.  Now wait.  How many millions are these guys paid every year to swing a bat?  And we have to alter the field for them?  There are signs when a civilization is sliding downhill, and this is one of them.  Ah, I remember the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Do you?

SNEAKING UP ON US – More Americans are abandoning airlines because of high costs, and taking to the road.  But government has a way of punishing us, and road travelers are becoming aware of a new menace – absurdly high tolls, that can dent any family budget and cut into the incomes of those who travel for work.  Here in New York, going over a bridge can set you back $12...or more.  Even if the tolls are only one way, that's $60 a week for a commuter, excluding fuel, other tolls, and wear on the car.  That's $3,120 a year, or $6,240 for a two-income family.  And politicians wonder why people are screaming.  By the way, the most expensive toll road in the country is, natch, in Chicago – the Chicago Skyway, costing drivers 46 cents a mile, or $3.68 for the 7.8-mile road. 

WELL SPOKEN – The president gave a good speech at the UN today, showing a little of the backbone that political writers and, perhaps, even orthopedists, have looked for.  It probably was too late, for his weakness has already been amply demonsrated.  He did make a firm commitment to Israel and slammed the nutty Palestinian idea of going around direct negotiations to get a state.  He also slammed Arab dictators, especially in Syria.  We wonder if this is the end of the president's fantasy of "reaching out" to the Muslim world, an outreach that plainly has failed.  Or, was this just a campaign speech.  Watch for the actual policy.

A SHRINE DISGRACED – There is no greater national shrine than Arlington National Cemetery.  Visiting the cemetery, and the Tomb of the Unknowns, has been a pilgrimage for millions of Americans, especially those of the greatest generation, and their children.  It's therefore grating to hear of how badly run the cemetery has been in recent years – with grave mixups, indifference, and a general lack of oversight.  Now, today, we learn that families trying to arrange for burial at Arlington have often given up because all they got was a ringing phone.  It seems the cemetery, until last year, didn't even have voice mail...or an answering machine.  That has been corrected, but, except for those service personnel killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, the wait for a burial with full military honors has increased to almost three months.  Utterly disgraceful, and heads should roll.

September 21, 2011