THE TRIBUNE'S VIEW
Hamas
By HENRY J. WATERS III, Publisher, Columbia Daily Tribune 
Official U.S. policy promotes the spread of democracy throughout the developing world, particularly in Islamist nations of the Middle East. Our vision, articulated daily by President George W. Bush, assumes leaders elected by popular vote will reflect the desire of citizens for "freedom and peace." Tacitly, we assume they will hold views of the future worth our cooperation and help.

OPEN COLUMN
‘Blight’ is frustrating the hopes of property owners
Editor, the Tribune: It’s more than the Tribune’s View of deciding who should define blight. The real question should be: Is the process curing "blight" or condemning "rights"?

OPEN COLUMN
Governor’s proposal is good news for Columbia
Editor, the Tribune: Did you hear the governor’s proposal in the State of the State address to increase funding for universities and colleges? Do you think the money is for education because our governor and legislators managed the state’s money well this last year? Do you think it is there because of a good economic cycle? Did you decide it was there only because it is a political ploy? We’ve heard all those arguments. Those are issues you argue about if you belong to the Democratic or Republican Party.

OPEN COLUMN
MLK’s ideals worth more than once-a-year lip service
Editor, the Tribune: We should honor the prophet’s words and ideas and not just his birthday. Twenty years ago, a conservative president signed into law a statute declaring a national holiday commemorating the memory of Martin Luther King Jr.

GOP cowboys rustle white male voters
By RICHARD COHEN
The latest poll is not good for the Democrats. I am not talking here of the one showing President George W. Bush’s approval rating inching up or the one showing immense, if dangerously ignorant, support for domestic spying. I’m talking about the recently released Harris Poll showing John Wayne as one of the most popular movie stars of 2005. The one thing he and the Democratic Party have in common is that they are both dead.

Politics in N.Y. sink ever downward
By GEORGE WILL
NEW YORK - Always antic and occasionally comic, the maneuverings for what once mattered greatly, this state’s governorship, refute the state’s motto, "Excelsior." That means "ever upward," which does not describe the trajectory of the state that soon will cease being the most populous east of the Mississippi.

STAY IN TOUCH
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