In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times.

Frank Rich/McCain Channels His Inner Hillary

The Short Version: Like Clinton, McCain cannot escape his support of the Iraq war, which is a losing proposition with the electorate.

In his words: “The good news for the Democrats so far is that whatever Mr. McCain’s sporadic overlap with liberals, he is emulating almost identically the suicidal Clinton campaign against Mr. Obama. ”

Score: B+ (Bitchy)
Rich is effective once he drops the tired Hillary Clinton bashing — along with the ridiculous assertion that there’s not much difference between the two, politically — and focuses his attention on John McCain and his weaknesses (dated, white, Republican, hawk) vis-a-vis Barack Obama.

Nicholas Kristof/Africa’s Next Slaughter

The Short Version: Sudan is on the brink of war again.

In his words: “So remember this little town of Abyei. It’s the tinderbox for Africa’s next war, which will probably resemble Darfur but be carried out on a much wider scale.”

The Score: D (Depressing)
Kristof gives us the latest on Sudan and though we don’t disagree with anything he says, we long for more psychological insight into a situation that seems to repeat itself over and over and over and over. (Note to Bob Herbert: we cut-and-pasted this verbatim from one of our old columns.)

Maureen Dowd/A Wake-Up Call for Hillary

The Short Version: Hillary should wake up to how much I hate her.

In her words: “It’s rather Mommie Dearest for the first serious female contender to try to give the kiddies nightmares.”

The Score: B+ (Bitchy)
Dowd subjects Clinton to the usual treatment here, but for once we agree she (Clinton) deserves it, given the stupidity of her campaign’s recent terrorist ad.