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

Gail Collins/Pinochle Politics

The Short Version: I’m bored with politics.

In her words: “Setting aside six weeks of preparation for the Pennsylvania primary turns out to have been a little excessive.”

Score: B- (Boring)
We agree with Collins that the Democratic primary is kind of difficult to follow these days, as the candidates resort to increasingly bizarre tactics to reach voters. Unfortunately this sense of fatigue crosses into Collins’ prose here, so that we find ourselves kind of wishing it was over about halfway through.

Nicholas Kristof/Memo to Bush on Darfur

The Short Version: Here’s how to help Sudan.

In his words: “If President Bush takes all these steps, will they succeed in ending the genocide?.”

The Score: D (Depressing)
Kristof obviously knows what he’s talking about with regard to Darfur and Sudan, and we don’t doubt that his recommendations are good ones. But his prose is so earnest and pedantic that we find ourselves quickly squirming and looking out the window as we wonder wtf happened to say, congestion pricing. The problems Kristof describes are a world away, and unfortunately he never seems to succeed in bringing them any closer to home.

Roger Cohen/Asia’s Republican Leanings

The Short Version: Asian powers tend to want Republican presidents in the U.S.

In his words: “In India, the general feeling is that the Republicans are more free-trade oriented, less likely to pile on single-issue objections over outsourcing or child labor, and more ready to take a bold pro-Indian strategic approach.”

The Score: C (Cloudy)
We’re tired of Cohen’s free-trade-at-any-cost rhetoric, even if he does claim to support the Democrats.