Jun 7, 2013 4 min read

Editorial voices from newspapers around the United States and elsewhere as compiled by the Associated Press:

More and more, responsible Republican voices are sounding off on the state of a historic American political party. The latest is that of Bob Dole, former Senate majority leader and 1996 presidential candidate.

The party has become so consumed with obstructionism over the past few years that it should be “closed for repairs,” according to Dole, one of its most respected and enduring elder statesmen. And he said it on Fox News. Clearly Dole was looking to make a point.

Dole was no shrinking violet as a senator. He fought with Democrats regularly. As Gerald Ford’s 1976 running mate, he was the ticket’s designated hatchet man. Twenty years later, he ran a vigorous, if not always well-focused, campaign against Bill Clinton. This is a man who understands the point of an election and of the need to draw sharp distinctions.

But he also understands the broader point, which is the fundamental need to govern. That is what his party has lost over the past 20 years, and especially since the election of President Obama in 2008. “It seems almost unreal that we can’t get together on a budget or legislation,” he said.

This is not a problem unique to today’s Republican Party. Under FDR, the Democrats tried to purge conservatives from the party. In the 1970s and 1980s, Democrats moved far enough to the left that the party couldn’t win presidential elections. It wasn’t until the more centrist Clinton won the party’s nomination that Democrats were able to reclaim the White House for only the second time in 24 years. Since then, they have won four of six elections.

Is the same thing happening to Republicans today? It looks that way. As the party gallops ever further to the right, it is alienating the centrists and independents it needs to win the presidency and, six months after being spanked in the 2012 election, it shows no real willingness to acknowledge political reality, let alone to govern responsibly.

Eventually, E. Gordon Gee’s mouth was going to catch up with him.

Known as much for his glad-handing and fundraising prowess as he is for his extra-large salary, the Ohio State University president has had his share of verbal gaffes. Recordings recently obtained by the Associated Press show that Gee took things to a new low during a December meeting. On the possibility of recruiting Notre Dame into the Big Ten, Gee told Ohio State’s Athletic Council: “The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they’re holy hell on the rest of the week. … You just can’t trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday …”

Here are a few take-aways from an embarrassing incident that tarnishes not only Ohio State, but also affects the Big Ten’s negotiating footing as conference realignment sifts out.

First, as much as college campuses could use a dose of honest, plain-spoken English, no one expected outright insults and bigotry.

Second, the days of backroom in-jokes and locker room patter aren’t around anymore. If college presidents, CEOs, presidential candidates (hello, Mitt Romney) and any of the rest of us haven’t figured out, seemingly private meetings with even loyal followings provide no safe harbor for the inappropriate or the provocative. Outrageous or controversial words are bound to find their way out.

The willful blindness in hockey at all levels toward concussions has diminished. Hockey Canada, the governing body for minor hockey, has followed the lead of USA Hockey in barring bodychecking below age 13, down from 11. What happened to hockey’s greatest star, Sidney Crosby, a year lost to a head injury in which the game’s (and his own) willful blindness almost certainly put him at severe risk, opened the eyes of hockey people everywhere.

Change has been a constant in Canada’s game, and the change in the bodychecking age sends the clearest message yet to coaches and parents that player safety is paramount in the game.