'Assign seats, Southwest, and make your extra buck. But remember your customers.'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day


'Southwest Airlines becomes like every other airline'
Chicago Tribune editorial board
After Southwest Airlines' "decision to do away with unreserved seating," the airline referred to itself as a "low-cost airline," but from a "customer perspective, that has not been true for a very long time," says the Chicago Tribune editorial board. By "removing its open-seating policy, its last remaining meaningful distinction, Southwest finally admits it has become just like American, Delta and United." The airline is now "disguising the true cost of a flight in reasonable comfort."
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'Biden is right: End lifetime tenure on the Supreme Court'
David Firestone at The New York Times
An "18-year maximum tenure for justices, as Biden and many others have proposed, shouldn't be ping-ponged around by whatever faction is dissatisfied with the current court," says David Firestone. It is a "good idea born of a mistake by the Constitution's drafters, who weren't able to foresee the problems caused by lifetime appointments." The nation's founders "did not fully anticipate how a justice might become insulated from reality after serving on the court for many decades."
'Kamala Harris needs to put arrogant plutocratic donors in their place'
Jeet Heer at The Nation
The "new push against antitrust action and regulating cryptocurrency represents a reversal of hard-won gains under Joe Biden," says Jeet Heer, but it's also a "politically risky move that threatens to blur the distinction between Democrats and Republicans." Democrats "already have egg on their faces from their earlier willingness to take money" from crypto players, and the "antitrust and pro-regulation position" is popular. Kamala Harris "needs to reject the bad advice she's getting from wealthy donors."
'The US military is in a crisis of recruitment, trust, and spending. The draft can fix it.'
Dennis Laich at Newsweek
The military's "recruitment crisis can be chalked up in part to views of the military itself," says Dennis Laich. The U.S. has "cultivated an image of war as easy and inexpensive," so the "reality of our many wars no longer touches the general populace." A "lottery-based draft of all eligible Americans" would "minimize military intervention, bolster national security and reduce the likelihood of nuclear war," and conscription would "make up for the deficit in recruitment."
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Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
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