Free for All Roundup of Short Critiques of The Post

The Post's Vertical Reach

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) was described by reporter Ceci Connolly as "the 5-foot-5 Los Angeles liberal" in the July 20 news story "With Health Reform, Waxman Takes On Another Tall Order." The headline writer as well seemed to like the theme.

What difference does it make how tall or short a member of Congress is?

Do you also give the heights of female members of Congress or Los Angeles conservatives?

-- Yale Richmond

Washington

Don't Blame the GOP

It is silly to expect objectivity from any editorial cartoonist, but Tom Toles's July 21 cartoon, which blamed Republicans for the delay since 1993 in enacting health-care reform, ignored both historical and current fact.

It was a Democratic-controlled Congress that rejected the Clinton administration's "Hillarycare" health-care reform plan in 1994, before Republicans swept to a majority in both the Senate and House.

And, of course, it is impossible not to notice that Democrats once again control both houses of Congress, so if they reject the "Obamacare" version of health-care reform this year, the Republican minority once again cannot be at fault.