Steve Ford needs a new job

Just when I was thinking the N&O might be rediscovering its populist roots, this spectacularly lame editorial has me grinding my teeth again. Here's the money quote:

Tension between constitutionally protected civil liberties and national security needs also has come to a head in the debate over reauthorization of the Patriot Act.

Certainly the ongoing threat of a terror plot justifies increased intelligence gathering. Even so, heightened security-mindedness can be abused with resulting harm to personal liberties, and for that reason it's been healthy for Congress to respond to concerns raised by privacy advocates.

Tension between civil liberties and national security? Ya think?
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On a typical day in America, this editorial about renewing the Patriot Act would have been easy enough to ignore for all its wishy-washiness. But on a day when the president of the United States admits to circumventing the law by ordering secret surveillance of American citizens, the N&O's considered opinions are laughable. George Bush has declared himself king and the News and Observer, by its silence, is complicit in the coup.

I know Mr. Ford probably means well. Editorials that say nothing and make no difference are a sure-fire way to avoid upsetting any apple carts. But sheesh. Why even bother to have an editorial page if you're not going to write something worth reading?