Watching Congress almost fail to solve a problem it created produces a feeling of unease.

Reducing inspectors’ ability to prevent food-borne epidemics is the wrong way to save money.

As soon as the lawmaker becomes the head of an advocacy agency, he should resign.

The secretary of state should not be throwing bombs in a potential referendum campaign.

The House and Senate reluctantly passed it. President Obama reluctantly signed it. Tea party cheerleaders on talk radio and cable TV took a victory lap but they didn’t really like it.

And just plain Americans? Well, they were torn between the temptation to call down a curse on the entire Washington establishment and the inclination to scratch their heads and ask, “What in the world just happened here?”

Love it or hate it – and as yet no one who loves it has had the temerity to say so – the debt ceiling/deficit reduction plan hammered out by Republican and Democratic leaders over the weekend is now the law of the land. The bill restored the federal government’s borrowing authority and set the stage for more than $2 trillion in budget cuts just in time to save the country from the possibility of a first-ever default on its financial obligations. If all goes well, we won’t have to read the word “default” in another headline about congressional activity until after the 2012 elections.

As the Old Orchard Beach Town Council gets ready to discuss a perfectly reasonable ban on smoking at Maine’s busiest beach, let’s get one argument out of the way: No one has a right to smoke on a beach, or in any other public place.

Yes, cigarettes are legal and yes, the decision whether or not to light up is a matter of personal choice, but no – once smoke drifts away from the smoker toward someone else’s nose, it’s not the smoker’s choice anymore. The community has every right to limit where and when someone can smoke.

Outdoor smoking bans are somewhat new, but they still provide an opportunity to recycle arguments that were unsuccessfully marshaled to defeat indoor bans a decade ago.