The best opinion writing from Sunday’s papers, all in one place. Brought to you by Caroline Crampton.

Andrew Rawnsley in the Observer writes of the UK’s forthcoming referendum on electoral reform, the date of which was leaked this week, saying that this issue is “one for the connoisseurs of political paradox”. Rawnsley argues that the referendum presents all three parties with a paradox: For the Lib Dems, the proposed reform doesn’t go far enough; for Labour, the temptation to oppose for the sake of it wrestles with more genuine motives; and David Cameron opposes on the grounds that alternate vote produces weak coalitions. But as he now heads a coalition he must present as strong, how can he make that case at all?

The Grey Lady, pale shadow of what she once was? Photo credit: John Shablotnik

Andrew Sullivan in the Sunday Times looks at the American press, and finds that “many US newspapers have simply become pale, quivering shadows of what they once were.” He asks why the biggest political stories of the past year, such as John Edwards’ affair or General McChrystal’s opinions were broken by tabloids and specialist magazines, rather than the former titans of the press. He warns, “The editors and producers of American journalism have long wondered why their industry has been in decline. Perhaps they should try looking in the mirror.”

Jenny McCartney in the Sunday Telegraph examines Tony Blair’s post-Downing Street career and asks why he commands such celebrity overseas while in Britain he was pushed out of office because people became “weary” of him. He jets around the world, receiving awards for “supporting the foreign policies of two American presidents”, and promoting his eponymous foundations, all the while reviled by a large segment of the British public who voted for him in the first place. McCartney writes, “Perhaps Britain should warn the rest of the world by putting up some posters in airports: ‘Watch out for this man – dangerously plausible at first meeting.’”

David Ignatius in the Washington Post ponders the alleged Russian spy ring story in the context of modern “cyberspying” techniques which “can steal in a few seconds what it took an old-fashioned spy network years to collect.” With their software trapdoors, phishing scams and “bots” that can all collect vast tranches of information in seconds, “the modern digital spies are as seductive as Anna Chapman but less visible.”

Frank Rich in the New York Times uses the opportunity of American Independence Day to look back at the Civil Rights Act, “signed into law just in time for another Fourth of July, 46 summers ago.” And in a week of celebrations of the life of Senator Robert Byrd, Rich reminds us, “Of all the filibusters trying to block the bill, largely from Southern and border state racists then welcomed by the Democratic Party, Byrd’s was the longest (some 14 hours) and perhaps the most appalling.” And in spite of the vast progress made since then, he writes that “on this Fourth, as on the 233 that preceded it, America is still very much a work in progress.”

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