THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, often called the Lost Angeles Times or the Left Angeles Times, escapes the sort of scrutiny that Andrew Sullivan and others apply to the New York Times because the “West Coast’s leading newspaper” simply doesn’t matter much on the East Coast (and increasingly not so much in its own back yard). Had the New York paper run with a front page like Sunday’s LA Times did, Sullivan would have been at work for a week playing catch up. It is as though the editors had agreed on an “All setbacks, all the time” policy, regardless of the actual news from Iraq. Here are all of the headlines from Sunday’s front page:

“Suicide Blast Kills 4 GIs at Checkpoint”

“Wars Take Some Nasty Turns on City Streets”

“The 101st Feels a Rush of Anxiety, Relief After First Taste of Combat”

“America’s Real Enemy May Be Time”

“Allied Victory Could Sow the Seeds of a Trade Fight”

“Small Town Caught Between Two Armies”