In an otherwise somewhat troubling piece about the Obama administration’s possible plans to “rein in” Social Security and Medicare, New York Times reporters Jeff Zeleny and John Harwood write this series of paragraphs.

The bad fiscal news underscored how, on his first week in Washington since the election, Mr. Obama is being challenged by a broad array of problems, some inherited and some a result of his own missteps, a departure from a transition that until now had been praised as orderly and swift.

The fighting between Israelis and Palestinians will present him with a complex foreign policy challenge immediately upon taking office.

The week opened with the first casualty among Mr. Obama’s cabinet appointments, as Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico withdrew as his choice for commerce secretary amid questions about whether he had been adequately vetted. Then Mr. Obama had to apologize to Senate leaders for not informing them of his choice to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta.

Yes you read that right, apologizing to Dianne Feinstein and having a nominee act to avoid distracting from the administration’s agenda are challenges in the same way war in Israel is a challenge. Equivalence