President Bush has been recognized for his slips of the tongue, but this is the first time he has been accused of a slip of the finger. On Wednesday’s “Tonight Show,” Jay Leno showed videotape of the president walking away from reporters and thrusting a finger in the air — which one is still unclear. But Leno and his audience came to the same conclusion.
The White House is denying that Bush made the rude gesture. But if he did, it wouldn’t be the first time he has let his true feelings about the media slip out. During the 2000 campaign, Bush referred to a New York Times reporter as a “major league asshole,” apparently oblivious of the microphone near him that picked up the comment.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
The past work of members of the chosen arena design consortium, including HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo., raises expectations that the downtown arena will be a true “showpiece,” in the word of Sedgwick County Commissioner Tim Norton. That’s a relief, especially because some past local projects have scrimped on design out of a shortsighted desire to save money. But before voting for the bid, Norton expressed concerns that many county residents surely would share — whether the team was so strong as to justify both the size of the bid (the highest by more than $1 million) and the comparatively long time line. Now, it’s up to the architects to demonstrate that county leaders’ confidence is well-placed.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Given the notoriously bad grammar and spelling that Dennis Rader displayed in BTK’s taunting letters to media and authorities, it was startling to see an opposing attorney in the civil lawsuits describe as “picture perfect” Rader’s notice to the court that he would be defending himself. Still, what they always say about defendants who represent themselves surely applies here. The confessed serial killer probably figures he has nothing left to lose — and lots of hours to fill.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Believe it or not, Kansas’ 2004 congressional elections were among the five most democratic in the nation, according to a report by the nonpartisan FairVote organization. But that doesn’t mean that our elections were close — three of the four weren’t. Rather, it’s that the rest of the country’s elections were so uncompetitive.
Nationwide, only five incumbents lost to challengers, and only 10 of 435 races were won by margins of 5 percent or less.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
I have my doubts whether President Bush’s new U.S.-Asian partnership on global warming will produce results, given that compliance is voluntary and countries aren’t bound to specific emission reductions. Environmental groups complain that it is just a public relations move, and maybe so. But Bush is correct that new technology is a key to curbing global warming. And that emerging industrial countries such as China and India need to be part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Plus, sometimes a carrot really does work better than a stick.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Among the anecdotes that turned up in a new legislative audit of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services’ reorganization was a complaint about squirrelly hiring practices, including interview questions such as “What kind of superhero would you be?” OK, so such a query isn’t likely to generate much hard information on an applicant’s background and skills. But with the state’s social welfare operation having shuttered 62 offices statewide since 2002, we’re betting that flying or teleportation would come in handy about now.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
