Conservative Charles Krauthammer argued in this column that Harriet Miers’ nomination should be withdrawn because she is not qualified for the job. He went on to argue against the growing cries of “elitism”:
“It will be argued that this criticism is elitist. But this is not about the Ivy League. The issue is not the venue of Miers’ constitutional scholarship, experience and engagement. The issue is their nonexistence.
“Moreover, the Supreme Court is an elite institution. It is not one of the ‘popular’ branches of government. That is the reason Sen. Roman Hruska achieved such unsought immortality when he declared, in support of an undistinguished Nixon nominee to the court, that, yes, G. Harrold Carswell is a mediocrity but mediocre Americans deserve representation on the court as well.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley
After that great day when Dennis Rader — whose story will be depicted tonight in the CBS movie “The Hunt for the BTK Killer” — draws his last breath, he most certainly should not be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. That’s why members of Congress from Idaho to Kansas to Maryland rightly are hurrying to close a loophole that currently would allow the Air Force veteran-turned-serial killer such a resting place. Too bad, though, that the change couldn’t be made in some other murderer’s name. As it is, the beast who once asked “How many do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?” is now inspiring an act of Congress.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has political connections by both heritage and marriage. A new one was revealed recently in New York City, where Sebelius helped honor Mark Shields, the syndicated political columnist and TV talking head, as Commonweal magazine’s first recipient of the American Catholic in the Public Square Award. Turns out that Shields, whom Sebelius hailed for his “ultimate optimism and Irish humor” and vision of “a much more Christian and just society than we have,” once managed a campaign for her father, former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Two more western Kansas school districts are merging — Hanston and Pawnee Heights. More districts need to do the same. But there is only so much merging that is realistic, geographically or politically. The more viable reform — and the one that could save the state the most money — is to consolidate district administrations. More school districts, large and small, need to share superintendents, clerks and bookkeeping systems.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Include Kansas Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, among those of us who think the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is a misguided idea. Actually, “misguided” isn’t strong enough for Morris. He told The Eagle editorial board Friday that amending a one-size-fits-all budget formula into the Kansas Constitution is so outlandish that it makes his blood boil. “That is a disaster looking for a place to happen,” he said.
And contrary to what some local lawmakers told the Sedgwick County Commission, Morris said “it would be valuable” for the county to have an advisory vote on expanded gaming. If not, he said, there is a real possibility that other Kansas counties that have had votes would get casinos and Sedgwick County be shut out — the worst of all outcomes.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The hand-wringing over whether Harriet Miers has either the qualifications or the temperament for the U.S. Supreme Court unearthed an interesting story about the most recent Kansan to serve on the high court: Charles Evans Whittaker (1957-62). As National Review Online tells it, the stressful work so overwhelmed him that he had a nervous breakdown. “According to one brief biography, Whittaker was so detail-oriented and unable to delegate work to his clerks, so obsessed with mastering every remote factual consideration in the cases before the Court, that he was ‘working six to seven days a week (and) putting in 17 hours a day.’ ”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
