Clarence Page’s column in Thursday’s Eagle has an amazing quote from President Bush from a speech he gave in Buffalo, N.Y., in April 2004 (two years after he had authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without a warrant). Bush said: “Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so. It’s important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think ‘Patriot Act,’ constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.”
As Page wrote, “knowing what we know now, that sounds like the biggest presidential whopper since Bill Clinton assured us that he did not have ’sexual relations with that woman.’”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
We tried to round up some of the better quotes — serious and not — from state and local public figures during the past year in a feature on Thursday’s Opinion pages. Some of the ones that made our list:
“Excuse my tardiness. I was busy subpoenaing all your medical records.” — Attorney General Phill Kline, joking about his battle with abortion clinics.
“I don’t understand why we need to be the capital of porn here.” — Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans, complaining that Wichita has too many sexually oriented businesses.
“This is a great day for Kansas schools.” –State Board of Education chairman Steve Abrams, as the board approved science standards critical of evolution.
And brace yourself: Friday we are publishing our “Best of Opinion Line” — which we admit may be an oxymoron. A few comments from that list:
“I love Wichita, but I hate most of the people in it.”
“About gay marriage: Let them marry. Why should straight people be the only ones miserable?”
“I’ve been married for more than 20 years, and my husband is more than welcome to go to nude bars. Just because he knows what he is having for dinner doesn’t mean he can’t look at the menu.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The responses to a Tuesday editorial about casino gambling have been interesting, including one on this blog characterizing it as a “shameless plug for casinos.” Gambling opponent Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, e-mailed to, among other things, inquire why we “think the state should own and operate gambling casinos” and “increase the potential for political corruption in this state.” Another reader suggested that voters who have approved nonbinding referendums welcoming a casino would vote differently if they knew the facts.
Landwehr’s point about the unseemliness of state-owned and -operated casinos is relevant to the Statehouse debate so far, but there are other possible paths to expanded gambling in Kansas, including off-reservation casinos such as the one proposed for Park City and a constitutional amendment to allow privately owned casinos.
It’s not that Kansas can’t live without more casinos. Obviously, it can. And the concerns about social costs and political corruption are real. But many Kansans already enjoy gambling and would like to be free to gamble closer to home, where the revenues these places generate could help fund government services and even provide tax relief. Especially as more counties speak up and say “we want one,” it seems like the Legislature’s job to find the path that’s right for Kansas.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Three moonshiners, three drug dealers, a bank robber and two men who lied on loan applications were among the 11 people granted pardons last week by President Bush, whose 69 clemency orders recently exceeded Bill Clinton’s total 56. It’s difficult to see the logic that goes into any president’s pardons — Bush’s latest included a man convicted in 1948. And there may be something to columnist Debra Saunders’ contention that “it’s as if the administration doesn’t want to be criticized for meting out too little mercy — so it throws mercy where it is least needed.”
In this round, you have to wonder about Bush’s pardon of Wendy St. Charles, a lawyer for a Denver homebuilder, MDC Holdings, whose chairman and his wife are responsible for more than half a million dollars in contributions to Republican campaigns. What, other than political connections, sets St. Charles apart from the others convicted of similar drug crimes?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
There was a timely article in USA Today this week about the decline of the custom of sending formal “thank you” notes for wedding gifts, birthdays and other occasions. The article cited a newlywed couple who sent out a mass e-mail expressing generic thanks. The etiquette experts shudder. But as the article noted, many Americans simply don’t send any kind of “thank you.”
The trend is blamed on the hectic pace of modern life, an increasingly informal culture and even the mechanized nature of gift-giving registries, etc. — none of which, of course, is sufficient excuse for bad manners.
If you can read this article without a sharp pang of guilt, good for you. I couldn’t.
Have you noticed this trend? Are we becoming a rude, ungrateful people? What do you think?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
