As I say in my latest column, I finally got around to seeing "Brokeback Mountain," and I thought it was terrific.
Don’t dismiss this as a "gay cowboy movie," as it’s being dubbed — it’s just a great movie, period, and a good story, well told.
Contrary to some conservative critics, this film is not a plot by liberal Hollywood producers out to push a gay agenda. This film began as a short story written by E. Annie Proulx, one of our best novelists. The script was written by Larry McMurtry, author of "Lonesome Dove," whose Western credentials are impeccable.
McMurtry’s knowledge of and respect for people, language and place in the American West is evident throughout the movie, and the acting is top-notch. Heath Ledger’s performance, in particular, is incredible.
What did you think?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
That 1,100 people were in line to see a dentist when the Kansas Mission of Mercy opened at 5 a.m. today at the Kansas Coliseum, and that many others had to be turned away, is confirmation of what we argued in our editorial today: The Wichita area has a growing problem with lack of access to dental care that needs attention from our leaders. The plan being considered by the Sedgwick County Commission would help — to attract a few new dentists to town with a advanced education program aimed at low-income patients. But it won’t fix the wider problem of the number of people who are missing work and inviting bigger health trouble by neglecting their teeth and gums.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Two anecdotes in an Eagle news article Thursday illustrated the contrast of what many local citizens want and what some local lawmakers don’t want to hear.
Park City Mayor Dee Stuart (in photo) told The Eagle that she was at a rest stop near Emporia Wednesday when she was recognized by some Wichita-area residents who were part of a bus trip to Harrah’s Prairie Band Casino north of Topeka. She boarded the bus, told the riders that she was headed to Topeka to try to get Sedgwick County included in a casino bill, and left to a round of applause, she said. But when she arrived in Topeka, she and two officials from Sumner County weren’t allowed to speak at a lunch meeting of the Sedgwick County legislative delegation and were told that they could sign up to sponsor a future lunch.
Given all the requests that the delegation receives from groups, Stuart and the officials shouldn’t have presumed that they could show up without making any prior arrangements and appear before the delegation. But they also shouldn’t have to buy lunches for the entire delegation in order to gain an audience.
Delegation chairman Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, did say later, when questioned by an Eagle reporter, that Stuart could speak at a future meeting without having to buy all the lunches.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The White House seems to be using the “executive powers” line to justify just about everything these days. Now in the investigation into the Hurricane Katrina response, the Bush administration is refusing to turn over a number of documents or make White House officials available for sworn testimony. The reason: confidentiality of executive branch communications. That’s the same line Bush officials are using to deny reporters information about the Jack Abramoff meetings and the one used to deny information about the Cheney energy policy meetings. Is “protecting confidentiality” code for “protecting our own hide”?
Posted by Melissa Cooley
Having heard President Bush’s reasonable call at Kansas State University on Monday for a temporary guest worker program for illegal immigrants willing to do jobs Americans don’t want, Kansans will hear from the opposite end of the conservative GOP spectrum today. Immigration critic Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. (in photo), will address the Kansas Republican Assembly in Topeka. Tancredo, who successfully pushed for the House to pass a tough enforcement bill last month, has likened illegal immigration to a “raging river” and spoken of an unconstitutional proposal to deny citizenship to babies born in the United States to undocumented immigrants as a “damn right” idea.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita (in photo), is correct: The Kansas education commissioner oversees half of state government spending, so that person needs to be qualified. But the Legislature should avoid setting into law what those qualifications must be, as Ward supports doing. House Bill 2711 would require that the commissioner be either a licensed teacher or school administrator, or have significant training or experience in education. Those qualifications are certainly preferable, and what you would expect in most commissioners. But couldn’t a good commissioner also come from the corporate world — someone who is a great manager and leader who has extensive executive experience?
The problem with the State Board of Education’s hiring of current Education Commissioner Bob Corkins is that he didn’t have any of these qualifications: He had no education experience and no managerial experience of any significance.
Perhaps the better policy change would be to elevate the education commissioner to a Cabinet position, appointed by the governor. That way the governor would be more personally responsible for the quality of Kansas schools and the quality of the commissioner.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
