Our editorial today applauds President Bush’s call for reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil but notes that his prescription is too weak. For example, Bush’s main goal of reducing America’s reliance on Middle Eastern oil by 75 percent by 2025 sounds more bold than it really is: Middle East oil accounts for less than 20 percent of total domestic use. And while it’s good that Bush is proposing more funding for research and development of energy alternatives, it doesn’t reflect the Manhattan Project-level commitment that might provide a real breakthrough. And there was no mention in his State of the Union address of conservation, which could have the biggest immediate impact.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The Hill newspaper has an article today about Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard. It explains his journey from dealing with his son’s death to deciding to run for House majority whip. The article notes that “Tiahrt is casting himself as the outsider on the inside — a new face with a combination of corporate know-how and old-school political skills to win votes.” But as it turned out, Tiahrt didn’t get a chance to compete for the majority whip job, because that was dependent on current whip Roy Blunt of Missouri being elected the new House majority leader. But Blunt lost in today’s election to Rep. John Boehner of Ohio.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Few are willing to defend the right of the Phelps clan to picket the funerals of fallen troops, which is why so many states, including Kansas, are now rushing to curtail those rights. But the First Amendment isn’t reserved for only pleasant speech, a point powerfully made by Ted Frederickson, an attorney and a journalism professor at the University of Kansas, in this letter to the Lawrence Journal-World. Among his valid points:
“A law that keeps demonstrators nearly two football fields away from the target of their expression is intended to censor the message. Such laws open the door for public officials to banish critics to where they can’t be heard.”
And “using law to silence Fred Phelps suggests that his message has power and that we fear it.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The net cost of the new programs President Bush proposed in his State of the Union address is about $91 million, according to estimates by the anti-tax National Taxpayers Union Foundation. That’s far less than the $12.8 billion outlined in 2005, or the $106.6 billion in new programs in Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address (or the whopping $327 billion proposed by Bill Clinton in 1999). Is Bush finally becoming a fiscal conservative, or did he just leave topics out of his speech so he could focus more on foreign policy?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Hamas is about as funny as a spinal tap. Still, its surprising elevation last week by Palestinian voters from terrorist group to governing party has inspired some jokes. A selection:
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said, “These guys are like the dog that caught the car.”
“The Daily Show” imagined Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon coming out of his coma and asking, “What did I miss?”
Jay Leno asked, “How does this make Democrats feel? They can’t win anything and terrorists are winning in a landslide.”
Among the local jokes in the West Bank and Gaza, according to wire services: that all police stations have been closed, because complaints now go directly to God; that the penalty for speeding will be extra prayers; and that “Hamas stopped all suicide bomber operations ahead of the election, because they needed every vote they could get.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
After a period spent debating the unworkable over-the-river proposal, the Sedgwick County Commission rightly got back to advancing the real arena project Wednesday, choosing a two-concourse design and making sound decisions on seat width and knee room. Fears about a second concourse, given wildly varying estimates, seem to have subsided, with assurances that two will cost only $4 million to $5 million more than one. That sounds like good value for the money, because a second concourse will mean easier access to restrooms and concession stands. Next comes what the public has been eager to see: design proposals, perhaps by late April. Let’s hope they further fire up the crowd.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
