Kansans are still waiting for a federal judge in Wichita to weigh in on the dispute over Attorney General Phill Kline’s controversial and confusing teen-sex reporting mandate. But that didn’t keep The Philadelphia Inquirer from weighing in with an editorial this week that began with the regrettable line “Kansas has become a world capital of redefinition” and called Kline’s opinion “Talibanesque.” It went on: “Why should the forces of government — law enforcement, hospitals, health-care and social-service agencies — mobilize for bedroom patrol? There’s a balance between principled protection and madcap prosecution, and at the moment, Kansas taxpayers are paying for this imbalance.”
In the end, the editorial made a constructive suggestion that otherwise seems to have eluded state legislators: Pass a better underage sex law.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
In case you missed it, the Oscar for best original song went to “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” a crude, dumb rap from the film “Hustle & Flow” about how tough things are for pimps trying to make a buck off their “hos.”
Here’s a sampling of the song’s deep message that parents might not want to share with their daughters:
“You know it’s hard out here for a pimp (you ain’t knowin)
“When he tryin to get this money for the rent (you ain’t knowin)
“For the Cadillacs and gas money spent (you ain’t knowin)
“Because a whole lot of bitches talkin sh-t (you ain’t knowin).”
Charming, eh? To our ears, this isn’t exactly the sound of music. But at least the academy folks got to prove how dangerously hip and relevant they are.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Count us among those baffled by how a former Taliban diplomat could now be a non-degree special student at Yale University. Some professors and students argue that Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, who hopes to attain degree status by this summer, brings a valuable life experience and viewpoint to the campus. Perhaps, but the same could be said of lots of the terrorist suspects the United States has swept up and held since Sept. 11. Even Hashemi told The New York Times, “I could have ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Instead I ended up at Yale.” The university is taking a lot of flak — not surprisingly, given how raw Americans’ nerves are about port security and all the rest. But the real question is what entitles someone with such a background to a student visa at all.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Many questions remain about how NFL player-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman came to die in Afghanistan in 2004, making the Army’s newly announced criminal investigation a welcome step. One thing is certain: If Tillman’s death wasn’t criminal, the Pentagon’s mishandling of its aftermath surely has been.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It took state lawmakers two sessions and a distracting debate about the meaning of “discreet,” but Kansas now has a law spelling out the rights of a woman to breast-feed her baby any place she has a right to be. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed the bill into law Monday, in the process also excusing nursing moms from jury duty. Now, more women should feel encouraged to feed their babies by this most wholesome of all methods — and fewer nosy Kansans should be so bold as to object to their doing so in public.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Susan F. Wood, former assistant commissioner of women’s health at the Food and Drug Administration, wrote a Washington Post commentary that nicely articulated why the Bush administration’s holdup on making Plan B available over the counter risks more than adult women’s access to that emergency contraceptive. Suggesting that the “only connection this pill has with abortion is that it has the potential to prevent the need for one,” Wood worried about the fate of the FDA’s reputation “as a body that sets the bar very high when it comes to scientific evidence and integrity” and wondered: “Why would the administration risk such a reputation over this?” It’s not just a mystery. For those of us who care about the woman who needs this pill tonight, it’s also an outrage.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
In a commentary that began “Pat Roberts has a truly terrible idea,” married pundits Cokie and Steve Roberts blasted Kansas’ junior senator for reviving the proposal to criminalize getting or giving out classified information. “If Roberts succeeds, half the reporters in town would turn into lawbreakers,” they wrote of Washington, D.C. “Congressional staffers, scholars, lobbyists, trade association executives — they’d all be vulnerable as well.”
Not all leakers are noble or all leaks necessary, and journalists and others must deal with such information responsibly, especially in a time of war. But there is reason to doubt that this or any White House can be trusted to keep the public fully informed about its work, warts and all. Leaks lead to accountability. As the Robertses wrote, “We’re all better off with a press corps that’s free to pry and probe, investigate and irritate.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman