Five states already require a DNA sample, along with fingerprints, to be taken at the time of an arrest in a felony case, so House Bill 2554 isn’t exactly out of the lawmaking mainstream. Still, the bill kind of gives us the creeps, maybe because of its “trust us” component, as reported by Associated Press: “The sample would be removed from the KBI system if charges are dropped or the person is acquitted.” Maybe this is a harmless next step in law enforcement. In any case, the bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday and already has passed the House, and it’s an election year, so routine swabbing is probably coming to a jail near you.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The e-mail and home answering machine of Wafa Sultan (in photo), a Syrian-American psychiatrist living outside Los Angeles, have been filled with death threats following her recent interview on Al-Jazeera television, The New York Times reported. Among her provocative comments:
“Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.”
And, “The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality.”
Despite the threats, Sultan said she has no fear. “I believe in my message. It is like a million-mile journey, and I believe I have walked the first and hardest 10 miles.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The New York Times editorial board is supporting an election reform that likely has little chance of happening but is in response to a legitimate frustration. It is urging state legislatures to pass laws requiring that their Electoral College delegates vote for whichever candidate received the most votes nationally. That way, there wouldn’t be a repeat of 2000, when the candidate with the most votes didn’t become president. I’m not so bothered by that problem as I am with another one that the Times noted: Candidates don’t bother campaigning in non-battleground states, which in 2004 amounted to 37 states, including Kansas. “As a result,” the Times wrote, “campaigns and national priorities are stacked in favor of a few strategic states.”
One disadvantage of going to a more direct election format is that candidates might focus mostly on large population centers. Also, the number of a state’s Electoral College votes is based on the size of its congressional delegation. And since every state has two senators, regardless of its population, Kansas and other small states have a disproportionate say in presidential elections.
But then again, candidates don’t come to Kansas now because they know our state isn’t in play. And if you’re a Democrat, there really isn’t much reason to vote for president in Kansas, because all of our state’s electoral votes will go to the GOP candidate.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Pat Robertson always acts surprised when his remarks on “The 700 Club” cause an uproar in the country and the world. It’s happened enough now that you’d think he’d think before he speaks. But he didn’t — once again — in explaining Islam to his viewers Monday, after a report on Muhammad cartoon protests. “These people are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it now: I believe it’s motivated by demonic power. It is satanic and it’s time we recognize what we’re dealing with.”
Then there was this: “The goal of Islam, ladies and gentlemen, whether you like it or not, is world domination.”
Maybe the whole world isn’t watching “The 700 Club,” but enough of it hears of Robertson’s crazy remarks after the fact that he needs to exercise more care in choosing his words. This isn’t helpful.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., was among friends ideologically at Saturday’s Southern Republican Leadership Conference gathering in Memphis, during which he declared, “I am Sam Brownback and I am a Ronald Reagan Republican.”
But he barely registered in the straw poll, in which Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., blew away the rest of the field with 37 percent of the 1,427 votes (followed by Mitt Romney at 14 percent, George Allen and President Bush each with 10 percent, John McCain with nearly 5 percent and Mike Huckabee with 3.8 percent). Brownback received just 1.5 percent. One report told of the odd moment when Allen noisily did a Fox News interview at the back of the ballroom as Brownback was addressing the crowd; Allen later left the room and was heard declaring that “it’s impossible to do an interview with all that going on in there.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The narrowness of Monday’s passage of Kansas Senate leaders’ three-year, $660 million schools plan out of the Senate Education Committee — a 6-5 vote — does not bode well for the Legislature’s ability to do what the Kansas Supreme Court says it must do to be constitutional. “It keeps the process moving,” said committee Chairwoman Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita. But only just.
The points of friction include: The cost, which conservatives say is too high. The definition of “at-risk” student, which some think should be broadened. And Johnson County, which some say fares too well under the plan’s local-option budget “backfill.” As the full Senate prepares to debate the bill, perhaps Thursday, Kansans should fasten their seat belts. This could get bumpy.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Here is The Wall Street Journal editorial board’s take on the sale of Knight Ridder and the future of newspapers in an Internet world:
“Both McClatchy and Knight Ridder remain profitable, stable companies that produce plenty of cash flow. The sale of Knight Ridder was precipitated not by financial distress inside the company but by a large institutional shareholder looking to cash out and avoid a loss on his shareholdings. Newspapers may not get the kind of stock-market valuations on present profits that the big Web sites do. But there is not yet one of those sites, as far as we are aware, that currently does what quality papers have done for years — independently gather, edit and supply reliable news and analysis.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Whenever a U.S. cow turns up with mad cow disease, the authorities say lots of reassuring words: The cow was old, it never posed a risk to public health, etc.
It happened again after Monday’s announcement of a case in Alabama, the third in the nation since December 2003. “The animal was buried on the farm, and it did not enter the animal or human food chains,” said John Clifford, chief veterinarian for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Maybe so, and maybe it won’t deter any Americans from visiting steakhouses tonight. But if Kansas ranchers and others are to see their markets for beef cattle rebound — most notably Japan — this can’t keep happening. Period.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
