Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defended the war in Iraq in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post. “The rationale for a free and democratic Iraq is as compelling today as it was three years ago,” he wrote. “A free and stable Iraq will not attack its neighbors, will not conspire with terrorists, will not pay rewards to the families of suicide bombers and will not seek to kill Americans.”
But many others aren’t convinced about the success of the war or of Rumsfeld’s leadership. Paul D. Eaton, a retired Army major general who was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004, wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation. “He has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq,” he wrote. “Mr. Rumsfeld must step down.
But in today’s news conference, President Bush remained loyal to Rumsfeld. “I don’t believe he should resign,” Bush said. “He’s done a fine job.”
Sure he doesn’t mean “a heckuva job”?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
One of the many things distracting state legislators from dealing with school finance is courtesy of Rep. Becky Hutchins, R-Holton. She so badly wants to get rid of the 2004 immigrant in-state tuition law that she keeps tacking her proposed repeal, already rejected earlier this month in the House, onto other bills. “Sometimes persistence pays off,” she said. And sometimes lawmakers just need to take “no” for an answer.
Hutchins’ obsession, of course, is part of a larger one in the GOP nationally. In a congressional hearing last week on legislation meant to deal honestly with unchecked immigration, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., lashed out at the “send them all back” Republicans. “That, to me, is not a realistic approach to a real problem,” he said. “There are a lot of people on talk radio in the morning, noon and night talking about this while these folks are out there working.” Or, in the case of Kansas’ commonsense tuition law, trying to better themselves in college.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Kansas Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky wrote a commentary in Sunday’s Eagle criticizing the Bush administration’s proposal to cut agriculture spending by $3 billion in the coming year. “The president’s timing couldn’t be worse,” he wrote. “Kansas farmers are facing high fuel prices, higher interest rates, high fertilizer costs and, as in much of the Great Plains, a worsening drought. Now is not the time to scale back this important safety net. It will have a negative impact on our farmers, as well as our smaller rural communities that depend on their patronage.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Bush handlers are changing strategies and allowing the president to — gasp! — take questions from audience members who weren’t prescreened and didn’t have to sign a GOP loyalty pledge. “In the last three months, Mr. Bush has started taking questions, some of them tough, from audiences not stacked with supporters,” The New York Times reported. “Mr. Bush typically sidesteps the hardest questions, but his answers often produce news.” Wow, the president is having to explain and defend his policies. What a revolutionary concept!
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
More juvenile and destructive payback by our state lawmakers: Last week the Kansas House, still upset with the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling on school finance, voted to cut $3.7 million in funding for judicial branches next fiscal year. The lost funding is equivalent to 17 days’ worth of expenses for the entire court system and could result in shortened workweeks — meaning that Kansans could face even longer court delays. “There’s a lot of resentment in the House,” said Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka. “Some people are willing to act on that resentment.” Apparently, with little regard for the consequences.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The Wichita City Council won’t debate today whether to refurbish the Jayhawk USA 9, the 70-foot yacht related to Bill Koch’s successful 1992 bid to win the America’s Cup. The agenda item was pulled Monday, to allow more review and discussion. But whenever it comes to the council, it should be an easy call: The needed $150,000 is available to repair the yacht out of Koch’s original donation, and it makes sense to fix it while the Wichita Boathouse is closed and the rest of the area is under construction for WaterWalk. Even if the council members inexplicably think they can’t make a decision now on the Boathouse, they can protect the value of what’s become a proud landmark on the Boathouse’s lawn.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Wichita City Council may sign off on a proposal today to let the nonprofit group El Zocolo build a new community center in the southeast part of Evergreen Park, at 25th Street North and Arkansas. With the go-ahead, the group could finish its fundraising, toward a goal of leasing the land from the city and getting construction started. This worthy idea of a multifunction community center, which has been discussed since August 2004, is long overdue for resolution. Still, the park board’s objection to seeing the center built in North Woodland Park on West 21st Street was based on its well-founded belief that the city has too little parkland as it is. The new proposal would offset the loss of green space by tearing down the La Familia center in North Woodland Park and rededicating some city-owned riverbank elsewhere in the area. Still, why should any proposal to build on any parkland suddenly be acceptable?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
