Daily Archives: May 31, 2006

Open thread

May 31, 20061:35 p.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (130)

Sebelius picks former critic

May 31, 200611:00 a.m.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius did, in fact, announce today that former GOP state party chairman Mark Parkinson is her running mate. Parkinson then had to issue a statement disavowing his past criticisms of Sebelius: “In an age where leaders duck responsibility and dodge their mistakes, let me be the first to say: I was wrong,” Parkinson wrote.
But back when he was GOP chairman, Parkinson said: “I would say that any Republican who supports Kathleen Sebelius for governor is either insincere or uninformed. She is a left-wing liberal Democrat, and no Republican in good conscience can support her.”
And in response to her decision in 2002 to pick Republican John Moore as her running mate, Parkinson said: “It’s a gimmick to hide the fact that Kathleen Sebelius is a liberal who is far to the left of the mainstream in Kansas. Clearly, she’s worried about her record, which puts her squarely in the liberal camp. No running mate can disguise that.”
Never mind.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (16)

Has U.S. betrayed democracy in Egypt?

May 31, 200612:07 a.m.

It’s been tricky for President Bush to balance his support for spreading democracy with his support for our undemocratic allies. One place where he has been out of balance is Egypt, Bret Stephens argued in The Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this month, Bush met with Gamal Mubarak (in photo), who is positioning himself to succeed his father, President Hosni Mubarak, and Bush officials helped block an effort to reduce some of Egypt’s $1.7 billion in U.S. aid. Meanwhile, pro-democracy activists in Egypt were beaten, arrested and detained.
“Maybe there is no connection between the first and second set of events,” Stephens wrote. “Maybe Mr. Mubarak did not need tacit American acquiescence to embark on his latest campaign of repression. Maybe there are plausible reasons for the administration to go soft on the regime for now. But speak to opposition figures here and the sense of American betrayal is palpable.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (13)

The dome gets to be a bubble

May 31, 200612:05 a.m.

On the subject of the wailing and moaning on Capitol Hill over the FBI search of the office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., former GOP congressman John Kasich made a potent point Sunday on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos”: “This is why term limits are important. And I’ll tell you why. People lose touch. You live in Washington. Everybody tells you how great you are. You literally get in a bubble. And when I talk to a lot of my friends now, I literally can’t penetrate the bubble, because they don’t understand it.”
The former nine-termer from Ohio added: “This was the wrong fight to pick. You don’t pick a fight on whether you’re going to listen to my cell phone conversations or monitor who the heck I’m talking to, and you’re going to pick a constitutional fight on stopping somebody from going in and getting a guy that allegedly stole $90,000? It’s just — it’s out to lunch.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (6)

Not all ‘Idol’ fans are imbeciles

May 31, 200612:03 a.m.

An Opinion Line comment in Monday’s Eagle had this to say about R.D. Liebst’s letter to the editor about the WE Blog meet-up:
“I am a regular blogger on the WE Blog site, and I still have time to be a fan of ‘American Idol.’ There is room in my life for both. Don’t be so judgmental. Not everyone who likes to watch ‘American Idol’ is an imbecile.”
Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post made a similar argument in his column:
“Please hold the high dudgeon about how a cheesy television show isn’t sufficiently grim for op-ed pontification. An astounding 41 million viewers watched the last hour of Wednesday night’s over-the-top finale.”
I don’t happen to watch “American Idol,” but I admit to watching a couple of equally mindless reality television shows. I agree with Robinson that Americans should be able to enjoy some “good, cheesy fun” every week without being judged for it. But I also think that if Americans care more about “American Idol” than the real issues facing this country, we have a serious problem.
Posted by Melissa Cooley

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (37)

Robertson’s quadriceps heaven-sent?

May 31, 200612:01 a.m.

So Pat Robertson says he can leg-press 2,000 pounds? Sports types say that’s nonsense, given that the televangelist is 76 and that much younger athletes can’t even get to 1,000 pounds. A statement from Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network asserts that Robertson’s physician “has leg-pressed 2,700 pounds. It is not nearly as hard as the authors of these reports make it out to be. We have multiple witnesses to the 2,000 pound leg press, plus video of the 10 reps of 1,000 pounds.” The Wonkette blog joked that Robertson’s doc must be Bruce “The Hulk” Banner. CBN’s Web site also credits, in part, Robertson’s “age-defying protein shake.” Smells like a merchandising ploy.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (17)