Bush aide Karl Rove will not be indicted by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for his role in the Valerie Plame CIA leak controversy, ending months of intense speculation about Rove’s legal fate.
Rove was said to be “elated” by the news, but any White House celebration should be tempered by the sober realization of how close the president’s closest political adviser came to being charged with wrongdoing for not revealing all that he knew about the Plame case. Rove’s ethics also remain under a cloud, tarnished by his reputation for mean-spirited attack politics. And with the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby coming up and the possibility that Vice President Dick Cheney will be called to testify, speculation of all kinds is sure to continue.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Our editorial today gets at the problem with the Guantanamo Bay prison, in the wake of last weekend’s three detainee suicides: Terrorist suspects “can’t be held indefinitely, without charge, without damaging our image abroad and undermining the very values we’re fighting to defend. As soon as possible, the administration should present its evidence against those detainees it believes are guilty of serious, specific crimes. The rest could be repatriated to their home countries or, if judged still dangerous, moved to some other holding facility until their legal status can be clarified.”
The sooner we close Gitmo, the sooner we deny the enemy this powerful propaganda tool.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
As Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline swung into re-election mode Monday, he came out swinging. It may not have been directly at the criticisms by Paul Morrison, the longtime Johnson County district attorney and recent Democrat. But he and his supporters were clear enough to convey the message that Kansans will be hearing from the Kline camp from now to November — that Morrison is a political opportunist who didn’t help the effort to pass “Jessica’s Law” cracking down on child molesters and, therefore, can be painted as soft on crime. Of course, as records go, Kline has one ripe for scrutiny, from the abortion clinic files case to the teen-sex reporting case. It should be a lively debate that focuses on what Kansans want in a top cop.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., remains an unofficial presidential candidate. Fittingly, he now has his own “unofficial Brownback for President blog,” hosted by a political science student at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. Of his project, “Brownbacker 2008″ says: “I feel Senator Sam Brownback is the best choice for President in 2008. Sam Brownback has a proven record of economic Conservatism and well as being a strict social Conservative. The United States needs another politician that fits the mold of Ronald Regan and Senator Brownback is that politician.”
Of course, this isn’t the first blog devoted to Brownback. The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog, hosted by a University of Kansas political science student, has been “dedicated to the savaging” of Brownback since March 2005. Check out the mug shot, which features Brownback’s fabled ‘fro.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Oklahoma just joined the four states willing to make an exception to the “eye for an eye” use of the death penalty, meaning someone convicted of a second or subsequent conviction for rape, sodomy or lewd molestation involving a child under 14 can be put to death for his crimes. Could this be the next step for Kansas, which just boosted the punishment for such a crime to a minimum 25 years for the first offense and life without parole for a third offense?
Clearly, public will is for these worst of the worst sexual predators to be shown no mercy. But there is a bigger societal question, one that the U.S. Supreme Court needs to answer someday soon: Is it constitutional to execute people who haven’t killed others?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Speaking of tough justice, New York Times columnist John Tierney saw a valuable point in Ann Coulter’s offensive comments about the Sept. 11 widows. “She has identified a real problem: how do you conduct a political argument with grieving relatives?” he wondered.
He went on to note that “the surest way to pass a law is to name it after someone, ideally a girl or woman” — a la Kansas’ new “Jessica’s Law,” named after a slain Florida girl. (Tierney neglected, though, to take the idea as far as it’s gone, which is to laws named after dogs, such as Kansas’ new “Magnum’s Law.”)
He wrote: “Some of these laws undoubtedly make sense, but the names appended to them cut short the sort of debate required. It’s emotional blackmail as well as a ghoulish form of the celebrity endorsement — without the celebrity’s permission.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Will the defining issue for conservatives in the fall congressional campaigns be immigration? Gay marriage? How about both at once? New York Times columnist Frank Rich noted that Vernon Robinson, a Republican challenging Democratic Rep. Brad Miller in North Carolina, has an ad that warns, “if Miller had his way, America would be nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
NUSS PROBE CENTERS ON WHO LEFT TIP AFTER LUNCH CONVERSATION: Justice Nuss Angrily Denies He Agreed to Cover Senate President for Gratuity
CONGRESS PASSES LAW REQUIRING U.S. FLAG TO BE MADE OF ASBESTOS; Simple Solution Ends Flag-Burning Controversy Once and for All
WICHITA NAMED WILD DOG SANCTUARY; City Identified as Important Habitat for Pit Bulls, Other Aggressive Breeds
Posted by Randy Scholfield