The U.S. death toll in Iraq having reached the big 2-5-0-0 this week, mourning mom Cindy Sheehan has a commentary on the Progressive Media Project’s Web site that re-asks the question on her shirt at the State of the Union address: “How many more?”
Not only how many more dead and wounded troops but also, she writes, “how many more empty speeches and blathering platitudes will we allow our misleaders to utter before they are held accountable?”
Lots of people wish Sheehan would grieve for her son in private. But she promises to return to Camp Casey this summer, near President Bush’s Crawford, Texas, sanctuary.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
My column today notes the proliferation of museums in Wichita — many of them wanting handouts — and proposes several more that perhaps should be funded by taxpayers, including the WaterWalk Museum, the Kansas Intelligent Design Museum and the National Accordion Players’ Hall of Fame.
WE Bloggers: Your suggestions for other overlooked museum ideas would be appreciated.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Before the U.S. Senate recently took up such driving conservative issues as gay marriage, TV indecency and flag burning, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., devoted a May subcommittee hearing to another: assisted suicide. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a Bush administration attempt to override Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act. Brownback told The Oregonian newspaper, “I held a hearing on this topic because I think we should carefully consider the unintended consequences and slippery slope of doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Legalizing doctor-assisted suicide can lead toward involuntary euthanasia, as we’ve seen in the Netherlands.” So far it’s all just talk, though: No lawmakers have said they’ll propose anti-euthanasia legislation this year.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Many Republican politicians up for re-election in Democratic-leaning states or districts are trying to distance themselves from President Bush. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. (in photo), has been playing up his differences with Bush and touting his independence from GOP congressional leaders in the hopes of defeating challenger Democrat Dianne Farrell.
“This would not be a close election if George Bush was popular,” he told Reuters. “This would not be a close election if there wasn’t a war in Iraq.”
Those same factors could end up helping incumbent Democrats in Republican-leaning states — such as Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
Hope Wichitans are noticing how good the east Kellogg Expressway is looking these days, with the new plantings and landscaping taking hold and handsome nature-inspired designs on the throughway walls.
What an unexpected treat for daily commuters.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, deserves praise for his help in getting more funds for the homeless through the House Appropriations Committee. The bill would increase by 15 percent — or about $209 million — the budget of the McKinney-Vento grants program, a main source of federal funds for local homelessness projects such as emergency shelters and permanent housing with services.
The bill was approved by the full House this week.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Forbes noted that celebrities dodged a bullet in the final version of the Sen. Sam Brownback-pushed Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, because it did not follow through with a Senate proposal to fine performers $500,000 personally for an indecency violation. Actors Alan Rosenberg and Joe Pantoliano had testified against the fines. “That high-paid celebrities, many of them donors to the Democratic Party, were able to persuade the Republican Congress that they shouldn’t have to reach into their Prada bags for saying naughty lines on-air is no small feat,” wrote Forbes’ Matthew Swibel. He also found the most influential celebrity lobbyists on Capitol Hill to be Angelina Jolie (kids, AIDS), Bono (Third World debt relief), Ashley Judd (AIDS), Don Cheadle (Sudan) and Fran Drescher (gynecological cancer).
Posted by Rhonda Holman
