Wichita City Council members finally went public with their frustrations with Mayor Carlos Mayans. They charge that the mayor is abusive and divisive, and that he is more interested in grandstanding than forming real solutions. Our editorial Tuesday argued that Mayans is his own worst enemy, and it urged him to “patch up relations with his colleagues, curb his worst instincts and focus on building a positive consensus for Wichita.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Both candidates in the Democratic primary for Kansas secretary of state, state Sen. David Haley of Kansas City, Kan., and Wichita attorney and author Bob Beattie, criticize GOP incumbent Ron Thornburgh for having invited former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris to Kansas to honor her work in the 2000 election fiasco with an award praising her “courage in public service.” During an interview with The Eagle editorial board Monday, Thornburgh acknowledged, “I probably get the credit and the blame” for honoring Harris. He said, though, that the idea started with then-chairman of the Kansas Republican Party Mark Parkinson, who asked Thornburgh to invite Harris to Kansas for a GOP fundraiser. How things can change in five years in politics: Now, Parkinson is the re-election running mate of Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, and Harris is a Florida congresswoman in an uphill battle for a Senate seat.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Canfield is catching some criticism for not voting in elections. But he told The Eagle editorial board that when he started his National Center for Fathering, he made a policy of not registering with a political party, so that his organization would not be viewed as partisan. But he said he voted in general elections as an unaffiliated voter. He did miss voting on the state’s gay marriage amendment, but he said that was because he had to make an unexpected trip out of state. But the bigger issue for voters is not Canfield’s voting history but his lack of governing history, having never held a public office.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Something to ponder as U.S. military personnel are investigated in the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family, as well as the Haditha incident: Is it a case of too few good men? The Southern Poverty Law Center says recruiters are increasingly willing to sign up neo-Nazis and skinhead extremists, such that Aryan Nations graffiti has been spotted in Baghdad. “Recruiters, desperate to meet their quotas, are sifting for warm bodies among those who are less talented, less disciplined and, in some cases, repellent,” wrote New York Times columnist Bob Herbert. Obviously, multiple tours of duty put stress on those of sound character, too.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
