Conservative bomb thrower Ann Coulter, fresh from telling CNBC that she thought former President Bill Clinton displayed "some level of latent homosexuality," toldMSNBC last night that former Vice President Al Gore is a "total fag." Coulter later said that she was joking about Gore — ha, ha — but defended her theory about Clinton. "Everyone has always known, widely promiscuous heterosexual men have, as I say, a whiff of the bathhouse about them," she said. Actually, what everyone has always known is that when commentators have to make more and more outrageous claims, their careers are nearing an end. And in Coulter’s case, that end can’t come any too soon.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It was a relief that the Kansas Supreme Court accepted the state’s school finance plan; it’s better that funding decisions be worked out through the legislative process rather than by court order. But it was the Legislature’s inaction that resulted in the court’s intervention. And even though the lawsuit is now dismissed, the Legislature’s work and responsibility are not done. For example, its own auditors concluded that Wichita public schools are significantly underfunded, even with the new increase. And lawmakers still need to improve operation efficiencies statewide, such as by consolidating some school administration functions.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Not surprisingly, a new Harris Poll found many Americans gloomy about the long-term prospects for a stable, democratic Iraq (56 percent) and doubtful that invading Iraq has reduced the risk of more terrorist attacks in the United States (58 percent). But what to make of this: 64 percent still say that Saddam Hussein had strong links to al-Qaida (unchanged since February 2005, and still untrue), and 50 percent believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded (up from 36 percent in February 2005). On the WMDs, the best guess is that last month’s declaration by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., that hundreds had been found now has entered public consciousness. Never mind that the weapons were badly degraded and pre-1991, or that intelligence officials said the old shells weren’t the WMDs that we went to war over.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Voters need to beware of last-minute campaign mailers, phone calls or advertisements making negative claims about candidates. Often the claims are distorted or downright false. Especially beware of shadowy, third-party groups that aren’t officially tied to a specific candidate.
For example, an anonymous group called “Traditional Family Values of Kansas” sent a mailer this week that seems to objectively evaluate the top three GOP gubernatorial candidates and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on various issues (but clearly is promoting GOP candidate Ken Canfield). The group grossly mischaracterizes the other candidates’ positions on several issues, such as suggesting that Jim Barnett and running mate Susan Wagle may not really be pro-life and that Barnett supports civil unions. That’s not even close to the truth.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Maybe I’m officially a fuddy-duddy. But I don’t like back-to-school T-shirts that have anti-school messages. I saw several T-shirts for middle school and younger kids advertised in Sunday’s Eagle. One said, “I called in sick of school today.” Another said, “I can’t wait ’till school is over — so I’m leaving right now.” Do parents actually buy their kids these shirts (and then expect them to value education)? Somehow, I doubt that kids in India or China wear shirts like that.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
