Daily Archives: July 30, 2006

Open thread

July 30, 200612:08 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (43)

Democratic foreign policy all about pandering?

July 30, 200612:07 a.m.

Include Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of the New Republic, among those who objected to Democratic leaders’ efforts to block Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from speaking to Congress. Beinart, who wrote the book “The Good Fight: Why Liberals — and Only Liberals — Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again,” wrote in The Washington Post that the objection was really about “appearing more pro-Israel than the White House and thus pandering to Jewish voters.” He wrote: “The Democratic Party’s single biggest foreign policy liability is not that Americans think Democrats are soft. It is that Americans think Democrats stand for nothing, that they have no principles beyond political expedience. And given the party’s behavior over the past several months, it is not hard to understand why.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (21)

National call for a new state board

July 30, 200612:06 a.m.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, whose leaders have a commentary on today’s Opinion pages, isn’t the only national science group calling for a change on the State Board of Education. The online blog by the editors of Scientific American last week declared, “Kansas, Undo the Damage” — calling on primary voters on Tuesday to help to defeat state board members “who have inflicted embarrassing creationist nonsense on your home’s science curriculum standards.” Board conservatives are running proudly on those new science standards, but the problem, as the Scientific American post puts it, is that they “undermine the teaching of empirical science and lend credence to supernatural explanations for natural phenomena.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (143)

Then go ahead and evaluate agencies already

July 30, 200612:04 a.m.

Credit Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, for trying to promote fiscal accountability on Capitol Hill, but his bill to subject federal programs to the scrutiny of a base-closing-style commission was pulled from the House floor last week after it drew too much resistance from Tiahrt’s fellow Republicans. The measure might live again after the August recess. If so, it will face criticism such as that expressed last week by Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., who said that “we don’t need a commission to evaluate these agencies; that’s what we’re elected for.” To which the obvious response is: Then, by all means, evaluate these agencies’ effectiveness and spending.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (10)

No ‘blackout period’ for Sebelius

July 30, 200612:02 a.m.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius shouldn’t have vetoed a campaign finance bill last session that would have increased disclosure of campaign contributions. But give her credit for voluntarily reporting the donations her campaign receives during the 11 days before the election. Sebelius filed her first report July 26 with the secretary of state’s office. It lists 69 donors making a total of $27,360 to her campaign. Still, it would be better if all candidates had to file donation reports and this information were viewable online, as the legislation she vetoed would have required.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (20)

Dubious, bogus and utterly phony headlines

July 30, 200612:01 a.m.

The following satirical headlines come from the Web site borowitzreport.com:
ANGELINA JOLIE, BONO SIGN MIDEAST PEACE ACCORD; Israel, Hezbollah Not Consulted
BUSH ATTEMPTS TO GIVE KIM JONG IL FULL-BODY MASSAGE; North Korean Madman Recoils in Horror
BUSH NAMES SYRIA, IRAN TO ‘AXIS OF ASSHOLES’; President’s Obscenity-Laden Keynote Address Rocks G-8 Summit
ASTRONAUTS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE SUDOKU PUZZLES; Congress Questions Limited Ambition of Discovery’s Mission
BUSH SAYS ROAD MAP TO PEACE IS STILL IN GLOVE COMPARTMENT OF PEACE; But President Acknowledges Difficulty of Unfolding, Refolding Map
BUSH STATES OPPOSITION TO GAY DIVORCE; Constitutional Amendment Would Protect Institution of Traditional Divorce, President Says
IRAN OFFERS TO ABANDON NUCLEAR PROGRAM IN EXCHANGE FOR NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM; State Department Taking ‘Close Look’ at Iranian Offer
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (12)