WE Blog

The meltdown of Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., is a message to incumbents of both parties — voters are fed up with the dismal status quo, especially on Iraq.
A new poll shows that a full 60 percent of Americans now oppose the war in Iraq; 61 percent believe that at least some troops should be withdrawn by the end of the year; another majority — 57 percent — supports a timetable for withdrawal.
And Democrats in Connecticut turned out in huge numbers Tuesday to dethrone a pol like Lieberman who clearly doesn’t get it. Lieberman’s stubborn decision to runrun as an independent in the fall campaign only underscores his smug cluelessness.
Here’s a money quote from a good article about Lieberman’s troubles that refutes the charge that he was unfairly punished for being bipartisan and putting America first on Iraq:
"The stance that, for a senator, politics ought to stop at the water’s edge makes sense if and only if the president isn’t playing politics with foreign policy," said William A. Galston of the Brookings Institution, who has often sided with Lieberman on intraparty battles but disagrees with him on the war.
"But this president and this administration manifestly have played politics with foreign policy, and their chief political adviser has been totally frank about that," he added. "I think it would have been permissible and even advisable for Joe Lieberman to conclude at some point that a bipartisan foreign policy has got to be a two-way street. He really didn’t."
Americans are ready for some opposition and accountability on the administration’s Iraq war strategy.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

The proposed Sedgwick County property tax increase has been the big debate this week. The County Commission is scheduled to vote today on the increase, which is capped at 10.2 percent but is expected to be less than that. A commentary Tuesday by County Manager Bill Buchanan noted that many of the numbers being used by opponents of the increase are misleading or false. Today’s Opinion pages have a response by Alan Cobb of Americans for Property Kansas, three Reader Views letters against the increase, and a commentary by Jeff Turner, chairman of the Kansas Technical Training Initiative and president and CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, in support of the new aviation technology center — which, along with a jail expansion, is the primary reason for the proposed tax increase. Our editorial today expresses support for the tax increase, agreeing with the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and others that the increase is a needed investment in the community.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee