I’m looking forward to Katie Couric’s debut today as anchor of the “CBS Evening News.” Not because I care about Couric, but because I’m tired of the promotional buildup (which included releasing this photo that was altered to make Couric look thinner). Enough already. Instead of treating TV news anchors as celebrities, we should be like the British and call them what they mostly are: “newsreaders.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Among the topics of discussion Sunday on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” was how Democratic congressional candidates’ November prospects will be affected by Democrats’ poor self-image and other issues, prompting conservative columnist George Will to bring up Kansas: “I think they have a bad image of the American people,” Will said of Democrats. “You know, when Democratic presidential candidates repeatedly fail to carry Kansas, Democrats make a best-seller not out of a book [asking] what’s the matter with Democrats but what’s the matter with Kansans.” Will has a point.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Steve Irwin‘s over-the-top personality could get on your nerves. And he certainly didn’t always use the best judgment, such as when he held his infant son while feeding a crocodile. But he sure made learning about nature fun for millions of children. And he did good work promoting conservation. Given all his encounters with dangerous animals, it seemed inevitable that he would be killed one day — or at least lose a limb. But when Irwin was killed by a stingray Monday, as his producer said, “he died doing what he loved best.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
“When politicians make the ruinous mistake of actually saying what they mean in public — or, at the very least, breaching the talking-point orthodoxy that is demanded of them — they crack open an unintended window into their character,” the New York Times reported in an article about the proliferation of apologies from politicians. “Public apologies are an effort to shut this window as quickly as possible.” These apologies aren’t effective because no one believes them anymore, said Chuck Todd, editor of the Hotline. That’s in part because they often include caveats that shift blame, such as saying, “I’m sorry if anyone was offended.” And then there is Maryland comptroller and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer (in photo), who has a radio advertisement apologizing to anyone he had offended in his 50-year career.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Arena skeptics might want to consider what the arena already has done for downtown commercial real estate values. As an Eagle article noted, commercial office buildings are moving at a brisk pace. In 2005, 106 business properties sold, valued at $68 million. Compare that with 2002, when 28 properties sold, valued at $15 million.
“There’s more enthusiasm downtown than we’ve seen in many, many years,” said Marlin Penner, president of John T. Arnold Associates.
A large part of investors’ confidence is the downtown arena going in, and WaterWalk.
‚”You plant an arena downtown, and downtown explodes,” said Dave Lundberg, one of the Minnesota developers.
The arena is already changing the landscape of downtown — and ground hasn’t even been broken yet. In short, the arena is performing as promised.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The Boston Globe carries a thought-provoking article by historian Andrew Bacevich on the “Islamist way of war,” as witnessed in Lebanon and Iraq — a sophisticated blend of terrorism, guerrilla warfare, assassinations, and social action and propaganda that he argues should occasion a rethinking of Western military strategy.
Although what he calls the Islamist “resistance” strategy can’t threaten our nation’s existence, it can “prevent conventional armies from achieving decisive results.”
He goes on: “Resistance is a strategy not of conquest but of denial. Wars undertaken with the expectation that they will be short and conclusive — on the model of the Six Day War or Operation Desert Storm — instead become open-ended and inchoate. Politically, the Islamist way of war is demonstrating that the West can no longer impose its will on the Middle East.”
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the race to replace Kansas House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, is down to three contenders — Reps. Melvin Neufeld of Ingalls, Mike O’Neal (in photo) of Hutchinson and Kenny Wilk of Lansing. House Majority Leader Clay Aurand, R-Courtland, plans to seek his current post again. Meanwhile, it’s worth noting once again that no one from Wichita, the state’s largest city, has been elected House speaker since 1949-50 (Dale M. Bryant), and no Wichitan has ever been elected president of the Kansas Senate. What’s up with that?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
http://www2.ljworld.com/blogs/campaign_briefing/2006/sep/01/abortion/
