Daily Archives: Sept. 23, 2006

Open thread

Sept. 23, 200612:05 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (85)

Anti-Phelps bill goes too far

Sept. 23, 200612:04 a.m.

It’s appropriate for Kansans to try to stop the hateful Phelps clan’s ghoulish harassment of grieving families at military funerals.
The Eagle editorial board supports efforts by Attorney General Phill Kline and several Kansas lawmakers to revive a state funeral protest bill, as long as the measure carefully balances the free speech rights of protesters with the privacy rights of mourners.
A related federal measure proposed by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, would prevent the Phelpses or anyone else who successfully challenges such funeral protest laws from recovering attorney fees, as stipulated by federal civil rights law.
As today’s editorial argues, that goes too far. Even the Phelpses have legal rights.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (82)

Hang up and pay attention

Sept. 23, 200612:03 a.m.

The number of accidents in Kansas reportedly caused by the use of cell phones increased by 50 percent between 2003 and 2005, from 198 to 292. So will the Legislature take action to ban or restrict using cell phones while driving, as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and now California have done? Not if House Transportation Committee Chairman Gary Hayzlett, R-Lakin, has his way. “We keep passing laws, but yet we’ve got them on the books and we can’t enforce what we’ve got,” Hayzlett told The Eagle. “Where does it all stop?” On the other hand, can the state keep ignoring a hazard that Jim Hanni, executive vice president of public affairs for AAA Kansas, says is “as detrimental as 0.08 alcohol content”?
Posted by Angie Holladay

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Health and safety | Comments (21)

Bush’s approval rating thanks to Snow?

Sept. 23, 200612:01 a.m.

The Sept. 11 speeches. Lower gas prices. No hurricanes or Harriet Miers this year. And a better guy at the mike? Pondering possible reasons for President Bush’s recent bounce in the polls, the Washington Times’ Joseph Curl mentioned Tony Snow, the former Fox News anchor who took over as White House press secretary four months ago. “If there is an operative philosophy for me, it’s ‘flood the zone,’” Snow says, meaning to overwhelm the opposition.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under President Bush | Comments (13)

OK, so maybe we did deport him

Sept. 23, 200612:00 a.m.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales responded to the “renditioning” of an innocent Canadian citizen to Syria by claiming that “we were not responsible for his removal to Syria.” Well, turns out we were. What Gonzales had intended to say, a Justice Department representative backtracked Wednesday, was that deportations are handled by the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of Justice. However, at the time Maher Arar was sent to Syria, deportations were still handled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was part of the Department of Justice.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Homeland security | Comments (30)