Anyone catch “The Daily Show” Tuesday night?
Granted, Gen. Pervez Musharraf was there to hawk his book “In the Line of Fire,” but it was still remarkable. He was the first sitting president to appear on the show.
The Pakistani seemed relaxed — and frequently amused — as he sipped tea with Jon Stewart. Asked who would win if George Bush and Osama bin Laden both ran for election in Pakistan, Musharraf chuckled and replied, “Both would lose miserably.”
Posted by Dave Knadler
In Europe, a new controversy has broken out over free speech, this time over a Berlin production of Mozart’s opera “Idomeneo,” which was canceled for fears that Muslims would violently object to a scene in which King Idomeneo comes in carrying the severed heads of Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha and the sea god Poseidon.
It’s good to hear that Berlin’s Deutsche Oper is reconsidering its decision to cancel.
Ali Ertan Toprak, a representative of Germany’s Shiite Muslim community, told reporters he didn’t agree with calling off the production. “We can’t be defensive in this way against terrorism if we want to live in a free and democratic society,” he noted.
The West needs to stop apologizing for perceived insults to hypersensitive Muslim radicals and start championing its free-speech values. Don’t let Islamic radicals shout down Western ideas — or, worse, scare us into cultural self-censorship.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in an interview with The Eagle editorial board last week that she was discouraged by the persistent backward image of Kansas held by some outsiders — and pointed to funeral picket Fred Phelps as a major contributor to that negative image.
But she’s chosen not to speak out against Phelps, she said, because she doesn’t want to give him what he thrives on — publicity. Still, she sounded a note of frustration. “I don’t know what to do about Fred,” she said. “I’ve never known what to do about Fred.”
Meanwhile, one of Fred’s daughters, Margie, had a Reader Views letter in The Eagle Tuesday complaining about how the family’s funeral protests have been portrayed. She vowed that her clan would never be silenced, “because the prophets of God can’t be shut up.”
Posted by Randy Scholfield
So much for Mel Gibson being the Hollywood darling of the religious right. “The Passion of the Christ” director first went on his notorious drunken, anti-Semitic rant. Now he has compared the Mayan civilization depicted in his new movie to the United States, which he suggested was in decline. “What’s human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?” he asked.
Conservative radio talk show host Michael Medved responded: “If these anti-war comments are the beginning of an ill-considered, organized campaign to get back into the good graces of the Hollywood establishment that gave him the Oscar for ‘Braveheart,’ so he can show he’s not different from them and march arm-in-arm with Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, there will be a great deal of disgust from the people who have enjoyed Mel’s movies in the past.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Clearer minds have prevailed as the government lifted the 6-week-old liquid restrictions, allowing airline passengers once again to pass through security checkpoints with a small bottle of hand cream, and to carry on drinks purchased after they’ve gone through security. This makes travel much easier for many people.
However, does this mean Sarah’s Bakery owner Steve Habtemariam needs to worry again about Starbucks, which put on hold its plans to open a store in Wichita Mid-Continent Airport because of the security restrictions?
Posted by Angie Holladay
Americans briefly set aside their partisanship and joined in denouncing what Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said about President Bush last week at the United Nations — a phenomenon that inspired the Crowson’s View editorial cartoon Sunday. But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., went further than calling Chavez’s comments “despicable” on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday. “I would say that this is an argument to get John Bolton confirmed as our U.N. ambassador,” McCain said, about Senate Democrats’ continued opposition to making Bolton’s recess appointment official. “He’s smart, he’s tough, he would respond to these guys. And he could talk back to these two-bit dictators who have the airfare to New York.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
