If this story doesn’t confirm the worst fears about the Bush administration’s regard for criticism, nothing will: A Denver man, Steven Howards, says he approached Vice President Dick Cheney at an outdoor mall in June and calmly said, “I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible” or words to that effect. Ten minutes later, Howards says, he was in handcuffs for allegedly assaulting Cheney. The misdemeanor harassment charge was dismissed three weeks later, but Howards’ suit now joins one in West Virginia and another in Denver in charging that the Secret Service or White House “violated the law in keeping people with opposing political views away from President Bush or Mr. Cheney,” according to the New York Times.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Rolling Stones concert proved that Wichita can deliver 32,000 fans to a topflight event — and pull off the logistics like an old pro, too.
Yes, it can happen in Wichita.
This biggest concert in Wichita’s history should silence the naysayers who whine that the new downtown arena won’t draw people and won’t sell out. Nonsense. If the 17,000-seat arena can attract top acts, then the people will come.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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Cal Thomas had a classic column in Wednesday’s Eagle. Former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., sent sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages to underage male pages, and GOP House leaders didn’t act aggressively after they learned about it. So whom does Cal rant against? Liberals, of course. After all, liberals have an “aversion to trans-generational morality” and proclaim that “one person’s concept and definition of ‘right’ is as valid as another person’s.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Kathleen Sebelius has again been named a top governor by a national magazine, this time by one that focuses on business entrepreneurship. Of 26 governors up for re-election, Sebelius was one of only four to receive Inc. magazine’s highest four-star rating — signifying “a true friend whose policies will benefit businesses over the short and long term.” As with an earlier top ranking by Time magazine, some of the achievements cited by Inc. were more the doing of the Legislature than Sebelius. But Sebelius won praise from Tom Devlin, co-founder of Rent-A-Center, who told Inc. that Kansas governors traditionally haven’t been that pro-business. “Sebelius is the first one who realizes the value of entrepreneurs,” he said.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It’s not a huge gain, but GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Barnett is narrowing the gap with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, according to a Rasmussen poll last month. Sebelius has a 9 percent edge, leading Barnett by 48 percent to 39 percent. That’s slightly less than the 11 point lead she held in a Rasmussen survey in August. Sebelius’ lead is significantly less than a Survey USA poll last month that had her up by 20 points.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The New York City Health Department must think the customers of restaurants aren’t smart enough to make good choices about the food they eat. The health department reportedly feels an “ethical responsibility” to forcibly require city restaurants to change ingredients by 2008.
Its media campaign urging restaurants to voluntarily remove trans fat oils from menus failed, so it voted to enforce a trans fat oil embargo. The law could go in effect this December, and it doesn’t require any other approval.
This department led the successful elimination of smoking in New York City public places four years ago, which was a wonderful welcome for many people who don’t tolerate secondhand smoke. This victory must have empowered the department to take on the unhealthful trans fat issue.
But a less authoritarian approach would be to inform consumers of the trans fat grams they would be indulging in by eating those lard-ridden french fries. If customers don’t choose those trans fat menu items, chefs will decide on their own to replace palm with canola oil.
Posted by Angie Holladay
The sales tax for the downtown arena continues to exceed projections, bringing in more than $6.3 million last month — $375,000 more than projected. That puts the total collected halfway through the 1 percent, 30-month sales tax at nearly $85.5 million — $1.5 million ahead of schedule toward the goal of $184.5 million. Regrettably, the pace of collections is not so great that people are still talking about ending the tax early, and there no doubt are plenty of unanticipated costs ahead. But seeing the project dollars ahead is far preferable to the alternative.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
