There was a lot of buildup before Sunday’s "60 Minutes" about how Sen. John McCain (in CBS photo) apologized for his gaffe about how safe it is in Baghdad. But the actual interview wasn’t that clear.
CBS correspondent Scott Pelley noted that McCain had said earlier that Gen. David Petraeus sometimes goes into Baghdad in an unarmored Humvee, and that there were neighborhoods you could walk through without being concerned for your safety. McCain responded: "There is no unarmored Humvee, obviously that’s the case. I’m trying to make the point over and over and over again that we are making progress. There are signs of progress. But it’s long and it’s hard and it’s tough."
Pelley then observed: "You were a little annoyed with yourself, I think."
And McCain responded: "Of course I’m going to misspeak, and I’ve done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do in the future."
So did McCain "misspeak" about how safe Baghdad is, or just about the Humvee?
Pelley also asked McCain how it is that McCain thinks Donald Rumsfeld was one of the worst secretaries of defense in U.S. history, because of how badly the war was mismanaged, yet he seems to give a pass to President Bush, the commander in chief.
McCain responded: "I say that he is responsible, and I’ll continue to say he is responsible. Should I look back in anger, or should I look forward and say, ‘Let’s support this new strategy, support this new general, and let’s give it everything we can to have it succeed’?"
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
If radio jock Don Imus’ latest racist comment — about "nappy-headed hos" on the Rutgers women’s basketball team — were an isolated incident, a sincere apology might be sufficient. After all, he’s in the business of provocation.
But Imus has a disturbing history of making racist comments, once describing PBS anchor Gwen Ifill as a "cleaning lady."
The pattern was so clear that in 2001, Chicago Times columnist Clarence Page got Imus to take a pledge not to make any more racist remarks.
Imus apparently couldn’t keep the vow. He’s issued an apology, but I think he should be fired.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee put an interesting challenge to his fellow Republican candidates: Be accountable for your personal lives, or prepare to apologize to Bill Clinton.
Huckabee, who like Clinton is a native of Hope, Ark., and a former Arkansas governor, said that some in his party “talk as if, in this election cycle, Republican candidates aren’t going to be held to a standard of personal accountability and responsibility for their personal lives.”
He added, “If that’s true, there are going to be a lot of Republicans who will owe Bill Clinton a great big public apology. We can’t have a set of rules that we apply to Democrats that we don’t apply to ourselves.”
And “if we apply a different set of rules, then we have exposed one of the greatest levels of hypocrisy in the last generation of politics.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It’s not over until it’s over? In the latest round over the proposed coal-fired power complex near Holcomb, the Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit against the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in an attempt to force a formal hearing on Sunflower Electric Corp.’s application for an air permit.
And Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the Colorado partner in the proposed plants, announced Thursday that it was delaying one of the two units it planned to build at the Holcomb site, instead pursuing natural gas and renewable energy.
Are we seeing a shift in momentum on this issue? With more dire news on global warming last week, the political pressure is sure to mount on the Sebelius administration to block the plants or ensure they don’t contribute to greenhouse gases.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Kansas still isn’t ready for a primary seat-belt law. Maybe it never will be. But lawmakers, led by state Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita, at least put some needed teeth in the current seat-belt law this session, giving officers the power to stop and ticket 14- through 17-year-olds who are driving or riding in a car unbelted. After a warnings-only period, a violation could cost a teen $60. The bill also finally stiffens the fine for adults cited for being unbelted in the front seat when the car has been stopped for another violation — to $30 from the current $10. Some will see this as nanny government striking again (and there’s no telling how cops will be able to tell a younger teen from a young adult). But it’s really a case of legislators serving public safety. As Donovan said, “Surely we can save some lives and save Kansas heartache and money.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The idea of creating a United States Department of Peace has been around for more than 200 years. And now, a bill proposing the creation of the Department of Peace and Nonviolence is currently before Congress.
National Public Radio recently reported on a women’s organization in Fairmont, Minn., that proposed a city council resolution to endorse the passage of the bill. But there was a backlash by citizens who feared that a Peace Department would send a message that the United States is weak, along with those who thought that it was an invitation to the United Nations to take over the U.S. government. So the Fairmont city council rescinded its endorsement.
Peace and nonviolence are not synonymous with weakness and cowardice. On the contrary, it takes strength, wisdom and effort to find peaceful solutions in volatile situations. How long will it take our leadership to understand that?
Posted by Patrice Hein
