Radio host Mike Gallagher (in photo) has given the Phelps clan three hours of airtime on his talk show today in exchange for their not picketing the funerals of the Virginia Tech students. He made a similar arrangement to keep the Phelpses from protesting at the Amish schoolchildren’s funerals.
I wouldn’t have made the deal, but here’s why Gallagher says he did it: "I truly feel called, on a spiritual level, to allow my radio show to be a tool that prevents these angry, hateful people the opportunity to hurt grieving families. I fully comprehend the arguments against doing this (’giving in to terrorists,’ ‘allowing them a national platform,’ etc.), but my heart is telling me to do something positive here. If my radio show can prevent a circus atmosphere of protests, counterprotests, police protection and media coverage from taking place in front of churches where grieving families are trying to say goodbye to their loved ones, then I think that’s a good thing."
What do you think?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
After more than seven decades on top, General Motors Corp. is no longer the world’s top-selling automaker. Toyota sold2.35 million cars and trucks in the first quarter of 2007, while GM sold 2.26 vehicles. Besides having relied too much on the SUV market, GM faces retiree pension and health care costs that Toyota doesn’t — so a comeback could be difficult. But Toyota’s biggest competitive advantage and its key to success, BusinessWeek reported, is its "deeply ingrained commitment to manufacturing excellence."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
As expected, a state panel tossed out a dubious ethics complaint against Sedgwick County District Court Judge Paul Clark, saying that it “contained no facts evidencing judicial misconduct.” Also as expected, the anti-abortion group that spearheaded the complaint, Operation Rescue, responded by questioning the integrity of the panel’s investigation and saying that “Kansas’ judiciary has almost become a laughingstock in the rest of the country.”
The group, along with Kansans for Life, is now back to pressuring lawmakers to force Attorney General Paul Morrison to refile misdemeanor charges against Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller that Clark dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. But the last thing politicians should do is to insert themselves into an ongoing criminal investigation.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The Wichita City Council last week deferred until today a decision on allowing Sunday liquor sales. It should approve this ordinance change from the bench and let the free market work seven days a week.
A dozen surrounding communities have approved Sunday sales, so Wichita already has Sunday sales — just not in a way that’s convenient for consumers or that benefits Wichita retailers.
Some local liquor store owners oppose the change, saying they don’t want to work extra hours for an uncertain economic advantage.
But no one is forcing them to open on Sundays. The new ordinance simply allows retailers who do see an economic benefit in Sunday sales to open on that day.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The construction of a three-mile long wall that would have separated a Sunni Arab enclave from surrounding Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad was wisely halted Sunday by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Baghdad shouldn’t become another Berlin or Palestine, if at all possible.
“There are other methods to protect neighborhoods,” Maliki said.
Maliki didn’t like something the United States set in motion, and he stopped it. Could this be a baby step toward independence?
Posted by Ross Stewart
The new campaign trend is for candidates to bare their souls, diseases, past relationships and other intimate details to the public, the New York Times reported recently. In some cases, the purpose is to “come clean” before the media blow things out of proportion. In others, the purpose is to make the candidate seem more like regular folks who have problems.
Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy went to great pains (literally) to conceal their poor health. Now, it seems that health problems and family trauma can earn the candidate sympathy votes.
But instead of debating a candidate’s past pot smoking in college or failed marriage, we should be asking what kind of skills he has to lead us into a peaceful and prosperous future.
Posted by Patrice Hein
