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Monthly Archives: June 2007
‘Sicko’ offers glimpse of alternatives
June 30, 20071:01 a.m.
Clarence Page wrote a column in Friday’s Eagle applauding Michael Moore’s “Sicko” movie, which is now in theaters. “Moore offers a glimpse of something that most Americans never see: how easily anyone — including visitors — can access good public health care in Canada and Europe, and how satisfied those country’s citizens are with their systems.” Critics are responding by pointing out problems with those health systems. “But they don’t like to talk about the long lines, waiting lists, rising costs or rationed care that Americans face in our existing system,” Page said.
Bald eagle an environmental success story
June 30, 20071:00 a.m.
The bald eagle was taken off the endangered species list Thursday, the happy conclusion to four decades of conservation effort.
In 1963, the bald eagle — its numbers decimated by the pesticide DDT and other factors — was on the verge of extinction in the lower 48 states, with only 417 mating pairs. Today, there are nearly 10,000 mating pairs, and officials are confident the thriving eagle population has reached a healthy level of sustainability.
This success story made possible by the Endangered Species Act and other environmental protection laws.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Brownback voted for immigration bill before voting against it
June 29, 200712:15 p.m.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., contends that his voting for the immigration bill Thursday and then, about 10 minutes later, voting against it wasn’t a flip-flop. "I wanted to signal that I support comprehensive immigration reform, but now is not the time, this is not the bill," Brownback said. But conservative critics aren’t buying it. A new YouTube video titled "Sen. Switchback" ends with the slogan: "Sam Brownback. Leadership only John Kerry could love."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Next generation leaning left
June 29, 20071:04 a.m.
So much for what the old folks think. A new poll of 17- to 29-year-olds foreshadows an America with government-run health care, legalized gay relationships and legal possession of small amounts of marijuana, with 62 percent supporting the first, 68 percent the second (44 percent gay marriage, 24 percent gay civil unions) and 58 percent the third. More immediately, 54 percent in this younger generation said they plan to vote for the Democrat for president next year. But who knows — maybe these youngsters will mature into Republicans, as so many of their boomer parents did.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Optimistic about downtown baseball
June 29, 20071:02 a.m.
Even with the Wichita Wranglers’ days numbered, the gloom about the future of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium is lifting. Representatives of three independent baseball leagues have reacted positively to the facility and community, as city officials court a new team for the stadium and manager for the National Baseball Congress World Series in advance of a July 13 proposal deadline. It sounds like Wichita could fit easily into the 10-team American Association, the eight-team Northern League or the six-team United League. But Eagle columnist Bob Lutz may be right that the American Association is the best fit of all, given the involvement of Wichita Thunder hockey team owner Horn Chen and general manager Chris Presson. And the city is rightly looking out for the future of the NBC series. City Council member Paul Gray, who has met with the interested league officials in the past, is now on the sidelines as part of the proposal process. But Gray told The Eagle editorial board he’s optimistic about the prospects: “I think people are going to be very pleased with what happens.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Phelps will not be endorsing Thompson
June 29, 20071:00 a.m.
GOP presidential hopeful Fred Thompson’s past connection with Margie Phelps (in photo) of the protesting Phelps clan isn’t a slight against Thompson. But it does show that it can be a small, strange world.
Phelps represented Marcia Tomson Stingley, who in the 1980s sued and reached a settlement with then-Attorney General Bob Stephan for sexual harassment, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. After Stingley claimed that Stephan violated the nondisclosure terms of the settlement, she sued Stephan for breach of contract.
Because Phelps was needed to be a witness in that case, Stingley needed a new attorney. Phelps chose Thompson, who accepted and won the case.
Thompson had no knowledge of Phelps’ beliefs, his spokesman said. Phelps said the case occurred before her family began its “public ministry.”
For her part, Phelps was impressed with Thompson’s trial attorney skills. Nonetheless, she won’t vote for him if he becomes the GOP nominee, she told the Journal-World. “I don’t see a single person on the landscape that I would remotely consider voting for,” she said.
That’s good to hear.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Morrison filing charges but not ones Kline wanted
June 28, 20071:08 p.m.
Attorney General Paul Morrison announced today that he will file 19 misdemeanor charges against Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller. But they aren’t the charges that former Attorney General Phill Kline had tried to file, Associated Press reported. Morrison said that Tiller had a "technical violation" of state law by not relying on a financially and legally independent doctor in getting a second opinion on some late-term abortions. Morrison said he uncovered these violations during his office’s investigation of the case, and he said that the charges Kline had sought were "incorrect and based on a political agenda."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Wichita busing policy also needs to change
June 28, 20071:05 p.m.
If the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulingtoday on school busing doesn’t compel the Wichita school district change its policy, it should at least motivate the district to end forced busing. The high court ruled that the Louisville and Seattle school districts were improperly using race to determine where a student could go to school. Wichita’s busing policy, which applies only to African-American and white students, is outdated and unfair and also deserves to end.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Giuliani now willing to blame Clinton
June 28, 20071:04 a.m.
Rudy Giuliani Wednesday blamed former President Bill Clinton for failing to respond forcefully enough to terrorism after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
What a difference a presidential campaign makes.
Just last September, the former New York City mayor defended Clinton’s record amid debate over whether Clinton or Bush did enough to stop the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don’t think he deserves it,” Giuliani said at the time.
The mayor no doubt would like to shift attention to someone else, considering recent scrutiny of his own spotty anti-terror record. He faces charges that he failed to equip New York firefighters at ground zero with adequate respirators despite repeated EPA directives to do so; and he reportedly dropped out of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to focus on paid speaking engagements.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Brownback immigration vote on Tuesday not a promise
June 28, 20071:02 a.m.
Sam Brownback, whose past support for comprehensive immigration reform does not go over well among many potential GOP presidential voters, was seen as a surprise “yes” vote Tuesday on the Senate procedural vote on immigration. His campaign office’s clarification, in part: Brownback “voted to bring the bill back to the floor for debate and for amendments to be offered. This does NOT mean that Senator Brownback supports the immigration bill itself — he feels the bill needs to be improved.”
That certainly sounds like the makings of a “no” on today’s test vote.
Meanwhile, on the issue of the senator’s 81 missed votes this year, a Brownback spokesman told Associated Press: “He would try his best to come back for any vote where he was absolutely needed for the outcome.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Vice President Fred?
June 28, 20071:01 a.m.
In a Washington Post commentary, Sally Quinn paints a scenario in which Republicans take advantage of Vice President Dick Cheney’s problems by pushing him to retire now and installing an heir for 2008. She suggests Fred Thompson and writes, “Cheney is scheduled this summer for surgery to replace his pacemaker, which needs new batteries. So if the president is willing, and Republicans are able, they have a convenient reason to replace him: doctor’s orders.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Kline competence on trial
June 27, 20073:40 p.m.
If there was any doubt that Attorney General Paul Morrison thinks former Attorney General Phill Kline is a terrible prosecutor, there shouldn’t be anymore. In announcing today Morrison’s decision not to refile 15 of the 30 misdemeanor charges that Kline tried to file against Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller, Morrison’s spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett blasted Kline for being reckless and incompetent.
She said Kline’s treatment of records was "irresponsible and careless," that the 15 charges were "completely without merit," and that four miscopied forms were submitted as evidence. "It is hard to imagine a competent attorney making that same mistake four times," she said.
Even more serious, Anstaett charged Kline with withholding evidence that showed Tiller wasn’t guilty of these charges. "It is unethical to omit exculpatory evidence from an affidavit being considered by a judge," she said.
Kline said that this depiction is false and that it sounded like Morrison worked for Tiller’s defense firm. But it fits the view most voters held in the past election — that Kline had more ideological zeal than prosecutorial know-how and sound legal judgment.
By waiting until the end of this week to announce his decision on the other 15 charges, Morrison raised speculation that he may, in fact, refile some of those charges. Whatever he decides, the decision needs to be based on the law and not on pro-life or pro-choice pressure.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Will White House listen to Lugar?
June 27, 20071:48 p.m.
It’s long been suggested that the endgame in the Iraq war will start when a senior Republican senator turns on the White House. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., made an important speech Monday night that fit the bill. The highest ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said, in part: "American strategy must adjust to the reality that sectarian factionalism will not abate anytime soon and probably cannot be controlled from the top." Trying to coax his president and his colleagues to change the nature of the debate away from surge vs. withdrawal, Lugar concluded: "We need to move Iraq policy beyond the politics of the moment and re-establish a broad consensus on the role of the United States in the Middle East." Will anybody listen?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Bush will miss Blair support
June 27, 20071:45 p.m.
Tony Blair is outof 10 Downing Street but hardly out of mind and headlines, given his tough new job as Mideast envoy. After a tumultuous decade in power, it will take some time to adjust to the idea of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, especially given his charisma deficit. Blair’s legacy has been tarnished by his support for the Iraq war, which was unfaltering to the end. He said he was "truly sorry about the dangers" troops are facing in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I know some may think that they face these dangers in vain; I don’t and I never will. I believe they are fighting for the security of this country and the wider world against people who would destroy our way of life." Not only is President Bush going to miss Blair having his back in the wars, he’s also going to miss Blair’s articulate defense of Bush’s war-making.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
What really happened in Kansas
June 27, 20071:04 a.m.
“The progressive backlash in my old home state is complete. The right wing not only has lost control of Kansas, they’ve been virtually thrown out of the state and soundly defeated in other parts of the country as well. As we enter what promises to be the longest campaign season in American history, let’s hope the candidates are paying attention to what really happened in Kansas.” — Martha Burk, money editor for Ms. magazine, bane of all-male Augusta National golf club, and former president of Wichita NOW, in a Ms. feature advising political strategists to take note of last year’s political shift in Kansas.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Slow-going on getting Sedgwick County to recycle
June 27, 20071:02 a.m.
The Sedgwick County Commission likely will decide today to continue to charge residents solid waste fees via their property tax bills (something characterized as a transition trash tax when it debuted in 2000, by the way). At least the fees are not scheduled to rise next year, starting at $3.65 per residency. That’s somewhat surprising given that the fee funds the county’s hazardous waste facility, which has seen huge growth in the amount of waste collected.
Some also will recall that the fee was sold in part as a way to promote recycling. And how’s that going? Since 2000, the county reports, daily municipal solid waste disposal has decreased only from 6.97 pounds per person to 5.32 pounds per person last year. Not exactly a smashing success.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Bush enduring name-calling from the right, too
June 27, 20071:01 a.m.
Here’s how a harsh leading light of the right turned on President Bush this week: “We’re all just waiting for this nincompoop to be gone. I think we’re all finally on the same page on that.” Even so, speaking on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Ann Coulter also did have appreciative words for Bush’s handling of the war.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Top executives opposing Sedgwick County casino
June 27, 20071:00 a.m.
Some top Wichita business leaders are coming out against a casino in Sedgwick County. In the past week, Cessna Aircraft chairman emeritus Russ Meyer, Intrust Bank president Charlie Chandler IV and developer Jack DeBoer have told The Eagle editorial board that they strongly oppose a casino. All three think that a casino would be bad for the local economy, and they are concerned about social costs. Chandler likened a casino to a cancer that the state is trying to force on our community.
So why do opinion polls show that the public overwhelmingly wants a local casino? DeBoer thinks residents have been apathetic and “don’t understand what this is about.”
Would it be better if the casino was next door in Sumner County? All three said yes, though they had doubts a casino would ever be built there.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
No surprises here: Cheney did it his way
June 26, 20071:14 p.m.
The Washington Post’s series on Vice President Dick Cheney tells us a lot we already suspected about the most powerful and secretive vice president in history.
He likes things his way.
But it’s galling nonetheless to read how Cheney rams through his views and undermines an open, give-and-take process of White House decision making.
Here’s Cheney in 1999, talking to a group of historians: "The process of moving paper in and out of the Oval Office, who gets involved in the meetings, who does the president listen to, who gets a chance to talk to him before he makes a decision, is absolutely critical. It has to be managed in such a way that it has integrity."
In practice, Cheney’s process on advising the president on crucial decisions such as redefining torture was to cut out of the loop Cabinet members and officials who might offer opposing views, whether former Secretary of State Colin Powell or former Attorney General John Ashcroft.
They were furious and dumbfounded to discover Cheney had sandbagged them.
Cheney never walked his talk on integrity. What’s really dangerous about him, though, is that he simply doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The surge coming up short
June 26, 20071:10 p.m.
As critics feared, the U.S. military’s "surge" — now at full force — involves far too few troops to make a real difference. We still don’t have enough troops to do the job — that is, not only to clear insurgent areas in Baghdad and elsewhere but also hold them.
Two U.S. generals confirmed that analysis this past weekend, saying Iraqi forces were too weak to hold onto gains secured by U.S. operations. "There’s got to be more Iraqi security forces," Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said.
After several years of training, where are they?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
