Daily Archives: July 16, 2007

Will chamber next book heckuva-job Michael Brown?

July 16, 20071:03 p.m.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is speaking at the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce’s annual community meeting in December? Say it isn’t so.
Chamber marketing director Ryan Entz said that Rumsfeld’s remarks should be "pretty insightful" because he has "been such a large part of such . . . big-time world events." Well, yes, Rumsfeld has played a big role in history — by making Iraq an epic mess.
It’s clear to nearly everyone — including most who think the United States was correct to invade Iraq — that the prosecution of the war in Iraq has been disastrous. And much of that blame falls on Rumsfeld, who didn’t deploy enough troops to secure the country and then arrogantly refused to change course.
If the chamber wants to bring in other people who botched up, maybe next year it can book former FEMA director Michael Brown. Or, closer to home, how about former Westar CEO David Wittig?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Wichita events | Comments (42)

Bin Laden recommends martyrdom to others

July 16, 20071:00 p.m.

On a newly released videotape, a tired-looking Osama bin Laden reportedly praises martyrdom. Interesting how he considers it so glorious to die in the name of jihad, and says even the Prophet Muhammad "had been wishing to be a martyr," yet bin Laden is content to leave the suicide bombing to others.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Terrorism | Comments (76)

Open thread 7/16

July 16, 20071:05 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (182)

No perfect men among GOP candidates

July 16, 20071:03 a.m.

“If a voter is looking for Jesus on the Republican ticket, they’re not going to find him. There was only one perfect man, and all others have fallen short. They should look at how a candidate dealt with his moral failures.” — Gary Bauer, former Reagan staffer and 2000 GOP presidential candidate, reflecting on the revelation that Sen. David Vitter (in photo), R-La., was a client of the “D.C. Madam.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (55)

What diversity meant to Nixon

July 16, 20071:01 a.m.

Newly released tapes and documents shed more light on President Nixon’s easy bigotry. He talked about bringing in a “house Jew” to “handle the bicentennial and all that nonsense.” When weighing whether to choose an Italian or African-American to be U.N. ambassador, Nixon said, “We don’t owe the blacks a damn thing, anyway.” Nice.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under American life | Comments (56)

Congressional seats may hold at four after 2010

July 16, 20071:01 a.m.

Many Kansans fret that the state will drop another congressional seat when the 2010 U.S. Census numbers come in, as it did after the 1990 census. But Tim Storey, a senior fellow at the National Conference of State Legislatures, thinks Kansas’ four seats are safe for now. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot of concern at this point that Kansas would lose a seat,” Storey told the Harris News Service. Still, state leaders must be aggressive about pursuing economic growth, because Kansas’ increasing population growth — 2.8 percent since 2000, for a total 2.76 million — falls short of states such as Arizona and Nevada. As Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, said, “The trend is against us.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas delegation | Comments (21)