In his address today to the VFW convention in Kansas City, Mo., President Bush stressed a historical analogy between Iraq and Vietnam — something he’s avoided in the past. "One unmistakable legacy of Vietnam," Bush said, "is that the price of America’s withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like ‘boat people,’ ‘re-education camps’ and ‘killing fields.’"
But historian Stanley Karnow called Bush’s comparison misleading. "Vietnam was not a bunch of sectarian groups fighting each other," Karnow said, adding, "Does he think we should have stayed in Vietnam?"
Posted by Randy Scholfield
In his VFW speech in Kansas City, Mo., Barack Obama restated his opposition to the war in Iraq, emphasizing the lack of a military solution to the conflict and the need to redeploy troops in the war on terror.
While his message wasn’t embraced by the group, many in the audience gave Obama high marks for courage in speaking his mind and not tailoring his message to his audience. (Hillary Clinton, by contrast, reportedly played down withdrawal in her remarks to the group the day before.)
Obama opened another front in foreign policy with Clinton with his proposal to ease travel restrictions to Cuba — restrictions that Clinton supports.
He’s countering charges of inexperience in foreign affairs by highlighting real differences in approach between himself and Clinton, betting that voters want change in America’s role abroad.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens seems a safer choice to oversee the case against abortion provider George Tiller. Owens, a former two-term Sedgwick County district attorney and a Republican up for re-election next year, was assigned the job Tuesday by Chief Judge Michael Corrigan, after Judge Anthony Powell recused himself over past statements he’d made critical of Tiller.
A veteran of many high-profile criminal trials, Owens has never drawn an opponent since his appointment to the bench in late 1990 by then-Gov. Mike Hayden — one measure of his job performance, at least as judged by the legal community.
Like all Republicans, though, Owens has taken a position on abortion in his long political life. A former county Republican chairman, he was quoted in The Eagle two decades ago as saying “my personal beliefs are pro-life” and that “it’s time for the state to regulate third-trimester abortions.” Tiller is accused of violating just such regulations, in his case by allegedly being financially tied to a doctor who signed off on late-term abortions at his clinic.
Maybe it’s too much to wish for a judge without an abortion-related paper trail, just as it’s too much to wish Sedgwick County did not seat its judges via partisan campaigns and elections.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The new railroad overpass corridor downtown offers a huge canvas for graffiti artists. The city of Wichita is considering spending $500,000 to apply a coat of easy-wash paint, but some think large public murals might better discourage tagging — graffiti vandals, they say, usually respect artwork.
City Council members should explore whether community-friendly murals might be a cheaper and more interesting alternative that would also further public art goals.
At any rate, why are these concerns only being raised now? It seems art and design elements for the high-visibility corridor should have been built into the project early on, not tacked on as afterthoughts.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Election Day is still 15 months away, but wanna-be presidents already have a rich variety of gaffes to their discredit. Unfortunately for them, many misspoken words can be heard forever, courtesy of YouTube. Among the highlights so far, via Associated Press: Barack Obama’s statement about the Greensburg tornado, that “10,000 people died — an entire town destroyed.” The death toll was 10.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
