Not only does the mission of the war in Iraq keep changing, so does the definition of progress. It was President Bush who proposed that Congress set benchmarks for measuring progress in Iraq. But now that the Governmental Accountability Office says Iraq is failing to meet most of those benchmarks, Bush wants to change the focus, the New York Times reported.
He is emphasizing the new alliances that U.S. troops have with the tribes and local groups in Iraq, not the failure of the central government to make any political progress. That’s why, the Times reported, Bush didn’t visit Baghdad on a trip to Iraq this week, stopping instead in Anbar province, where Sunni insurgents are now fighting al-Qaida in Iraq.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Maybe Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has been prescient as well as cautious in spending lots of time in Kansas and raising nearly $2 million for his 2008 re-election bid. Former Democratic Rep. Jim Slattery now says he is "taking a look at" challengingRoberts. Slattery told the Kansas City Star’s Prime Buzz blog today: "There’s plenty of time and plenty of things that need to unfold. I’m going to take my time and give some thought to it and make a decision."
Now 59, Slattery represented the 2nd Congressional District for six terms. Should he run, he faces at least four hurdles: He’s not in Kansas anymore, now working as a lawyer and lobbyist in Washington, D.C. His last bid for office ended in the landslide election of Bill Graves as governor in 1994. Roberts’ reputation dimmed nationally during his tenure as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but he remains popular in Kansas, garnering 54 percent approval in the latest SurveyUSA poll. Most daunting of all, the last Democrat Kansas sent to the U.S. Senate was Wichita attorney George McGill, who left office in 1939.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
When Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed an executive order Friday protecting state employees from discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, she noted that she was bringing the state agencies under her authority in line with 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies and more than 30 other states. “I’m sorry it took us so long,” she told the gathered activists. It didn’t take long, though, for some voices in the Legislature to signal disapproval. “I can almost guarantee you that will be a topic of legislative discussion,” said Rep. Arlen Siegfreid, R-Olathe. The governor’s office later said that the order would not entitle same-sex partners of state employees to health insurance or other benefits. Still, mentioning homosexuality in the same breath with “race, color, gender” and “religion, national origin, ancestry, age, military or veteran status or disability status” probably can’t help but invite a fight in a state that passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage two years ago with 70 percent of the vote. But as Sebelius said, “like any successful business, we need to make sure all our employees are treated with dignity and respect, and that the doors of employment are open to all.” Do some lawmakers really want to endorse discrimination and harassment by state agencies?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Government Accountability Office’s report on Iraq is a little rosier than the draft leaked last week. Still, the GAO concluded that Iraq failed to meet 11 of the 18 progress benchmarks set by Congress, including all of the key political benchmarks. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and military commander Gen. David Petraeus likely will cite military progress when they report to Congress next week on the status of the surge. But it’s the lack of political progress in Iraq that has members of Congress and the public questioning the surge’s value and continuation. As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., complained on the Senate floor Tuesday: “We can’t continue to sacrifice American lives, deplete our Treasury and weaken our national security in pursuit of a goal that the Iraqi people themselves show no interest in achieving.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
As usual, conservative columnist George Will cut to the heart of the matter Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week,” this time the GOP’s aghast reaction to Sen. Larry Craig’s arrest: “Double standard? There are triple and quadruple standards. He was arrested for lewd behavior that consisted of signaling an interest in sex. It goes on in 10,000 bars every night in our country. Obviously, this is about homosexuality and the country coming to grips with it and particularly the Republican Party, which has done so well electorally in recent elections by being against gay rights.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
“I’m 60 years old, my wife’s 29. Draw your own conclusions. Diet helps.”
– Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, joking at Lance Armstrong’s Iowa cancer forum about the benefits of being a vegan
Posted by Rhonda Holman
