Daily Archives: Nov. 16, 2007

Clinton held her own against the boys

Nov. 16, 200712:54 p.m.

ClintondebateboysIn Thursday night’s debate in Nevada, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton held her own after a few weeks of unsteadiness. She shot back at John Edwards and Barack Obama, accusing the former of “throwing mud,” and nimbly answered questions about immigration and other issues that tripped her up last time. And she managed to both deflect the issue of gender and use it to her advantage, getting off one of the best lines of the night: “People are not attacking me because I’m a woman. They’re attacking me because I’m ahead,” she said, while lumping the others together as a pack of “boys.”
Obama reportedly has been hot in recent campaign appearances, but she’s still the one to beat in debates.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (18)

Record number of Kansas soldiers killed in Iraq

Nov. 16, 200712:52 p.m.

Iraqsoldiers2Sgt. Christopher Kruse of Emporia was killed by a roadside bomb Tuesday. He was the 12th Kansan to die in the Iraq war in 2007, the most so far in a year since the war began, Associated Press reported. Condolences to the families on the loss of these brave soldiers.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Iraq | Comments (18)

Tancredo tries to scare people into voting for him

Nov. 16, 200712:50 p.m.

TancredoRep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., must be desperate to attract attention to his presidential campaign. He is now running a TV ad in Iowa linking illegal immigration — the only issue he is known for — with terrorism. The ad includes a picture of a bloodied child from a terrorist act in Europe, Associated Press reported. “There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs,” the narrator says. “Islamic terrorists now freely roam U.S. soil, jihadists who froth with hate, here to do as they have in London, Spain, Russia. The price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Immigration, Presidential race | Comments (148)

Open thread 11/16

Nov. 16, 20071:05 a.m.

Thread

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (101)

Romney and Obama still have a chance

Nov. 16, 20071:04 a.m.

Romneymitt Don’t coronate Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton just yet, writes columnist George Will. They may have big leads in national polls, but Mitt Romney and Barack Obama still have a chance, Will argues, because of their likely success in Iowa and New Hampshire. Victories in those states could validate them to voters in other states and help close the gap with the front-runners.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (21)

A parting thought for downtown

Nov. 16, 20071:03 a.m.

Orpheum In his last official day in the office Thursday, departing Wichita Downtown Development Corp. president Ed Wolverton — a fount of creative revitalization ideas during his tenure here — revealed one of his biggest dreams for downtown: Build a new performing arts complex on the Orpheum Theatre block.
Wolverton argues the city should finish refurbishing the Orpheum (in photo, 1,300 seats), use the seriously underused and gorgeous Scottish Rite Temple theater next door (500 seats), and build a new 2,000-seat performing arts center to the north of those buildings. A parking deck could be built across the street, on the surface lot east of Topeka.
It would be a great fit for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Music Theatre of Wichita and other tenants of Century II, and possibly avoid having to expand the Expo Hall to the east, as some have suggested.
“The Orpheum is such a jewel,” Wolverton said. Why not use it as the focus of a new performing arts complex?
It’s an intriguing idea.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Wichita events | Comments (27)

Mike Farmer made a difference

Nov. 16, 20071:02 a.m.

Farmermike As a Republican state legislator representing southeast Wichita, Mike Farmer knew how to work well with others, and work the legislative process, without compromising his conservative Christian principles. He was as thoughtful and quietly effective as they come during his seven years at the Statehouse, successfully pushing for a 1998 modification of the state’s death penalty law giving judges discretion to favor a tough prison sentence instead. Farmer left the Kansas House in 2000 to become executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference. His death last week from leukemia, at age 59, leaves us saddened for his family and grateful for the contributions he made to his community and state.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (17)

Another big campaign for United Way

Nov. 16, 20071:01 a.m.

Unitedway Congratulations and gratitude are due the community for stepping up to surpass the United Way of the Plains’ fall fundraising goal of $16.2 million. The record $16.35 million in pledges will help sustain the more than 90 nonprofit organizations funded by United Way, and touch thousands of lives in and around Wichita. The 2007 campaign tally also stands as the latest indication that the local economy has weathered the post-Sept. 11 gloom and is growing again.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Wichita events | Comments (6)

Dubious, bogus and utterly phony headlines

Nov. 16, 20071:00 a.m.

Spoofslogo The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
HILLARY REFUSES TO ANSWER PAPER-OR-PLASTIC QUESTION; Calls Cashier’s Query ‘Hypothetical’
PAT ROBERTSON SAYS GIULIANI PRESIDENCY APPEARS IN BOOK OF REVELATION; Rudy Would Usher in Biblical ‘End Days,’ Evangelist Says
BUSH GIVES MUSHARRAF TIPS ON ELIMINATING DEMOCRACY; ‘Benefit From My Experience,’ President Tells Pakistani
SATAN REFUSES TO TAKE SIDES IN REGAN-MURDOCH LAWSUIT; Prince of Darkness ‘Caught in the Middle’ of Longtime Associates
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Spoof headlines | Comments (6)