The guest list on Don Imus’ new talk show today on WABC-AM spoke to how many friends the shock jock still has, including presidential candidates Chris Dodd and John McCain, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and political odd couple James Carville and Mary Matalin. Imus’ addition of African-American comedians Karith Foster and Tony Powell to the cast serves his contention that being fired for his comments about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team was a “life-changing experience.†But for listeners who felt his absence since April — and especially his ability to get newsmakers to speak candidly — the question is: Can Imus be both funny and politically correct?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (in photo) has taken his country sharply to the left during his socialist tenure, with the clear aim of emulating Fidel Castro of Cuba. But Venezuelan voters Sunday denied the blustery leader’s bid to continue power indefinitely, rejecting constitutional changes that would have ended presidential term limits and made other sweeping power grabs. The results must have surprised Chavez, who has never lost an election.
“Venezuelan democracy is maturing,†the humbled leader said.
That’s good news for the United States.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is forbidden by the constitution from running for a third term, but he seems to have engineered a parliamentary victory for his party that could allow him to remain as the country’s de facto leader.
European observers said the election was neither free nor fair — proving again that elections alone don’t make a democracy.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
With the SCHIP issue still smoking, some are tying the insufficient care of uninsured children to the growing academic gap between minority students and their peers.
Uninsured students deal with the added barrier of health concerns such as asthma and colds that are easily taken care for the insured child. Many times, contends Richard Rothstein of the Los Angeles Times, these sicknesses will keep the student out of school, knocking him off course academically.
“Will good teachers get the same average achievement from the frequently absent that they get from healthier students? Certainly not,†Rothstein wrote.
Posted by Kristin Mehler
State law says that you can’t get a teacher license if you’ve been convicted of a crime that can’t be expunged. That’s is a reasonable policy except that lawmakers — apparently not realizing the impact on licensing — added to the list of crimes that can’t be expunged convictions or diversion agreements for driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. As a result, a person who would be an excellent, badly needed teacher wouldn’t be able to get a license if he had a single DUI in his past. That’s dumb, and lawmakers need to fix it.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Bad news for anybody hoping the dispute between Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and GOP legislators about the coal-fired power plants would blow over quickly: “I think we will deal with it the entire session,†state Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, told the Lawrence Journal-World. She is concerned “that it is going to be an east Kansas versus west Kansas thing. The people who are supporting these plants are very passionate, and they can demonstrate the need.â€
The Legislature reportedly might respond to the decision of Sebelius’ Kansas Department of Health and Environment to reject the proposed plants by abolishing the agency or taking away its authority to issue permits, making that a legislative power.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
