Daily Archives: Dec. 18, 2007

On death penalty, should Kansas follow New Jersey?

Dec. 18, 20074:00 p.m.

Lethal_injection New Jersey hasn’t executed anyone since 1963, though it reinstated the death penalty in 1982. That put it in a similar situation as Kansas, which has yet to use the death penalty it reinstated in 1994. Will Kansas join New Jersey in abolishing its unused death penalty? New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed the bill this week replacing it with a sentence of life without possibility of parole, saying, “There is little collective will or appetite for our community to enforce this law and therefore the law has little deterrence value – that is if you ever accepted that there was deterrent value.”
Each passing year makes the ineffective deterrence argument, along with the one about cost and fairness, ring truer in Kansas, especially with executions largely on hold nationally until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Crime | Comments (84)

Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan . . .

Dec. 18, 20071:13 p.m.

AfghanistanbombWhile the surge is seeing success in Iraq, U.S. military and State Department leaders are worried that past successes in Afghanistan are slipping away. As a result, they have begun top-to-bottom reviews of the entire mission, the New York Times reported. Concerns include a rise in attacks by the Taliban and al-Qaida, a weak and corrupt government, soaring poppy production and inadequate NATO forces.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

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

Who needs a celebrity when you have Bill?

Dec. 18, 20071:10 p.m.

ClintonmagicHillary Clinton brought her own celebrity — Magic Johnson — on the campaign trail today, but it was still Bill Clinton who got the attention. At a stop this morning at a Des Moines grocery store, Bill was mobbed by employees. As for Hillary, the New York Times reported, “there were a couple of times when she stood by herself waiting for her husband to stop chatting up the crowd. Even Mr. Johnson had a moment where he stood alone watching the former president work his magic on the crowd.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (16)

Open thread 12/18

Dec. 18, 20071:04 a.m.

Thread

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (53)

It is not un-Republican to criticize foreign policy

Dec. 18, 20071:03 a.m.

HuckabeemugMitt Romney suggested that fellow GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was un-Republican in criticizing President Bush’s foreign policy. But Huckabee merely stated what is obvious to a large majority of Americans — the Bush administration’s foreign policy has had serious problems. In an article in Foreign Affairs magazine, Huckabee wrote: “American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out. The Bush administration’s arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad.”
Huckabee said that his article wasn’t intended as a slam but was “an evaluation of how we can improve.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

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

I saw Morrison kissing . . .

Dec. 18, 20071:02 a.m.

4morrison_video_lipsEvents overtook the release of our latest satirical video. We posted a silly “I Saw Morrison Kissing. . .” video on YouTube and The Eagle’s Web site Friday morning. But shortly thereafter we learned that Attorney General Paul Morrison would likely resign Friday afternoon. We took the video off our Web site, because we thought the timing was bad. But it’s still up on YouTube, and we included the lyrics in our satirical Christmas carols in Sunday’s paper.
One WE blogger said yesterday that printing the carol and this photo was a journalistic low point. What do the rest of you think? I’m sympathetic to concerns about Morrison’s family, but I also think that Morrison is to blame for the fallout from his affair. Should no one have made fun of Bill Clinton or Larry Craig because of their families?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (71)

Cowtown should have better new year

Dec. 18, 20071:01 a.m.

CowtownToday’s agenda for the Wichita City Council includes consideration of a 2008 operating agreement for Old Cowtown Museum. It represents the city’s essential next step in assuming daily operation of and responsibility for the living history museum, which will remain a nonprofit organization with its own fundraising, collection management and board. Along with the Diamond W Wranglers’ dinner shows and the hiring early next year of a new director, the operating agreement should set the attraction on a stable new path. Having also agreed to invest nearly $3 million over three years to raise Cowtown’s health and safety standards, city leaders are doing their part to signal the high value they place on Cowtown as a cultural asset. The rest of the community will need to help ensure that Cowtown has a prosperous new year.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Cowtown | Comments (11)