In the end Monday, the Johnson County grand jury created by anti-abortion activists declined to indict Planned Parenthood and also withdrew its subpoena to obtain additional medical records. What looks like a conclusion really isn’t, though, because Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline’s 107-count criminal complaint against Planned Parenthood is pending, activists can just collect more signatures and force another grand jury, and Kline is not one to take “no†for an answer when it comes to probing abortion clinics. Meanwhile in Wichita, Sedgwick County’s grand jury continues to investigate George Tiller.
Hillary Clinton has made several comments indicating she’s in the Democratic race for the long haul, regardless of the results of today’s Texas and Ohio primaries — though Bill Clinton has said that both primaries are must-wins, and she needs to win both states by huge margins in order to close Barack Obama’s delegate lead. Mark Halperin of Time’s the Page gives 10 reasons why Clinton won’t drop out. No. 10: “Clintons don’t quit –and she really, really, really wants to win.â€
A New York Times article wonders if Oprah Winfrey, a Barack Obama supporter, hasn’t revealed her pick for first woman president in the latest issue of her O magazine. “At a minimum, Oprah seems to have a media crush on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, the lone politician profiled in a feature in O’s pages on the virtues of female intuition and executive know-how,†the Times story goes. Sebelius conveniently lacks Hillary Clinton’s “messy back story.†Plus, “the closest Gov. Sebelius has come to a family sex scandal occurred when her son released a prison-themed board game called ‘Don’t Drop the Soap.’â€
Associated Press recently noted that it’s been two years and more than 140 cases since U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asked a question during the court’s oral arguments. “If I think a question will help me decide a case, then I’ll ask that question,†he said in a C-SPAN interview last fall. “Otherwise, it’s not worth asking because it detracts from my job.†True, some of his colleagues can be chatty to a fault, but isn’t an inquiring mind essential to a justice’s job, and to justice?
They may not change the outcome of the Democratic presidential nomination race, but the end of the Hollywood writers’ strike and the return of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live†certainly have affected primary coverage. Writer James Downey struck a chord with two skits in which debate moderators fall all over “Barack Obama†and hammer “Hillary Clinton†with tough questions and worse (actor Vincent D’Onofrio roughed her up Saturday). The real Clinton even cited the first skit during a debate, then appeared on Saturday’s show. Interestingly, Downey is an “SNL†veteran who also coined the Bushism “strategery†in the 2000 campaign, presciently depicted Walter Mondale plotting victory in Minnesota in 1984 and was once fired for being too rough on O.J. Simpson. If the real Obama disagrees with Downey’s take, the writer told the New York Times, “we have two more shows coming up in the next two weeks. And I’m sure we’d love to give him rebuttal time.â€
What a difference the Diamond W Wranglers have made for Old Cowtown Museum. The beloved group’s long-term booking at the museum will have Wichita City Council members talking at today’s meeting about adding a $4 million, 500- to 600-seat theater to the museum as soon as possible to accommodate the Wranglers’ crowds. The enthusiasm is welcome, both on the part of concertgoers and council members. But especially because Cowtown’s recent history has been so rocky, citizens may see this as a pet project, a want rather than a need. Private donors should at least supplement the cost of building such a venue. The seven-figure investment also demands long-term planning about how the facility might be used on non-Wranglers nights and how it will serve and supplement Cowtown’s mission and bottom line.
