Instead of asking Hillary Clinton to be vice president, Barack Obama should promise to appoint her to the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote James Andrew Miller. “If Obama were to promise Clinton the first court vacancy, her supporters would actually have a stronger incentive to support him for president than they would if she were going to be vice president,” he wrote. “Given the Supreme Court’s delicate liberal-conservative balance, she would play a major role in charting the country’s future; there is no guarantee that a Clinton vice presidency would achieve such importance.” But how is Clinton qualified to be a high court justice? And wouldn’t a promise to appoint her be just as motivating to the GOP base?
“I guess President Bush must think Defense Secretary Robert Gates is an appeaser of terrorists. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, too. And U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker,” wrote columnist Trudy Rubin. She noted that all three support having direct talks with Iran, as Barack Obama does. “What makes the president’s remarks even more hypocritical is the abject failure of his own Iran policy,” she wrote. “No one has strengthened Iran’s hand more in the Mideast region than George W. Bush.”
Rubin argued that John McCain is hypocritical, too. “There is no way Iraq can be stabilized and U.S. troops withdrawn safely without the cooperation of Tehran,” she wrote. “McCain is fooling himself and the public if he thinks he can avoid the issue of talks.”
FYI: In case you haven’t seen it, here is the video of “Hardball” host Chris Matthews trying to get talk-radio host Kevin James to explain what former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain did wrong.
Another embarrassing anti-evolution takeover of the Kansas State Board of Education could happen if voters don’t pay attention and if good candidates don’t step forward. Three mainstream science board members are not seeking re-election, including Wichita representative Carol Rupe (in photo). That gives social conservatives a good shot in November at retaking control of the board and once again weakening the state’s science standards. To prevent that, Kansans need quality candidates who understand the importance of basing science standards on mainstream science, not personal religious views.
The Kansas Legislature won’t try to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ third veto of a bill to expand a coal-fired power plant, House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, announced Wednesday. But the coal-plant debate isn’t over and may return next session. “I think it’s important enough we need to continue working on energy policy and a solution for this issue,†said Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton. “It won’t go away.â€
Include FBI agents among those who objected to the interrogation techniques used on detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Agents repeatedly complained that the techniques might violate the law and jeopardize future criminal trials, according to an exhaustive report released Tuesday by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine. But those protests didn’t appear to trigger any response from the National Security Council, which includes President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Instead of asking Hillary Clinton to be vice president, Barack Obama should promise to appoint her to the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote James Andrew Miller. “If Obama were to promise Clinton the first court vacancy, her supporters would actually have a stronger incentive to support him for president than they would if she were going to be vice president,” he wrote. “Given the Supreme Court’s delicate liberal-conservative balance, she would play a major role in charting the country’s future; there is no guarantee that a Clinton vice presidency would achieve such importance.” But how is Clinton qualified to be a high court justice? And wouldn’t a promise to appoint her be just as motivating to the GOP base?
