Considerable credit is due to state and local officials, the White House and especially Federal Emergency Management Agency director R. David Paulison (in photo) for the ready, coordinated, professional response to Hurricane Gustav’s assault on the Gulf Coast. It’s no small feat to evacuate 2 million people quickly. That action, as well as the storm’s different path, also helped keep Gustav’s death toll low compared with Katrina’s 1,600 dead three years ago. The effort should rebuild some trust in the willingness and ability of government to help when storms threaten. It’s just a shame that it took the Katrina catastrophe to bring out the best this time.
Can there be any bigger insult to a political party than a key speech by its former vice presidential nominee at the opposing party’s convention? Yet there was ex-Democrat Joe Lieberman Tuesday night in St. Paul, Minn., telling Republicans, “I sincerely believe that the real ticket for change this year is the McCain-Palin ticket.” Lieberman’s affection and admiration for GOP nominee John McCain came through. The question is whether, speaking at such a forum, he got through to his target audience of independents, Reagan Democrats, Clinton Democrats or “plain old” Democrats — many of whom probably were less inspired than infuriated by his remarks.
Sarah Palin has touched off a touchy debate among some women — whether she is putting her career too much before her family, which includes a 4-month-old son with Down syndrome and a 17-year-old pregnant daughter. But the typical roles are reversed, the New York Times reported, with “social conservatives, usually staunch advocates for stay-at-home motherhood, mostly defending her, while some others, including plenty of working mothers, worry that she is taking on too much.”
Should Barack Obama, who has two young daughters, face similar questions?
Will no agency, court or lawmaker stand up for the right of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Arkansas City to make its own business decision about whether to test for mad cow disease? Apparently not, judging from the status of the company’s legal and regulatory fight to try to cater to its customers and guarantee that its product is mad-cow-free. The latest blow came last week in a federal appeals court decision that the Bush administration’s Agriculture Department has the authority to prohibit a meatpacker from testing all its animals for the disease. Now the case goes back to the district level. At some point, the principle of the free market should prevail over the heavy hand of the USDA.
Washburn University political science professor Bob Beatty has quite the crystal ball. He named Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s best pick for running mate back on June 29 in the Topeka Capital-Journal, calling the Delaware senator “smart, safe and savvy.” Then on July 20 he identified Sarah Palin as John McCain’s best bet, saying the Alaska governor had “the greatest potential to dramatically energize the McCain candidacy and send the national media scurrying to tell her story.”
Well done, professor. Now, as the Kansas City Star’s Prime Buzz blog put it: “Any good stock tips?”
The city of Wichita is setting a fine example with its addition of 12 hybrid Honda Civics to its motor pool, especially as the city fights to comply with new federal air-quality rules. Each $22,782 sedan gets about 40 miles per gallon while emitting 75 percent less pollution. As Joe Pajor, assistant director of public works, said at the rollout, “They make sense economically because they will save enough on fuel to pay the additional initial cost of each vehicle. Beyond that, they make great sense environmentally.”
