Advocates of gay rights (and presumably abortion rights) are upset about President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation on Inauguration Day. But Warren, leader of Southern California’s Saddleback Church, is a widely known and respected figure in American faith, perhaps the Billy Graham of the times. With the pick, Obama clearly is trying to reach out to all Americans. Restating today that he is a “fierce advocate for equality” for gays and lesbians, Obama said that America needs to “come together,” despite disagreement on social issues. And didn’t the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy demonstrate the folly of trying to pin the entirety of a pastor’s beliefs on a candidate by association?
People cost money. The state needs money. Why not trim the size of the Legislature? That’s what state Sen. Chris Steineger, D-Kansas City, is proposing. He’d like a 90-member House and 30-member Senate, down 35 and 10 members, respectively, from the status quo. The last lean time he made the proposal, he said, “There was only one group that didn’t like it, and that was my colleagues.” Topeka Capital-Journal columnist Ric Anderson noted that the cost savings wouldn’t amount to much: But “it’s worth a look. Who knows? Maybe it could be the start of even bigger and better things, like having the Legislature meet once every other year.”
Term limits seem redundant, because that’s what voters are for. Still, credit is due to those elected officials who keep their own promises to serve a certain length of time and no more. That’s what Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., is doing in giving up his seat in 2010. He plans to formally announce today that he won’t seek a third term and be publicly thanked for keeping his two-term pledge by Philip Blumel, president of U.S. Term Limits. Brownback is expected to run in 2010 for governor, where the two-term limit comes with the job.
The criminal investigation of former Attorney General Paul Morrison (in photo) is now over, along with his once-shining career in public service. His conduct during an extramarital affair with an employee did not involve criminal wrongdoing, as Johnson County special prosecutors concluded Wednesday. But it was unprofessional, irresponsible, reckless and beyond dumb, which is why Morrison needed to step down late last year. Now, with his political opponent, former Attorney General Phill Kline, also in his last few weeks of public office in the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office, and appointed Attorney General Steve Six doing such a solid job, all the drama in the office of Kansas’ top cop seems to be over at last.
This, by the way, was Kline’s statement, in full, regarding the decision of special prosecutors Robert Arnold III and Timothy Keck: “I am pleased the investigation is completed and have full faith in the integrity of the investigation and decision of Mr. Keck and Mr. Arnold to decline the filing of charges.”
“President Bush took a surprise trip to Baghdad over the weekend and at a press conference with the Iraqi premier, a reporter threw his shoes at him. This guy was so angry and so anti-Bush, at first people just assumed he was an American journalist, but no.” – Jay Leno
“You see what he did to keep from being hit? Something he’s never done before. Lean to the left.” – Leno
“I don’t think Bush really has dodged anything like that since the Vietnam War.” – David Letterman
“The man who threw his shoes at President Bush is being hailed as a hero in Iraq. Yeah. In fact, when he dies, he’ll be greeted in heaven by 72 podiatrists.” – Conan O’Brien
Advocates of gay rights (and presumably abortion rights) are upset about President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation on Inauguration Day. But Warren, leader of Southern California’s Saddleback Church, is a widely known and respected figure in American faith, perhaps the Billy Graham of the times. With the pick, Obama clearly is trying to reach out to all Americans. Restating today that he is a “fierce advocate for equality” for gays and lesbians, Obama said that America needs to “come together,” despite disagreement on social issues. And didn’t the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy demonstrate the folly of trying to pin the entirety of a pastor’s beliefs on a candidate by association?
