“As we honor those veterans who contributed to the success of the assault, I am reminded that D-Day was also a defining moment for one of Kansas’ favorite sons, Dwight D. Eisenhower,” wrote Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, about the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Moran noted how Ike prepared a message to be used if the invasion failed in which he blamed himself alone. When D-Day succeeded and Eisenhower was honored by the citizens of London, he stated, “Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.” Moran wrote: “That was Eisenhower’s brand of leadership: responsibility in the face of failure and humility in the glory of success.”
Kansas lawmakers are right to be concerned about the rising costs of the seemingly endless Statehouse renovation. But is it really necessary to hire an outside company to do an audit of the project, a step to be considered this summer? Can’t somebody on the state payroll crunch the numbers? Worse, the company pitching the audit idea is based in Missouri. This is the kind of thing that drives taxpayers wild.
From the cries of concern in Wichita and around the state, it’s clear that lawmakers didn’t understand the potential impact of a recent decision to save money by capping tax breaks for historic renewal projects. And now it’s hard to trust that they know what they’re doing by waiting until January to address the problem. “It’s important to take our time and get it right,” said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, as the Senate declined to attempt a fix at last week’s “sine die” session. Times are tough, of course, but it will be tragic if the change proves to be the undoing, for example, of the Broadview’s renovation as a Drury Plaza Hotel or of other reinventions of historic properties in downtown Wichita.
In today’s Opinion pages, we have some excerpts of newspaper editorials from around the nation about the murder of George Tiller. To read the full editorials: USA Today, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, New York Times, Boston Globe. Here are links to more editorials: Kansas City Star, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sarasota Herald Tribune, Washington Times, Tulsa World, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
“He shook us by the neck, turned us around. We call it the Wefald Revolution.” — Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., a Kansas State University alum, on retiring KSU president Jon Wefald
“Raise your hands if you are naked underneath that robe. I guess the chairman of the Board of Regents and I are the only ones.” — Retiring University of Kansas chancellor Robert Hemenway, in 2005, in one of many memorable commencement lines (one year he sang and last month he told graduates that on Twitter he’s known as “Bob-is-the-bomb-41”)
“I’m taking the heat. I’m the governor.” — Gov. Mark Parkinson, on the job of rebalancing the state budget after May’s $103 million revenue shortfall
