Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is the favorite among possible 2012 GOP president candidates, according to a new poll of Iowa caucusgoers. Of those surveyed, 22 percent support Huckabee, followed by 18 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 14 percent for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 11 percent for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
President Obama’s vacillating support for the proposed Muslim community center near ground zero may make him appear hapless, but it doesn’t make him wrong, according to Washington Post columnist and former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson. “No president, of any party or ideology, could tell millions of Americans that their sacred building desecrates American holy ground,” Gerson wrote. “. . . It would be an unprecedented act of sectarianism, alienating an entire faith tradition from the American experiment.” Gerson also noted that “a president not only serves Muslim citizens, not only commands Muslims in the American military, but also leads a coalition that includes Iraqi and Afghan Muslims who risk death each day fighting Islamic radicalism at our side. How could he possibly tell them that their place of worship inherently symbolizes the triumph of terror? . . . Those who want a president to assert that any mosque would defile the neighborhood near ground zero are asking him to undermine the war on terrorism.”
It’s great that Wichita has received a $2.3 million federal grant to convert an abandoned railroad corridor into a biking, jogging and walking trail. The 2.5-mile paved trail will extend the I-135 bike path at Murdock northeast to the Wichita State University campus at 17th and Oliver. The new trail, which is expected to be completed by summer 2012, will help make Wichita more bike-friendly, which is important for attracting young adults and promoting wellness. So could another grant application, which the Wichita City Council is scheduled to vote on today, that would add bike lanes to some streets downtown.
