Our editorial today cites some reasons to feel better today than we did 10 years ago, when the slaughter of nearly 3,000 Americans provoked shock, outrage and fear, including: Osama bin Laden can be spoken of in the past tense. The United States is much more secure and prepared. No additional attacks have occurred on U.S. soil. Afghanistan is no longer ruled by the Taliban, Iraq is no longer ruled by Saddam Hussein, and the Arab world is toppling other dictators in a messy pursuit of economic opportunity, human rights, representative government and the rule of law.
“Ever since the elections last fall, the few surviving Democrats in Kansas hardly qualify as speed bumps for conservative legislation,” the New York Times reported, in an article characterizing the court challenges around the country to the year’s GOP-passed legislation relating to abortion and immigration as “the first real efforts to slow the crush of conservative legislation.” Secretary of State Kris Kobach told the Times that as the 2010 GOP wins led to swift passage of long-sought conservative legislation, “liberal groups have been quicker than usual to rush to the courthouse doors.” Conservatives seem to view the court fights over each new law as inevitable. And “I think at some level they don’t care about the judicial response,” said University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson. “If it’s upheld, that’s great for them. If it’s struck, it adds to the critique of the so-called imperial judiciary.”
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., objects to the Federal Aviation Administration ending a program that protected the privacy of general aviation users. The Block Aircraft Registration Request program allows citizens and companies to “opt out” of having their aircraft movements tracked by anyone other than the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies. “I find it troubling that the Obama administration would associate removing the BARR program with the need for greater transparency,” Roberts said last week in a statement. “Transparency has everything to do with citizens being able to see how the government carries out its business, not the other way around.”
“BREAKING: Koch Bros. Acquire Naming Rights to Labor Day; Management Day to Debut in 2012” — Humorist Andy Borowitz, on Twitter
“It’s like pushing your finger on a balloon.” — Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, on the population adjustments involved in redistricting
“Note to self: Never name a program you want enacted ‘Race to Zero.’” — Bernie Koch of the Kansas Economic Progress Council, about the Kansas Policy Institute’s planned campaign to ax the state income tax
