News opinion 2008-08-01 Andanh.com

Primary Election — It adds up Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:34:00 EST
If voter registration numbers are any indication, and they generally are, some of the races on Tuesday's primary election ballot have captured the attention of Shawnee County residents.

Thumbs up — Recycling Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:35:00 EST
Recycling is becoming a habit, a good one, for more Shawnee County residents each year.

Letter: Church is clear Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:34:00 EST
This is in response to Donald Shea's letter of July 14. His criticism of Michael Welch's letter contained nothing but opinions that he would like to believe are fact. He asked for a legitimate argument against abortion, so pay attention.

Letter: Stifling freedoms Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:35:00 EST
Freedom of speech and freedom of association are rights beloved by all Americans and guaranteed in our Bill of Rights.

Letter: Safety trumps history Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:36:00 EST
The Capital-Journal on July 22 contained an article on how Grace Cathedral has again been denied the right to build a parking lot that would be of great benefit to the elderly and to the disabled.

Letter: Change can be good Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:38:00 EST
I was encouraged by the tenderness of the letter July 16 from George Harsh ("The way to change"). I get impatient at times by the people in our country. We have so much already. In many ways, we have the best country in the world.

Letter: Disrespect to military Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:38:00 EST
The editorial cartoon, "Torture for Dummies" in the July 17 edition, crossed the line, especially in a state that hosts so many military personnel and their families.

Broder: Low-income housing bill borders on miraculous Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:34:00 EST
If you were to ask Democrats Barney Frank and Chris Dodd — the principal architects of the massive housing bill signed Wednesday by President Bush — which of its many features pleases them most, the answer would surprise you.

TOM TEEPEN: INJUSTICE NOT POLITICS AS USUAL Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:41 CDT

More sorry tales from George Bush's Department of Injustice: Top officials there trashed law, department policy and honorable tradition to fill professional positions with partisan loyalists and ideological activists.

Some of this has been known from previous testimony at congressional oversight hearings, but the new joint report from the Justice Department's inspector general and the Office of Professional Responsibility fills in the outline with appalling details.

Understand, first, that there are avowedly political positions in the department and there are, in far greater number, professional ones. The distinction is defined by law, and it has been honored through long decades of both Republican and Democratic administrations.

No longer. As the report chillingly makes clear, top Bush appointees, themselves selected for their partisan and doctrinal zealousness, substituted detailed political vetting for the professional criteria by which professionals were hired into public services.

Applicants were quizzed on their positions on abortion and other iconic conservative issues and had their legal acumen probed by such questions as, "What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?"

JOHN KELSO: INDICT THE LAWN MOWER AND NOT THE GUNMAN Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:41 CDT

Time magazine's next man of the year?

I'm nominating Keith Walendowski of Milwaukee, who is charged with shooting his lawn mower with a sawed-off shotgun because it wouldn't start.

The criminal complaint says a witness told police Walendowski had been drinking all morning. So what? A Lawn-Boy that won't start will do that to you.

Sadly, Walendowski faces up to six years in prison if convicted of having a sawed-off shotgun. He also faces a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.

What's disorderly about shooting a lawn mower that you've been pulling the cord on 20 or 30 times?

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