thekansan.com

Dana Milbank: The left turns compliant on violating civil liberties

By Dana Milbank, Washington Post — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

Where have all the liberals gone?
President Obama, who as a Democratic senator accused the Bush administration of violating civil liberties in the name of security, now vigorously defends his own administration�s collection of Americans� phone records and Internet activities.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he thinks Congress has done sufficient intelligence oversight. His evidence? Opinion polls.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi defended the programs� legality and said [...]

Thanks offered

— Wed, 19 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

I wish to thank the Kansan for the front page article about the Newton Boy Scout flag lease program. It's a great feeling to wake up on a holiday such as Memorial Day or Veterans Day and see that big US flag flying in my front yard. I then think of my father Harvey Snapp, a WW II vet. He won the Bronze Star and helped to liberate Dachau. I also think of him being a Scout leader for so many years and winning the Silver Beaver, the highest award in Scouting.

For $30 a year the [...]

Kent Bush: Memories most valuable heirlooms

Kent Bush — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 6:34:00

Every kid deserves a dad like I had.

Kathleen Parker: Tweaking real life

By Kathleen Parker, Washington Post — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 1:14:00 +0000

It was never quite clear what feminizing the workplace would mean when women en masse invaded corporate America a generation ago.
Most of us donned our Mao suits, bow ties and sensible shoes and did our best to blend in. The workplace didn�t become more feminine; women became more masculine.
Then along came �Sex and the City.� The new working girl was glam, femmed-out to the max in sheer tops, short skirts and stilettos. She was brash, tough (neurotic), and above all sexy. Where the [...]

Eugene Robinson: We still need this debate

By Eugene Robinson, Washington Post — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 1:10:00 +0000

The important thing right now isn�t whether Edward Snowden should be labeled hero or villain. First, let�s have the debate he sparked over surveillance and privacy. Then we can decide how history should remember him.
Snowden is the 29-year-old intelligence analyst and computer geek who has been leaking some of the National Security Agency�s most precious secrets to journalists from The Washington Post and the Guardian. He is now on the lam, having checked out of the Hong Kong hotel where he [...]

E.J. Dionne: Libertarianism’s Achilles’ heel

By E.J. Dionne, Washington Post — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 1:07:00 +0000

In politics, we often skip past the simple questions. This is why inquiries about the fundamentals can sometimes catch everyone short.
Michael Lind, the independent-minded scholar, posed one such question last week about libertarianism that I hope will shake up the political world. I�ll get to his query in a moment. It�s important because many in the new generation of conservative politicians declare libertarianism as their core political philosophy.
Libertarians have the virtue, in [...]

Kent Bush: It just isn't Father's Day without Dad

Kent Bush — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Doesn't feel like Father's Day.

Esther Cepeda: One for the books

By Esther Cepeda, Washington Post — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 1:03:00 +0000

According to his critics, Stephen King is not only callous to the desires of some of his most ardent fans but also clinging to the past in deciding to release his new book �Joyland� in print only.
But I�m with him on this one.
Truth be told, reading �Joyland� will be a minor inconvenience -- if one can reasonably say such a thing about acquiring and consuming a bound, paper tome filled with the master storyteller�s hanging-on-the-edge-of-your-seat words. My choices will be to either [...]

Dana Milbank: The backlash of too much secrecy

By Dana Milbank, Washington Post — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

Keep your distance: The director of national intelligence is having intestinal distress.
�For me, it is literally -- not figuratively, literally -- gut-wrenching to see this happen,� James Clapper told NBC News� Andrea Mitchell over the weekend, referring to leaks about the government�s secret program to collect vast troves of phone and Internet data.
There might be a bit more sympathy for Clapper�s digestive difficulty if he hadn�t delivered a kick in the gut to the American public just [...]

Services cost money

— Wed, 12 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

There are selected issues in society which need studying, analyzing, and attempts made in harmonizing the opposite points of view. A frequently mentioned concept is smaller government. Sometimes a legislator will reject a yes vote on a bill due to wanting a smaller government — smaller than what might well be asked in these situations. If government is to be made smaller continuously on all endeavors, it would become difficult to pay for costs of education and schools, [...]

George Will: Too sweet to kill

By George Will, Washington Post — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

The steamboat conveying Andrew Jackson up the Ohio River toward his tumultuous 1829 inauguration had brooms lashed to its bow, symbolizing Old Hickory�s vow to clean up Washington. But sweeping out Washington�s Augean stables, like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, is steady work, so steady it never ends. Neither do the policies that cosset sugar producers.
These immortal measures just received the Senate�s benediction because they illustrate the only law Washington can be counted on to [...]

Kent Bush: Big Brother has too much time on his hands

Kent Bush — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 8:00:45

According to the man who blew the whistle on the questionable activity, no one is safe.

Michael Gerson: A misplayed great game

By Michael Gerson, Washington Post — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

A few months ago, the worst-case scenario in Syria was a protracted stalemate along the lines of the Lebanese civil war. Now, the worst case is that Bashar al-Assad wins with the full backing of Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, Russia and Iran. Future worst cases -- involving loose chemical weapons, regional sectarian war, the fall of friendly governments -- don�t require much imagination.
At some point, the word �worst� -- already a superlative -- ceases to be sufficient. Syria�s downward [...]

Eugene Robinson: Give Manning a plea deal

By Eugene Robinson, Washington Post — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 1:00:00 +0000

The treatment of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning has been excessively harsh, as far as I can tell. If he is found guilty of leaking more than 700,000 classified documents, he deserves some punishment -- probably -- but should not be at risk of spending the rest of his life behind bars. Apparently.
I have to throw in all those qualifiers because Manning�s prosecution has been largely a secret process. Portions of his court-martial, which opened Monday at Fort Meade, Md., will be secret as well -- [...]

Kathleen Parker: The new F-word: father

By Kathleen Parker, Washington Post — Sun, 9 Jun 2013 1:00:00 +0000

News that women increasingly are the leading or sole breadwinner in the American family has resurrected the perennial question: Why do we need men?
Maureen Dowd attempted to answer this question with her 2005 book, �Are Men Necessary?� I responded three years later with �Save the Males.�
With each generation, the question becomes more declarative and querulous. Recent demographic shifts show women gaining supremacy across a spectrum of quantitative measures, including education and [...]

Religious crazy

Sat, 8 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

I know of nothing crazier than religious crazy. And it isn't limited to a particular brand. Once someone gets the idea that he/she has perfect communion with God, all Hell breaks loose. The rest of us are just infidels, in need of a thorough whipping into shape.

Irishmen kill their brethren, each against the other, because of the same book. A group of men do a massive death scene with commandeered jets. A Cool Aide King takes his whole flock on a suicide trip to wherever he [...]

Dana Milbank: Accuse first and ask questions later

By Dana Milbank, Washington Post — Sat, 8 Jun 2013 1:00:00 +0000

A third House committee joined the stampede to examine the IRS on Monday, and its chairman did exactly what you would expect somebody to do before launching a fair and impartial investigation: He went on Fox News Channel and implicated the White House.
Asked by Fox�s Bill Hemmer what he hoped to learn at Monday afternoon�s hearing, Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., offered this bit of pre-hearing analysis:
�Of course, the enemies list out of the White House that IRS [...]

Kent Bush: Government can't regulate beliefs

Kent Bush — Fri, 7 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Anytime government enters into the realm of regulating religious activity, it gets dicey.

Why not support Walton?

— Fri, 7 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

Over the past several years I have learned to appreciate the Walton Rural Life Center and have participated in tours and fund-raisers. Children are excited to go to school and test results reflect their engagement in the classroom. It is unique and different, as shown by the stream of visitors inquiring about what “works” here. I find it curious that the school has a five-year waiting list for admission―and our School Board chooses not to support additional classroom [...]

Letter policy

— Fri, 7 Jun 2013 1:01:00 +0000

The Kansan encourages readers to express their views about issues through letters to the editor. Letters should be 400 words or fewer. Letters must be typewritten or submitted electronically. Handwritten letters will not be accepted. They may be edited for length, good taste and to eliminate potentially libelous statements. Include your name, telephone number and address so we can verify you wrote the letter. Letters published must include the author’s name and hometown. [...]