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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

    Monday morning quarterbacking: The Wildcat comments on the weekend’s news

    Correction

    A Monday editorial mistakenly stated that state Rep. Jonathan Paton sponsored Senate Bill 1014. State Sen. Jim Waring sponsored the bill. The Wildcat regrets the error.

    The candidate, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

    Our prediction for the best 2008 team? Rudy Giuliani and John Kerry. That might seem a strange pairing, but not if you consider the latest news. Yesterday, The New York Times reported that Giuliani’s stance on immigration has seen a dramatic shift now that he’s a presidential candidate, and Kerry can probably tell the former New York mayor what it’s like to be accused of flip-flopping. When he was mayor of New York, Giuliani fought federal efforts to restrict services to illegal immigrants, and he was once an ardent advocate for providing schooling for their children. Now, however, Giuliani is emphasizing a strict enforcement of the U.S.-Mexico border. That may not be a flip-flop of Kerry proportions, but it’s a disheartening development, nonetheless. Sen. John McCain has already abandoned his sensible version of immigration reform, and the GOP needs someone with the political courage to declare that immigrants are a boon – not a bane – to the American way of life.

    A politician’s apology

    Looks like Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., is in trouble: Saturday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Renzi is under investigation for demanding kickbacks from a mining company. The details are complex (the deal involved Renzi’s business partner, federal-public land swaps and a 480-acre alfalfa field), but the political fallout is even more puzzling. Renzi recused himself from the House Intelligence Committee, but he continues to serve on the Natural Resources Committee, the very panel that oversees the kind of land-swap deals that Renzi stands accused of using to his monetary advantage. If Renzi hopes to retain public confidence, he should recuse himself from the Natural Resources Committee until the charges are cleared.

    I’ve got beef with your tee

    As the legislative session wraps up, it would seem that there are some strange bills lying about. Indeed, state Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, introduced a measure that would prohibit T-shirt makers from selling a soldier’s likeness on their wares. Paton says war protestors are printing the names of dead soldiers on T-shirts, and grieving families are up in arms. While it’s certainly instinctive to side with military families who have lost loved ones in the war, the fact remains that the T-shirt makers are exercising their right to freedom of expression within the bounds of the First Amendment. Paton, who needs no lecture on service to one’s country (he served in Iraq and Afghanistan), should reconsider the efficacy of his bill. In a sense, after all, it’s the Constitution he was fighting for.

    I pledge allegiance to unfunded mandates…

    A July 1 deadline is creeping up on Arizona schools, but it’s not for anything worthwhile. The Arizona Daily Star reported Saturday that Arizona universities are in a haste attempting to outfit more than 1,400 classrooms with the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution and a 2-by-3-foot flag (and by the way, the flag has to be manufactured in America). Why? Because of a state law that was overwhelmingly passed last year to mandate the three items in every classroom from the seventh grade up. Not only is this incredibly ironic – shoving flags and other materials down people’s throats is hardly representative of freedom – but the law doesn’t even have any financial backing from the Legislature that favored it. This “”patriotic”” move will cost the UA about $5,500 – which doesn’t include all of the unnecessary headaches enforcing this law will bring. No one is going to become more patriotic because of a random flag placed in a classroom – the only way to do that is through education, not by bolted-down historical documents.

    Opinions Board

    Editorials are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Justyn Dillingham, Allison Hornick, Damion LeeNatali, Stan Molever, Nicole Santa Cruz and Matt Stone.

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