But while the newspaper coverage of (Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick's) resignation was thorough, there was one item that did not receive the attention it merits. Her age. The lady is 52. She decided it was time to retire at the ripe old age of 52. There was another telling report in the same newspaper a couple of weeks earlier that is also worth a mention. In this case it was a sports report about a very successful high school volleyball coach. The woman …  has coached for many years. Given that, the reporter asked how much longer she planned to coach. While she deflected the question, she did mention that she is eligible to retire anytime she chose. She is all of 53 years old. So the question begs. How many folks working outside of the government could even consider retirement at that age?/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: At what age can you afford to retire?

This is old news but it’s still worth a mention. Besides, the dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial this past Sunday makes it somewhat timely. The overwhelming majority agrees it is a beautiful and fitting memorial. The 30’ granite monument on the National Mall is situated between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. But while most agree the memorial is beautiful and fitting, there has been some criticism. The Martin Luther King Memorial was sculpted by a Chinese artist using 159 pieces of point Chinese granite. The fact this country’s most recent national monument was 'made in China’ prompts the expected sneers and criticism. Certainly there must be a sculptor in the United States capable of producing work to properly honor Martin Luther King. But it’s more than that/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette Record. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Does it bother you that new MLKJr memorial was made in China by a sculptor who sculpted dozens of depictions of Mao Zedung?

So what do they do when they aren’t counting dead birds? It is at no small risk that we even broach this subject. That is there is a danger this could all be misconstrued. So let the record show that we are unequivocally opposed to dead swans. Anything as beautiful as a swan should stay that way forever. Of course things don’t work that way. Swans die. By the hundreds every day. For a myriad of reason. Perhaps even from swan flu. Yet those deaths go unnoticed n and unreported. But if a swan dies for the wrong reason, then the dead-bird census workers magically appear to give us a body count/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette Record. More here. (SR file photo/Kathy Plonka: dead swan near Rose Lake)

Question: Do you agree with Publisher Hammes that there may be too much attention to the swan die-off in the Chain Lakes every year?

Idaho Republicans should take editorial criticism from conservative Publisher Dan Hammes of the St. Maries Gazette-Record seriously. Hammes predicts that voters are going to be miffed when they figure out what the GOP did by pushing to close primaries and then asking the Legislature to reimburse $100,000 in legal fees. At one point in this week's editorial, Hammes suggests that the GOP pay for its own primary, since it wants party purity. Also, he pooh-poohs the notion that Democrats are crossing over to spoil GOP contests: “To suggest that Idaho Democrats n who can’t even elect Democrats n are cagey enough to somehow manipulate Republican primaries for nefarious purposes just doesn’t make much sense.” Finally, he predicts that many voters, who haven't been paying much attention to the GOP shenanigans to close primaries, to this point, are going to be miffed when they try to vote in 2012 primaries. You can read Dan's thoughts here.

Question: What do you think of Hammes' argument that Idaho Dems aren't capable of electing its own candidates, let alone disrupting a Republican primary?

Tone deaf? At least, but maybe it’s even worse than that. Maybe it’s just a case of being so insulated from the rest of the world that what is obvious to the most of us is a mystery to them. That’s not to say teachers did not have reason to protest. The proposals by Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Luna, for dealing with the shortage of money and the plenitude of future are significant. These are not minor modifications the legislature is considering. The proposals Mr. Luna has made would mean a major shift in how public schools do business in Idaho. Given all that, it makes sense that teachers staged protests throughout the state. But did they have to do it on a government holiday?/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: Did you see anything wrong with teachers protesting against Tom Luna's education “reform” plans on the Presidents' Day holiday?

Oprah and I are a lot alike. Oh sure, there are subtle differences. Even with just one name, everyone knows her. I have three names - not counting what readers call me - yet nobody knows me. She lives in Chicago. I live here. But other than other minor items, Oprah and I are one of kind. She is not a lesbian. I am not a lesbian. While everyone already knew that about Oprah, I think it is important that I announce my heterosexuality. Actually, I don’t think it’s all that important. In fact, I’m like you. I am really weary of all the TV chatter about “a person’s sexuality.” It is much more important to me to know whether a person is going to root for those cheaters from Auburn in the national title game/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette Record. More here. (AP file photo of Barbara Walters & Oprah Winfrey)

Question: Did Barbara Walters step across the line when she asked mega-star Oprah Winfrey about her sexuality?

Juan Williams, pictured, told a television audience that when he saw Muslims boarding a plane it caused him concern. Something Juan Williams now understands he never should have admitted. The group-thinkers at NPR could not allow it to stand unchallenged. Being a leading purveyor of political correctness, they know the world has more to fear from a lumberjack, miner or roughneck than radical Muslims. So they canned him. The people at NPR are shell-shocked at the reaction. The firing of Juan Williams has caused irreparable damage to the reputation and credibility of NPR. The fact they did not expect the backlash is just another example of the arrogance/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: What do you make of the Juan Williams’ firing by NPR?

But even if last week’s ruling (striking down California referendum that marriage is between a man and a woman) stands it will not be the end of the marriage debate. It may only launch the next chapter in the saga. And the next few rounds of this fight could change some folks who today support the ‘right to marry’ into opponents. The bigamists will do it. That is, if courts decide marriage is a Constitutional right, then it applies to bigamists as well as homosexuals. While dirty old men who take young girls as brides will always be despised by sane folks, it would be legal if courts deem marriage a ‘right.’ With the age of consent (if there is such among ardent polygamists) we’re talking some very young brides indeed. The age of consent is as young as 14 in some states and is 16 in most states/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: Will polygamists someday have a right to marry as many females as they want, and as young as they want?

Who knew there were degrees of gayness? But, given the news out of Seattle, we now know there are. For those who missed it, a lawsuit was filed last week by three Bay Area men against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance. Yeah, that was our reaction too. Who knew there was a gay alliance for amateur athletes? It’s anybody’s guess why they need their own special alliance. One would think that it would be counterproductive to distinguish between homosexual amateur athletes and those amateur athletes who are not homosexuals. It’s just that over the last several decades, the entire “gay movement” has been about homosexuals wanting to be treated like everyone else. Despite that, they form a group to treat them special. And apparently in the gay world there are degrees of specialness/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Reaction?

The point here is Michelle Obama wants a garden and I know something about gardens. The First Lady of the house in which I was raised was big on `em. She had it in her head that gardens were a great way to teach young boys about work, responsibility and nature n all rolled into one. The problem is n at least from the perspective of a young boy - gardens are a whole lotta’ work. Combine that with the fact my colleagues on the garden work crew — my older brothers — were little more than scallywags when it came to honest labor, and one can appreciate how little I appreciate gardening. Sure, it’s true. Fresh garden vegetables are one of life’s great pleasures. They rank right up there with fine Scotch. But after years of pulling more than my weight in the family plot, I now take my vegetables out of the can. Which is why Michelle Obama impresses me so. She figured out how to get other people to do the garden work/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: What do you make of Michelle Obama’s attempt to start a White House garden?

It turns out a play date will fix everything. For those who missed it, the Pentagon issued a report last week on how to “fix” the prison at Guantanamo. Make no mistake, this is tricky stuff. First of all, most folks don’t think there is anything to fix. That is, it is very well documented prisoners at Gitmo are not abused nor are their rights violated. The problem is there are a bunch of folks who don’t believe that. Never mind of course that countless reporters, Congressmen and aid workers have made continual visits to the prison and never reported any serious violations, the myth continues. Of course, when the President of the United States spouts off about Gitmo it tends to keep the story alive. The fact Barack Obama has promised to close the prison adds to the myth that “something” must be happening there that is out of sorts/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Record-Gazette. More here.

Question: Do you support President Obama’s decision to close Gitmo?

So how did this become the ‘good’ war anyhow? Last week the Obama Administration announced plans to send more troops to Afghanistan. The announcement came as no surprise since President Obama, an early critic of the Iraq war, has long supported putting more troops into Afghanistan. What is somewhat surprising is everyone likes the idea. That is, nobody seems to ask whether the United States should continue fighting in Afghanistan. Nobody asks what our strategy there might be. Nobody asks how we will know when we have won. And that is really odd given how the rancor and protest over the Iraq war really divided this country. So — and this is not just a rhetorical question — how did Afghanistan become the good war?/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: Can you answer Publisher Dan Hammes’ question: “How did Afghanistan become the good war?”

When I see them I can’t help but wonder. How long does it take them to put on the uniform? You know the one. Baggy pants with their boxer shorts pulled high in the back so the entire world can admire their taste in underwear. Untucked shirt, complete with the latest rock bank or video game jargon blazened across the front. At least, I guess that’s what all those graphics are all about. Being near fossilized, I have no idea to what things of great importance to which the $25 T-shirts of today make reference. Of course, no ensemble is complete without the baseball cap - slightly askew - sitting atop a head of hair that typically needs a good scrubbing/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. Full column below.