Kansas City Star

With a mixture of wit, charm and excellent advice, Michael Kaiser this week challenged Kansas City to improve its already vibrant arts scene. It’s a worthy challenge. Kaiser, the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, spoke to several hundred regional arts supporters gathered at the Lyric Theatre. And Kaiser knows the local arts turf, having reversed the fortunes of the Kansas City Ballet in the 1980s.

When Hillary Clinton made her first visit to Beijing as secretary of state, she said human rights could not be permitted to “interfere” with larger concerns, such as global climate change and financial-market mayhem. It was an unfortunate way for the administration to begin its relationship with China. Sadly, this week President Obama only reinforced the message.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser awkwardly forced City Manager Wayne Cauthen out of office Thursday, and in the process opened another unnecessary rift on the City Council. The mayor’s action was secretive, abrupt and lacked an adequate public explanation. The move will likely cost Kansas City taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance payments at a time when the budget is already strained.

The new GOP talking points — expressing fear of justice working in an open courtroom, from a party that likes to wrap itself in the flag — are quite stunning.