Opinion Line Extra (Jan. 29)

Secretary of State John Kerry thinks that if we just keep giving our milk money to the bullies, eventually they will leave us alone.

The real reason to keep the enemy combatants in Guantanamo Bay is that they qualify for additional, but undeserved, legal protections while on American soil. That was the impetus for building Gitmo in the first place.

Mother Nature dumped more than 2 feet of global warming on D.C., despite President Obama’s protestation. Doesn’t he know it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature?

Despite Donald Trump’s claim that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose voters, it is more likely that he would shoot himself in the foot.

The great drug war on marijuana is nothing more than an extension of the great war on alcohol, aka Prohibition.

Those paranoid folks who believe marijuana has no redeeming medical purpose evidently never had a child with epilepsy, cancer or seizures. If they had, maybe they would have an open mind and a heart instead of ignorance and fear.

Instead of always criticizing President Obama, Gov. Sam Brownback should now thank him. After all, if it weren’t for the Affordable Care Act, the governor wouldn’t be able to balance the state’s budget.

Kansas would not have a budget problem if Brownback’s goose-stepping minions in the Legislature would have enough principles to do what the citizens want and override his threatened veto on the business income tax law.

If an unfamiliar supposed shortcut is filled with endless obstacles that impede my journey, I return to the main path as quickly as possible. Our governor and Legislature obviously think the best choice is to continue on until you’re out gas or break down in the middle of nowhere.

Reading the Opinion Line lately, I conclude that if there are any Brownback supporters, they are not smart enough to read the newspaper or realize how their governor’s actions are destroying this state.

Wanted: a blindfold for state Sen. Mitch Holmes when an attractive woman is testifying before the Legislature.

Holmes believes that the male senators we elected are incapable of paying attention to the testimony of a female witness if she is wearing a short skirt. What kind of immature perverts does he think they are?

Holmes specified women in his dress code because, obviously, no men had ever stooped to that level. Women have used their bodies to get their way from day one. You women who are gasping: Stop it, because you know it’s true.

Would someone please explain to me why it is so wrong, or “politically incorrect,” to ask people to dress professionally? Perhaps if the senator had said men cannot wear miniskirts either, everything would have been OK.

Merit pay for teachers? How about merit pay for legislators first?

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Opinion Line Extra (Jan. 29)."