THE TRIBUNE'S VIEW
Changing sides
By HENRY J. WATERS III, Publisher, Columbia Daily Tribune
The decision of Sen. Chris Koster to abandon the Republican Party and become a Democrat is stunning. I can’t remember the last time any such thing happened.

Koster’s switch: Principles or politics?
By SCOTT CHRISTIANSON
For most politicians, switching political parties can only be done once in a career. We voters can easily move back and forth between parties as times change, but there is no going back for an officeholder. The deserted party simply doesn’t want the traitor back, no matter what the cost.

JOHN DARKOW CARTOON

OPEN COLUMN
Bush colonoscopy cartoon was gross, out of bounds
Editor, the Tribune: I was sorry to see the cartoon in the July 23 edition regarding President George W. Bush’s colonoscopy.

OPEN COLUMN
Missourians should support Obama’s run for president
Editor, the Tribune: As one of four Missouri Democrats elected statewide, it is my responsibility to help ensure that the Democratic Party nominates a candidate for president who will best represent all Missourians.

OPEN COLUMN
‘Protecting’ way of life is really a threat to it
Editor, the Tribune: It’s been said that we get the leadership we deserve. What has happened to us that we continue to elect leaders eager to have us believe that our way of life can be threatened in any way by loosely organized ideologues with nothing more than terror as a tactic?

OPEN COLUMN
Fake ID detection calls for teamwork
Editor, the Tribune: I’m pleased to see that the problem of underage individuals using fake IDs is being recognized in our community ("MU study ties heavy drinking to fake IDs," July 25).

Appraisal begs for a do-over
By RANDY COHEN
An older gentleman asked my father-in-law, Steve, a coin collector, to evaluate a gold coin. Steve gave an off-the-cuff evaluation of $80, then offered to buy it. The gentleman accepted. Some days later, Steve discovered that the coin could be worth five or six times his original estimate. Must he seek out the former owner and renegotiate?

Reality in short supply
Talk about bad timing, per usual. Last Tuesday, Vice President Dick Cheney said in a nationally televised interview that an expected, critical report on Iraq would show "significant progress." The next day, events in Baghdad took a significant step back with a Sunni group partially withdrawing from the fledgling Iraqi government.

U.S. tax code helps rich get richer
Private equity and hedge fund executives limousined to Capitol Hill last week to explain why they should be taxed less than ordinary Americans. Senators, their campaign funds fattened by Wall Street, made sympathetic noises.

Unfinished business
By KEVIN FERRIS
John Wroblewski suggests Congress stop all the talk about leaving Iraq in 60 days or 90 days or 120 days. Instead, what the country needs, he said, is "more discussion about victory and how we’re going to win."

Obama misguided on foreign policy
By MONA CHAREN
Within the past several weeks, presidential aspirant Barack Obama has announced that he would meet with America’s enemies and attack America’s friends. Those interested in a dramatic departure from Bush/Cheney need look no further.

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