Paul Ryan is the commencement speaker today at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Given Ryan’s approach to budgeting, it’s hard to come up with a more un-Benedictine choice for speaker.

Maybe the college president is trying to show how radical the Benedictine approach to hospitality is.

While most of the media watches the terrible flood waters spawned by Irene begin to recede, and wonders about Tropical Storm Lee’s rain around New Orleans, those of us along the Missouri River continue to deal with record flooding. It’s been over two months since portions of Interstate 29 in NW Missouri were closed, and they’re still under water.

Iowa Republican Congressman Tom Latham came back and viewed the damage in Council Bluffs, and was surprised by what he saw.

It’s no surprise to those of us along the river, Congressman. We’ve been looking at it all summer, and we’re just hoping it’s gone by Halloween.