Bushie, you're doing a heckuva job

By Nancy Jane Moore

Congress actually did something constructive this year: It included a provision in the "Homeland Security" bill requiring that anyone appointed to head the Federal Emergency Management Administration be experienced in disaster relief.

Seems like an obvious thing to do after the debacle of Hurricane Katrina, doesn't it?

But Bush didn't think so. According to the Boston Globe, when he signed the law, he added a signing statement saying it is unconstitutional for Congress to set limits on who he appoints as FEMA administrator.

In other words, he's defending his right to put another hack like Michael Brown in the job. Even if he's right about whether Congress can make requirements for appointed officials -- and I don't think he is -- it's a heckuva of thing to take a stand in favor of the right to appoint incompetents.

According to the Globe, three senators who've tended to go along with Bush most of the time -- Republican moderate Susan Collins of Maine, occasional Democrat Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and traitor former Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut -- have sent him a letter criticizing the signing statement. Balkinization has posted a copy of their letter in PDF form here.

The section in question -- Section 503(c)(2) of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007, (H.R.5441) -- provides as follows:

QUALIFICATIONS- The Administrator shall be appointed from among individuals who have --
(A) a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security; and
(B) not less than 5 years of executive leadership and management experience in the public or private sector.

You can find the whole Homeland Security bill by searching on H.R. 5441 on the Library of Congress Thomas site.

"We don't speak to evil."

By Nancy Jane Moore

That's what Larry Wilkerson, former US deputy secretary of state, suspects Dick Cheney said back in 2003 when Iran made a very positive overture to the US.

Iran was offering to help the US deal with Iraq, to be open about its nuclear program, to stop supporting Palestinian militants, and even to reduce support for Hezbollah in Lebanon. And all they wanted in exchange was a working relationship with the US and for Bush to take back his characterization of Iran as part of the "Axis of Evil."

That is, Iran was offering the US pretty much everything we wanted -- and our government refused to talk with them.

I didn't find this information in the US press. I heard it on the BBC program "Assignment," which happens to play at 4 AM on Saturday morning in Washington, D.C. -- not exactly prime time. (I only heard it because I'm in the habit of switching on the radio when I wake up too early.) The specific show is titled "US - Iran Relations" and you can listen to it here. It's a 30-minute show and well worth your time.

Here are a few other facts I gleaned from my second listen (when I was more awake):

1. Iran was very supportive of the US after September 11. The people held vigils and the government sent expressions of sympathy.

2. Iran approved of our invasion of Afghanistan. They had their own problems with the Taliban. At one point they offered to help train Afghani soldiers, but we didn't reply.

3. Despite such shows of support, they were labeled part of the "Axis of Evil." They were shocked. One Iranian official observed, "The US had such short memory and was so ungrateful."

4. The US response to this was classic: "They said worse things about us." How third grade can you get?

5. When they made the offer outlined above, the US was sitting pretty in Iraq and figured we didn't need them. In fact, some US officials wanted to invade Iran -- and still do.

6. The inability of the reformist government in Iran to cut a deal with the US was one of the factors that led to the more hardline regime they have now, meaning that now when we could really use their cooperation, we don't have anyone to talk to.

In other words, the idiots who run our government had an opportunity to turn an enemy into an ally and they blew it. I'm not sure if this was just neocon ideology or if it had something to do with controlling the oil fields, but whatever the reason, we screwed up what could have been a powerful alliance.

We rebuffed the Iranians as evil, even though they had the same enemies we did, yet we bullied Pakistan -- not exactly a democracy either and a country that was much less comfortable about fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda than Iran -- into an alliance. And as for dealing with evil, look at our friendly relationship with Uzbekistan. I think even the pro-torture types in our government might have trouble with boiling people alive, but the Uzbeks are our friends.

Like hell we don't speak to evil.

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline: "So, he's not a criminal; he's just sleazy."

By Diane Silver

My 79-year-old mother doesn't mince words. When I happened to mention the controversy about Attorney General Phill Kline's run-in with the Kansas Open Meetings Act, she summed up her feelings quite nicely: "So, he's not a criminal," she said. "He's just sleazy."

Her comments are important. As a Kansas citizen, she is Kline's boss, just like me and like you if you happen to live in the Sunflower State.

However, we can't have any impact on what Kline or other state officials do if they don't conduct the public's business in public. We can't have an impact if we don't know what they're doing, or even know that they're meeting.

That's why Kline's apparent effort to slip past the Kansas Open Meetings Act in February 2005 is so disturbing. In a nutshell... he asked attorneys in his office about the law. He discovered that it would be a violation for him to meet secretly with four members of the six-member, ultra-conservative majority of the state Board of Education.

To avoid breaking the law, he met twice on the same day -- each time with three members of that radical majority. Note that number. It's important because it's just one short of the number needed to trigger a violation of the law.

Each meeting was behind closed doors. Each meeting was kept secret from the four moderate members of the board. And each meeting was kept secret from the public until it was uncovered in news reports.

You can read this post to get all the details.

I suspect that even Kline knows this is a lousy idea. Perhaps that's why he apparently attempted this week to misrepresent the words of Kansas Press Association attorney Mike Merriam.

In a chat at the Lawrence Journal-World, Kline tried to make it appear as if Merriam approved of his actions. In fact, Merriam was fighting against them.

I can't prove that Kline meant to lie about Merriam's position. Perhaps Kline just forgot that Merriam was his major opponent in the fight about the meetings. Perhaps it was just the heat of the moment. Perhaps it was a slip of the fingers on the computer keyboard during the Journal-World chat.

What's truly bizarre is that -- on the surface -- there is no reason for Kline to have met privately with only those members of the board who shared his religious philosophy. He could have just as easily attended a public meeting of the state board. Of course, that would only be true if he and the anti-evolution board members weren't attempting to hide something from the public and the rest of the board.

So, did Phill Kline break the law?

Nope, not a bit.

Should the citizens of Kansas be worried about his actions?

Oh yeah.

Clarification: Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline accused of violating open meetings act & lying during chat

By Diane Silver

In response to a comment, I'm writing to clarify my Oct. 12 post "Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline accused of violating open meetings act & lying during chat."

This is in response to a comment posted by someone calling himself (herself?) "just the facts." Justthefacts has so far refused to say who he or she is.

But here, in reality, ARE just the facts, based on the links and the information justthefacts provided and on my own research.

1. Everything in my previous post and the AP story it linked to was accurate.

2. The incident referred to in the post occurred in February 2005.

3. That month, and on the same day, Kline had two meetings with what were then members of the six-member ultra-conservative majority on the state Board of Education. Each meeting was held behind closed doors and each included three members of that radical majority. The four moderate board members were not invited.

4. Moderate board member Sue Gamble spoke to reporters and said those meetings violated, at the very least, the "spirit of the law." The law in question is the Kansas Open Meetings Act, which is designed to guarantee that the public's business occurs in public and not behind closed doors.

5. The Lawrence Journal-World reported on Feb. 10, 2005, that "Kline said he met with the conservative board members to discuss the school finance litigation and to mention that he would help them if they wanted to put stickers on science textbooks that said evolution was theory and not a fact."

6. Kline said at the time that he had not broken the law because the law requires that four members be present at a meeting, and only three were present. Kline was correct about the letter of the law.

7. Shawnee County District Attorney Robert Hecht investigated the incident and said in March, 2005, that Kline did not violate the open meetings act.

8. At that time, Kline continued to say that he had not broken the law, but he is quoted in the Topeka Capital-Journal as saying "In hindsight, I wouldn't have done this."

9. In an online chat on Oct. 9, 2006, via the Lawrence Journal-World, Kline was asked about the February 2005 closed-door meetings. Kline replied, in part:

The attorney for the Kansas Press Association stated of these meetings: "it is remarkable the length the Attorney General will go to to comply with the law." I believe that says it all.

Mike Merriam, the attorney for the Kansas Press Association, spoke to the Topeka Capital-Journal this week.

While Merriam said Tuesday that while he couldn't absolutely deny making such a statement, he has no recollection of it.

He said if he had made such a comment, it was either about some other matter or a "sarcastic reference" to Kline's "elaborate preparations to avoid the law."

"My view was, and is, that the serial meetings conducted by the board of education members with Mr. Kline were intentional violations of the Open Meetings Act," Merriam said. "Mr. Kline has no basis to cite me in support of his actions."

655,000

By Nancy Jane Moore.

655,000. That's how many Iraqis have died of war-related causes since the US invaded. 601,000 died directly from violence; the other 54,000 died from illnesses related to the war.

These numbers are from a sophisticated statistical study by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. Iraqi physicians did the interviews. Their work has been subjected to a thorough peer-review and published in The Lancet, the premier British medical journal. The Lancet thought this article was so important that they published it in full online at no charge (you will need to register).

The numbers are an estimate, of course. And, due to the violence in Iraq, there were constraints on the statistical study that wouldn't happen in calmer venues. Allowing for errors, the researchers said the total war-related deaths could range from 392,979 - 942,636.

These are horrifying numbers, hard to even comprehend, way larger than any others we've seen (the usual figure these days is around 50,000), and considerably in excess of the number of deaths attributed to Saddam Hussein. Numbers like this make denials that Iraq is in a civil war look ludicrous. And you can't look at them without starting to think that prosecutions for war crimes might be in the offing.

So why have the major media downplayed the story? The Washington Post's initial story ran on page A-12 and was hard to find online, though at least the comments on the study were balanced. The Los Angeles Times -- whose online article was also hard to find -- primarily ran comments from critics of the study. The Boston Globe gave it a mostly positive spin, but called it a "disputed study" in the headline.

Predictably, Bush, Tony Blair, and the Iraqi government dismissed the study out of hand -- in fact, Blair said the number was wrong and most deaths were due to "terrorists." Those stories got better play than the initial one about the study.

Here's the difference between the authors of the study and Bush, Blair, and the Iraqi government: The scientists don't have a horse in this race. Unlike Bush and company, who have every incentive to downplay the incredible damage done to Iraqis, the scientists were just looking for information.

And unlike their critics, they've done a real analysis and let other experts -- people who understand how statistics work -- review it in detail. I'm not particularly impressed by top-of-the-head rejections of the work from people who clearly didn't have the time to do a full-scale review of the study. And I'm really not impressed by comments from politicians who are not likely to understand statistical analysis in the first place.

Reputable sources find the numbers all too credible. Juan Cole says:

Ironically enough, the same journalists who will question this study will accept without query the estimates for deaths in Darfur, e.g., which are generated by exactly the same techniques, and which are almost certainly not as solid. ...
I follow the violence in Iraq carefully and daily, and I find the results plausible.

655,000.

It's such a scary number that I'd like to think they're wrong. But I'm very afraid that they're not. Just think of how much suffering those deaths caused, not just to the deceased, but also to their family members and their friends. That's more than 200 times as many people killed as died on September 11, more than 200 times the number of dead US soldiers.

Bush's response wasn't just an ignorant dismissal of the study; he also commented:

I'm amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they're willing to -- you know, that there's a level of violence that they tolerate.

Will Umber on Attytood.com posted that quote and used terms like "arrogant" and "clueless" to analyze it. He also made this observation:

But it's amazing what people can tolerate, when it's 11,000 miles away and it's happening to somebody else.

Whatever the number is -- and no matter how many deaths were at the hands of those Blair calls "terrorists" -- these deaths are on our heads. It was the US government that started this unnecessary war, pretending it was payback for September 11 when they knew damn well Iraq had nothing to do with the attack on us.

655,000 people have died in our name.

Crime fighters reverse support & call Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline "irresponsible"

The last time Phill Kline ran for attorney general, Gene and Peggy Schmidt stood at his side. This year, though, the anti-crime foundation they created is slamming Kline for engaging in "the worst example of demagoguery."

Kline is attacking his Democratic opponent, Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison, for serving on a commission that attempted to ease prison overcrowding by changing the post-prison rules for some inmates. Kline's attacks have been condemned by The Kansas City Star and Johnson County Sun.

Now comes word that the Schmidt's foundation is also disgusted.

Hat tip to Dave Helling at the Kansas City Star's Buzz Blog. He reports:

Gene and Peggy Schmidt were parents of Stephanie, who was brutally murdered. They were also big supporters of Phill Kline, campaigning for him, cutting a TV commercial for him, even working (Gene) in Kline's office for a time.

A foundation newsletter this week, though, said this of Kline's SB 323 criticisms: "This irresponsible claim and attempt to instill fear in Kansas Voters is the worst example of demagoguery.

"To insinuate that massive murders, rapes, and general criminal rampage resulted by this bill is not only irresponsible, it is insulting and demeaning to all Kansans. This appeal to the fearful emotions of all Kansans ignores logic, reason, and the genuine intent of outstanding former leaders and defies and debases their efforts for a safer Kansas."

The newsletter column does not mention Kline, or Morrison, by name.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded for effective social change

By Nancy Jane Moore

I'm very pleased to see that the Nobel Peace Prize committee has recognized Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his micro-lending organization, Grameen Bank.

The Grameen system of small loans -- most of them made to women -- is helping to break the vicious cycle of poverty. It's been copied worldwide. And of course, they don't just loan money -- they provide support. They whole system is based on sound principles.

I'm particularly gratified that this program is primarily aimed at women -- 97 percent of the borrowers are women. And as someone who spent years helping tenants become homeowners by buying their apartment buildings and converting them into cooperatives, I firmly believe that programs offering people a chance to develop themselves are the most effective form of social change.

But this year's peace prize is, essentially, an award for positive social change. And while I agree with the Nobel committee that programs such as Grameen's will lead to increased peace and a better world -- and am happy to see them recognized -- I can't help but notice how much violent conflict is now raging throughout the world.

Unfortunately, I don't see anyone doing much to resolve the current violence, and I gather that the Nobel committee couldn't find anyone either.

Democratic landslide may be building

[updated]

By Diane Silver

Chris Bowers at MyDD has just posted a new poll showing that Democrats are currently leading in enough Congressional districts to take a 19-seat majority in the House.

This information comes from a company that does automated telephone polling. Depending on the district, the polls were completed at the end of August, in September or just this week.

Bowers writes:

The new Majority Watch from Constituent Dynamics will be released in a few minutes. Based on 63 polls of 48 districts of 1,000 likely voters each, they will show Democrats currently ahead in the House by 19 seats, 224-205, or the exact, 19-seat margin of the Republican Majority after the 2002 elections. It is also a significant increase from the 219-214 seat lead for Democrats found in the Majority Watch polling from late August and early September.

This 19-seat lead will not even include seven competitive, Republican-held districts that are currently being polled, and six districts that are currently tied. In fact, perhaps most stunningly, the districts with "safe" leads outside the margins of error break 217-198 in favor of Democrats. The previous set of polls actually showed Republicans ahead on safe seats, 205-199. Further, since TX-22 was not polled, that means Democrats already have the magic 218, outside the margin of error, with between 19 and 26 more races in the "toss-up" category. This is a looming landslide.

Combined with the Pew Research Center survey released yesterday this may be good news indeed.

However, I do wonder at the accuracy of automated polls. Were folks who only use cell phones included? How might that skew the results?

Gosh, I think I'm afraid to hope. Could we actually put a check on George W. Bush?

Meanwhile, Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo is reporting on the Republican's decision to end their efforts to knock off four Democratic incumbents.

Marshall notes that shifting money at this point in a campaign cycle isn't unusual, but it is a sign that the GOP is focused on playing defense. After looking at these latest poll results, Republicans have every reason to be worried.

Update
Some of the margins are very tight, and some of the polls are a tad old, so take this all with a grain of salt. The key thing, as always, will be the old fashioned get-out-the-vote effort. That's true in the Jim Ryun-Nancy Boyda race in Kansas and in other districts around the nation.

In other words, it's up to us to vote, get our friends to vote, drive our relatives and our neighbors to the polling place and to hook up with groups organizing GOTV efforts.

Buyer's Remorse Strikes Voters: Even Republicans think they should lose

Washington Post columnist David Broder writes today that the voters are drowning in "buyer's remorse" for the decisions they made in 2004. Even Republicans appear upset about how things turned out.

While I disagree with some of Broder's assessment about why voters are unhappy, I certainly agree with his bottom line: Enough is enough. Vote the incompetents and the do nothings (Broder says) and the arrogant and the dangerous (I say) out of office.

It's possible the GOP folks Broder mentions may well be commenting on the political footballs their party has fumbled, but there do seem to be an increasing number who are disgusted with the way their own party is governing. That's a sentiment that many out here in red-state Kansas share.

Broder writes:

What is driving public opinion is an overall impression that those in office -- meaning mainly Republicans -- have let things slide out of control and need to be relieved.

What voters may not know is that the same judgment has been reached by a significant number of people who are part of -- or close to -- the Republican majority. If I have heard it once, I have heard it a dozen times: Major Republican figures, including top officials of several past GOP administrations and Congresses, say, "We deserve to lose this election."

You can find Broder's column at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/11/AR2006101101596.html

Note: Blogger is being a real pain in the, ah, rear today. It seems to be cutting off some posts when I attempt to create a normal link, so apologies for the awkwardness of this. I can't even seem to get to the page to upload an image.

Pew Research Center provides yet more data that GOP will be ousted Nov. 7

By Diane Silver

Had enough yet of George W. Bush and a Republican Congress? The Pew Research Center reports that voters may just have reached their breaking point.

Conducted Sept. 21 to Oct 4 among 1,503 registered voters, the Pew survey didn't record much of an impact from the Mark Foley sex scandal. However, the survey did show that Democrats are even more energized to vote than Republicans were in 1994 when the GOP took over Congress.

The Pew Center reports:

The comparison between the current campaign and the 1994 midterm election, when Republicans won the majority of House votes and picked up more than 50 seats, is particularly telling. In early October 1994, 50% of Republican voters had already given a lot of thought to the election, compared with 40% of Democratic voters. Today, this margin is nearly reversed, as 59% of Democrats have given a lot of thought to the 2006 midterm, compared with 48% of Republicans.

These indications of Democratic engagement suggest that the turnout advantage the GOP has enjoyed in recent elections may not hold this November. Current estimates suggest that Democratic enthusiasm may compensate for some of the demographic factors that often lead to lower Election Day turnout among Democrats.

On the impact of the Foley scandal... I'm skeptical about these findings. I suspect they may have more to do with the timing of the poll than anything else.

The scandal -- and especially the Republican leadership's apparent interest in protecting the party over protecting children -- may just keep some religious conservatives at home.

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline accused of violating meetings act & lying during chat

The darling of the Religious Right -- Phill Kline -- seems to be stumbling over his tongue.

Associated Press reports today:

Attorney General Phill Kline violated the state's open meetings law by talking privately last year with Kansas State Board of Education members and has misrepresented what a news media attorney said about the issue, that attorney
says.

Mike Merriam, a Topeka attorney who has represented the Kansas Press Association, The Associated Press and The Topeka Capital-Journal, made his comments Tuesday in response to remarks Kline wrote during an Internet chat
session (with the Lawrence Journal-World).

Polls show the race between Republican Kline and Democrat Paul Morrison to be neck and neck.

Note: That for some reason known only to blogger, I can't get this item to post if I include the url in the normal way. So you can find the AP story here: http://www.cjonline.com/stories/101206/leg_kline.shtml

Hi, I'm a lesbian, I live in Kansas, & I don't want anything from you except fairness

By Diane Silver

I decided to celebrate National Coming Out Day by stating what any regular reader of this blog knows -- I am a lesbian.

But I wonder whether many of you, particularly my heterosexual readers, have thought much about what that means.

In some ways that fact is monumental. Because of who I am, my family faces constant discrimination. We are, in fact, second-class citizens. I don't even have the right to visit a spouse in the hospital, let alone the ability to be part of a spouse's health insurance or pension plan.

It doesn't matter what church I belong to or how I live my life. It doesn't matter if I'm thief or a saint. The laws of my country treat me unfairly because I'm gay.

On the other hand, the fact that I'm a lesbian means very little. It certainly doesn't change my day much. I get up, get dressed and go to work. I pay the bills.

I worry that I'm going to have to put way too much money into foundation work soon for my house. I worry that the plumbing needs attention. And I'm tired of pouring money into my 100-year-old home when I'd rather spend those dollars on a vacation.

Thirteen years ago my spouse died of breast cancer. Recently, I fell in love very deeply and sincerely, but right now it doesn't look like that is going to work out. Those losses hurt me just as deeply as they would any straight person. I despair. I bleed, and yes, there have been times when I just wanted to die.

These days, though, life is also a joy. I love writing. It makes me feel alive. I love the crisp air of fall and the smell of the leaves on the ground. I love my son who is a junior at the local university. I delight in our once-a-week dinners.

If I had my way, this country and my home state of Kansas would do nothing more and nothing less than treat me like it does every other citizen. I don't want to take a single thing from you except for what you give to everyone else -- a chance to live and be treated fairly.

May you all have a marvelous Coming Out Day in whatever way makes sense to you.

Kansas Politics: GOP candidate Susan Wagle gets failing grade

By Diane Silver

Republican lieutenant governor candidate Susan Wagle didn't exactly wow them at a Wichita State University political science class yesterday.

Wagle told the class that the answer to rising tuition is packing the state Supreme Court with conservatives who wouldn't require the state to fully fund K-12 education and cutting taxes. The Wichita Eagle reports that one student was pleased with what he heard, but many others weren't.

The Eagle reports:

Afterwards, some students said they weren't really satisfied with Wagle's answers to their questions.

"I didn't get anything except, 'Get us elected,' " said Lizzie Bernhart. And she said she didn't have a problem with the Supreme Court stepping in to settle school funding issues.

"To me, as long as it (the money) gets to the schools where it belongs, I'm happy," she said. "If that's what it comes to because the Legislature won't cooperate, I'm fine with that."

Another student, Matt Goad, said he thought Wagle cares too much about lowering taxes and not enough about tuition.

"Taxes aren't going to be raised $2,500 like my tuition is," he said.

What I want to know is what Wagle was doing talking to a college class. While it is a good idea, in general, for politicians to meet with students, I would think it would be a better use of her time to appear before a larger audience.

Anti-evolution school board & Fred Phelps drag down Kansas

[updated]

This isn't a new idea, but it is interesting to hear Gov. Kathleen Sebelius tell the Topeka Capital-Journal that two of the state's largest economic development problems are anti-gay crusader Fred Phelps and the state's anti-evolution school board.

Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church are based in Topeka. Last year, the Kansas state Board of Education voted to de-emphasize the teaching of evolution and teach intelligent design in Kansas schools.

The Capital-Journal reports:

Calling the Kansas State Board of Education one of the state's worst public relations tools, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Tuesday said she would push in a second term for a constitutional amendment to shift the board's powers to the governor's office.

"I think we have a real institutional, structural problem in the state," Sebelius told The Topeka Capital-Journal editorial board. "The elected school board that we have in place doesn't function in this day and age. There's very little accountability."

The Democratic governor said the board has been an embarrassment to the state in the board's efforts to alter how evolution is taught in the classroom. In an interview, Sebelius said she has encountered people outside the state who have heard of the board's decisions -- and little else -- when it comes to Kansas.

"Fred Phelps and the school board are all they know about," she said. "No amount of economic development dollars can cancel that out."

The Kansas City Star's KC Buzz Blog reports that Sebelius said today that she did not link the state school board with Phelps. Personally, I don't think the above quote is implying that the governor thinks the school board is the same as Phelps. She's making the valid point that both are bad PR for the state.

Kansas Politics: Boyda may be surging against GOP Congressman Ryun

By Diane Silver

I've been hesitant to believe that Democrat Nancy Boyda has much chance against Jim Ryun, the ultra-conservative Congressman with a stranglehold on Kansas' 2nd District, but there are definite signs of change in the race.

Boyda keeps reporting private polling saying that she's running neck and neck with Ryun. Normally, I wouldn't believe that, but today Vice President Dick Cheney is out here raising money for Ryun. I can't remember another time when the vp or any other big GOP operative was deemed necessary to help Ryun's campaign.

Meanwhile, we don't have any public, nonpartisan polls, to use to judge the accuracy of Boyda's data. One would have thought, though, that if Ryun's private numbers tell him something different than Boyda's, he would have noted that fact. Could it be that the only thing that will keep us from ousting an awful Congressman is the feeling that we can't win?

Stay tuned.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports:

During a news conference, Boyda, of Topeka, said her underdog campaign remains a
dead heat. She released her campaign poll, which she said shows Ryun at 42.6 percent and Boyda at 40 percent with the rest undecided.

Kansas Evolution Election: Department accused of writing questionable checks

Moderate state School Board member Sue Gamble plans to press for answers today about what appears to be a free-for-all giveaway of grant money to people favoring charter schools -- a favorite project of the Religious Right.

The real kickers are that Education Commissioner Bob Corkins' staff appear to have (1) sent money to folks who don't even live in Kansas and (2) to have already admitted they sent checks to people who didn't qualify.

The $1,995 checks are supposed to be for Kansans who are looking into starting charter schools. Note that the amount of the checks is crucial because at the $2,000 level, grant checks have to be reviewed.

Gamble's plan is to ask for an explanation at today's state Board of Education meeting. The Wichita Eagle writes editorializes:

* Four of the grants went to Topeka charter school advocate Betty Horton and her husband and to her sister and brother-in-law, who have a Georgia mailing address. Most of the other grant recipients are associates of Horton, including several who live in Kansas City, Mo.

* Gamble asked for the names of everyone who received grants, and Deputy Education Commissioner Larry Englebrick gave her a list of 16 people. But the business office at the Department of Education told Gamble that it issued grant checks to 21 individuals and two organizations.

* The business office was told to pay the entire grant amount up front, rather than making a partial payment or waiting to pay until services had been provided, as is its normal policy.
...
Gamble isn't buying the explanations. "This stinks to high heaven," she said.

Gamble doesn't have any confidence in the credibility of the grant recipients. She said it appears as if anyone could have walked off the street and said, "I like charter schools," and gotten a check.

And she is frustrated that she asked Englebrick and Education Commissioner Bob Corkins last month for copies of the applications for everyone who received grants, but has yet to receive them.

Corkins was appointed by the current anti-evolution Board of Education. Many of those radical incumbents are up for election on Nov. 7.

Once again it's time for the Religious Right to campaign on the back of my family

By Diane Silver

Well, here we are again -- the source of all evil. At least that seems to be how the Family Research Council and their Liberty Sunday program want to paint me personally and my family.

As a lesbian I and my child, of course, are destroying civilization. Funny, I thought I was just trying to make a living and pay my bills. My son is busy getting his degree and trying to figure out how to find the money for a rattle-trap, old car to get him to work.

Silly me.

The lengths to which the Religious Right goes to scapegoat lesbians and gays and our children is amazing. It would be funny, if it wasn't so frightening.

What's it like to live with a target on your back? Look here.

Kansas Politics: All attorney general all the time

By Diane Silver

The coverage of the attorney general's race between incumbent Republican Phill Kline and Democrat Paul Morrison is coming fast and furious. Here are the latest bits of news from the mainstream media with a teeny bit of commentary. I hope to have a more in-depth look at the race soon.

From The Wichita Eagle:

The battle for Kansas Attorney General

Profile of Phill Kline

Kline is seeking a second term. He says his approach to the job includes putting safety first and protecting children from sexual predators and rapists, which has led to his pursuit of medical records from abortion clinics.

He contends that his Democratic opponent, Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison, is soft on crime. He points to a Senate bill Morrison supported that Kline says helped reduce the sentences of hundreds of criminals. Morrison disputes that claim.

Note to Kline: Morrison wasn't one of the many Republican lawmakers who voted for this bill. Those folks include the candidate for lieutenant governor, Susan Wagle.

The Kansas City Star also says that Kline -- who never met a tax cut he didn't like while he was a lawmaker -- is being a bit two faced. The Star writes:

The attorney general says now the Legislature should have paid for more prison space. But Kline had been a champion of tax cuts in the 1990s that left the state without enough money to even contemplate a major prison construction program.

If Kline objects to abbreviated probation and parole terms, he's certainly had ample opportunity to do something about them himself. As attorney general, he has a seat on the sentencing commission. But except during campaign season, he can't seem to work up much interest in the commission's activities.

In nearly four years, Kline has never attended one of its meetings. Kline deceptively claims in his campaigns that the Legislature and sentencing commission freed hundreds of criminals to commit violent crimes.

Profile of Paul Morrison

Morrison may still be inexperienced as a politician, but if Democrats had phoned central casting to request a candidate to oppose Kline, Hollywood would have handed them Morrison.

He fits the image of a typical Kansas lawman, intimidating from his bald head down, past the squinting eyes, the mustache, the flat growl of a voice, the habit of pointing an accusing index finger at a foe....

Morrison says he is running because he thinks Kline has the wrong priorities in seeking medical records from abortion clinics rather than focusing on public safety, that Kline has shown lack of judgment in his staff hirings, and that Kline lacks trial experience. Kline contends those assertions are wrong.

Lawrence Journal-World

Ads Refer to Abortion Without Saying It

Chat with Kline

Notice that Kline never refers to Morrison -- a respected district attorney -- by his full name. He's always "Paul" this and "Paul" that. This is an interesting tactic designed to belittle Morrison, and frankly, I think it's a bit childish.

Also notice the detail Kline gives about his law practice. It sounds like he may have done a bit, but certainly not much or at the very least, nothing to match Morrison's 25 years as a district attorney.

Topeka Capital-Journal

The Capital-Journal takes a detailed look at the law Kline claims is all Morrison's fault. This strikes me as an unbalanced piece that does little to look at the context in which the bill was passed, and the fact that Morrison was not the only person involved. His role may well have been very small. Also, the story does note that Kline's claim of "hundreds" of criminals released by the law is far from the truth. No one was released from prison by this law.

The Capital-Journal writes:

In simple terms, the legislation cut in half the period of post-release supervision the offenders were to serve.

What I would like to see is a more in-depth look at the impact of the law. If this bill hadn't become law, what would have been different? Kansas prisons were bursting. Would dangerous felons have been released without this law?

As important is for someone to take a close look at what role Morrison actually played in this. He is being attacked for "passing" a bill, he had no power to pass. He wasn't in the Legislature then. He didn't have vote. What exactly did he do?

"Don't Balance the Hurt with Hate:" What the Amish have to teach us

By Diane Silver

As we start our week and ponder the meaning of North Korea's possible nuclear bomb test and listen to the saber rattling of everyone from the White House to China, I think we should take a moment to consider the Amish.

The Amish community in Pennsylvania just suffered the worst injury anyone can -- the death of children. One gunman, who must certainly have been mentally ill, burst into an Amish school. He killed five girls and seriously wounded five others.

I've already blogged about the fact that half the mourners at his funeral were Amish.

I've also gone back and looked at earlier stories from last week. AP reported Thursday:

As they struggle with the slayings of five of their children in a one-room schoolhouse, the Amish in this Lancaster County village are turning the other cheek, urging forgiveness of the killer and quietly accepting what comes their way as God's will.

"They know their children are going to heaven. They know their children are innocent ... and they know that they will join them in death," said Gertrude Huntington, a Michigan researcher and expert on children in Amish society.

"The hurt is very great," Huntington said. "But they don't balance the hurt with hate."
...

The Amish also have been reaching out to the family of the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, who committed suicide during the attack. Dwight Lefever, a Roberts family spokesman, said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them.

"I hope they stay around here and they'll have a lot of friends and a lot of support," Daniel Esh, a 57-year-old Amish artist and woodworker whose three grandnephews were inside the school during the attack, said of the Robertses.

Huntington, the authority on the Amish, predicted they will be very supportive of the killer and his wife, "because judgment is in God's hands: 'Judge not, that ye be not judged."

I honestly can't say that we should respond to North Korea as the Amish would. I guess I'm too frightened to think about going to such a place with open hands and asking: Why are you so fearful, and how can we as a nation help?

Certainly the Bush Administration would never do that. Of course, the rhetoric of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney may be one reason why North Korea's leader thinks he needs the bomb. That rhetoric probably feeds nicely into the paranoia of a dictator and the inner workings of a country that may be as dysfunctional as the gunman who killed those Amish girls.

But I do wonder: What if we stopped rattling our sabers? What if we stopped attempting to balance the hurt of 9/11 with hate, and with further hurt or at least with the threat of it? What kind of world would we live in then?

Some other interesting thoughts on the Amish reaction to the shootings, can be found at:

A Glimpse of Grace

Amish Example

Kansas Evolution Election: School Board accused of fiscal double standard

Red State Rabble has an interesting post this morning. Rabble reports that Democrat Don Weiss is noting that the past board followed a double standard in handing out money.

While the board was supposed to be taking care of public schools, the board, dominated by the Religious Right, seemed more interested in favoring others.

Weiss is running against anti-evolution incumbent John Bacon in the 3rd District.

Rabble writes:

"The board recently gave away almost $40,000 in a series of checks for $1,995 to virtually anyone who lined up and said they wanted to start a charter school," says Weiss. "What controls were on this money? Did it matter if two of the checks went to Alpharetta, GA? What is Kansas going to get for their money? I'd like to know."

For more background on the state School Board and the importance of the Nov. 7 vote, see my post "The Kansas Evolution Election: It Isn't Over Yet."

Wichita, Kansas, opens new gay-themed theatre Wednesday

Applause to the new Ampersand Theatre group for both existing and for launching its first play, "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me."

The Wichita Eagle reports that the comic and dramatic monologue opens Wednesday to celebrate national Coming Out Day, and runs through Oct. 22. The work is about growing up gay in America and stars Brad Thomison, who debuted at the Wichita Community Theatre last spring.

The play premiered off-Broadway in 1993.

All performances will be in the 100-seat Fellowship Hall of the First Metropolitan Community Church, 156 S. Kansas in Wichita.

The show starts at 8 p.m. and runs Wednesday-Saturday; 8 p.m. Oct. 19-21 and starts at 2 p.m. on Oct. 22. Tickets are $12, $10 students. Call 316-681-1151. Free opening night for students in GSA.