The Kansas Republican Party isn't dead yet, despite what national observers say

By Diane Silver

I would love to declare that the November election swept progressives into power in Kansas and left the state GOP in "tatters" on the floor. I would love to shout that story from the rooftops. Unfortunately, it isn't true, at least not in the way people on the coasts appear to believe.

Despite the glee of national observers like AMERICAblog.com, occasional commentators at Daily Kos and today's story in The Washington Post, I am sad to say that reports of the party's demise are a tad premature.

The view from Kansas is of a state where even in a watershed year for Democrats, Republicans held onto 78 seats in the Kansas House of Representatives, and Democrats won only 47. In the Kansas Senate, a mere 10 Democrats hold seats, while 30 are in the hands of Republicans.

It is true that Nov. 7 marked an important turning point in Kansas.

Moderates took over the state Board of Education and threw out the anti-evolution members who turned their back on science. However, moderates only hold a one-seat majority. If the past repeats itself, the majority on the board could swing back to the religious right in the next election.

Democrat Kathleen Sebelius won re-election as governor, and she is a talented politician and a good governor. However, the significance of her election remains to be seen.

Kansas has a history of staying thoroughly Republican while electing Democratic governors. In the last 20 years, Kansas has elected a total of five governors -- three Democrats, including Sebelius, and two Republicans.

The Kansas electorate's disgust at the rightwing antics of Attorney General Phill Kline and the fact that they booted him out of office is good news, as is the election of newly minted Democrat Paul Morrison. It is too early to tell, though, whether this was a vote against the Republican Party as much as a vote for an attorney general who will do the job he was elected to do.

The fact that Morrison and a handful of other Republican politicians switched parties is good news, but the number is still small and only a few of them won their campaigns.

For me the most heartening November victory was Democrat Nancy Boyda's win over Republican incumbent Jim Ryun. That came in a moderate to conservative district.

However, the meaning of the vote remains to be seen. Did voters turn their back on Ryun's social and political conservatism or simply get fed up with a Congressman who did a poor job of constituent service and ran a bad campaign?

The Washington Post story focused on the anger over the Johnson County Republican Party's recent election of Kline as county district attorney. He won the vote 316-291.

Here is the real money quote from the story.

"The moment Phill Kline got the nomination, half the room got up and walked out," said Scott Schwab, the county GOP chairman. "It wasn't so much yelling or cussing. They threw up their arms and said, 'What do we do now?' "

That quote, by the way, is from a Kline supporter, and it clearly shows the divide. But the true meaning of the moderates' anger won't be known until we see what else they do.

Reading tea leaves and telling the future is an uncertain task, but here are some signs that might show when a real change has occurred in Kansas.

• The religious right and ultraconservative Republicans cannot win without the collusion of moderate Republicans. Look for more moderates to either switch parties or to take control of the state Republican Party. That isn't even close to happening yet.
• Watch the next primary where precinct representatives are elected, particularly in Johnson County. If moderates can't take control of the precinct seats after the Kline debacle, then moderates will never have the power to succeed.
• Watch the 2008 legislative elections in Kansas. If Democrats cannot win more seats in the Legislature, then the party will never be revived in this state.
  

Former Kansas attorneys general say Phill Kline's actions are all about politics

By Diane Silver

Nothing but politics prompted outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline to name a special prosecutor in an abortion case. That's the word today from former Kansas Attorneys General Bob Stephan and Carla Stovall Steckline.

To make matters worse, Kline doesn't have a written contract with special prosecutor Donald McKinney. Thus, McKinney's financial arrangement with the state is unclear. Kline has called on McKinney to prosecute Wichita abortion provider George Tiller on misdemeanor charges.

The Wichita Eagle reports:

But former Kansas Attorney General Stephan called McKinney's appointment itself political, saying he could see "no reason at all" for Kline to take such an action.

Stephan, who served as attorney general from 1979 to 1995, and Stovall, who served from 1995 to 2003, said a special prosecutor would be needed only if: the office had a conflict of interest in a case; the office had a manpower issue; or if there was a need for an expert.

For example, both cited the need to hire outside prosecutors when the attorney general's office sued neighboring states over water rights.

In one sense, all of this means nothing because Attorney General-Elect Paul Morrison has already promised that he won't retain McKinney.

However, Kline will soon become the new Johnson County district attorney. Kline's new job puts him in a position to help or hurt the lives of those in the county. It also gives him a platform to continue as an outspoken leader of the religious right in Kansas, or to regroup for a run for another statewide post.

Kline shows little interest in letting go of the Ahab-like obsession that lead Kansas voters to throw him out of office in November. He shows little interest in following basic principles of law or good government.

Kline could do both of those things, fulfill his responsibilities as a public servant and still oppose abortion and everything Tiller does. After a while, one begins to wonder why Kline doesn't do that.

Meanwhile, The Eagle published an interesting editorial on Friday, "Kline's Charges Likely About Ideology."

Kansas: Phill Kline's last gasp special prosecutor will get the boot

By Diane Silver

The state's new attorney general, Paul Morrison, told reporters today that he won't keep the special prosecutor his predecessor appointed to go after abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller.

AP reports:

Attorney General-elect Paul Morrison said in a telephone interview today that he's not inclined to have a special prosecutor handle any investigation into Dr. George Tiller, who operates a Wichita clinic and is one of the few doctors in the nation to perform late-term abortions....

While Morrison, who supports abortion rights, would not completely rule out having a special prosecutor, he added, "It certainly won't be Mr. McKinney."

McKinney is an anti-abortion protestor who wins laurels from Operation Rescue for praying outside of Tiller's Wichita clinic. I agree with Morrison that McKinney can't be seen as being even close to objective (dare we say fair minded?) on the subject of Tiller.

The saga of Kline's frantic "last gasp" effort to get Tiller on misdemeanor charges before leaving office on Jan. 8 continues. This is turning into the Energizer bunny of cases.

Join the Army and become a US citizen

By Nancy Jane Moore

The Boston Globe reports that a recent change in US law allows the Pentagon to bring immigrants from other countries to serve in the military "if it determines it is vital to national security."

Right now the only non-citizens serving in the US military are those who were already legal immigrants living here, but the Globe says the Pentagon is considering setting up recruiting stations in foreign countries.

The incentive? Fast-track to US citizenship.

Now I certainly don't object to giving immigrants who have served in the armed forces extra points toward citizenship. And, in fact, there is a bill pending in Congress that would give permanent resident status to illegal immigrants who moved to the US before they were 16 and then serve in the military. The Arizona Daily Star reports that this bill, called the "DREAM Act," stands a good chance of passing the new Congress. It will also give these immigrants legal residency if they attend college.

But actual recruiting in foreign countries seems extreme. And it raises a big question: Why can't we get enough US citizens to join up?

There are those who would say that Americans are just too selfish to serve -- or, to put it more politely, that most citizens, like Dick Cheney during the Vietnam years, have "other priorities."

But while there are always people like Cheney who put self interest first, most of us are willing to make sacrifices for our country -- especially to keep ourselves and our families and neighbors safe. However, I suspect most of us are unwilling to put our lives on the line for Big Oil and a pigheaded president who can't admit he made a major mistake.

Bush is abusing the idealism of those who joined the armed forces to serve the country and keep it safe by sending them off to die in an unnecessary and unwinnable war. Many people of military age have figured that out, and they're not joining up.

Instead of setting up recruitment stations in foreign countries, the Pentagon needs to recognize that they won't ever get enough people to serve so long as they keep fighting wars that aren't in our country's best interest.

Watergate, Gays & Iraq: Thank You, Gerald Ford, for then and now

By Diane Silver

I was 22 when Richard Nixon resigned and Gerald R. Ford, a Congressman from my original home of Michigan, became president.

Along with everyone else I knew in the college town of East Lansing, I was exuberant about the departure of Tricky Dick. Heck, a restaurant called Beggar's Banquet served free champagne to everyone who walked through the door that day.

If you weren't alive then, I'm not certain you can really understand how it felt when the Watergate scandal finally led to Nixon's departure. It seemed as if we had been suddenly delivered from a terminal disease, at the same time we weren't certain we were going to survive the cure.

And then Ford took the stage as president. Calm. Solid. Honest.

Ford was, well, he was just Jerry, not much of a public speaker and a bit too conservative for my taste. To this day, I'm not certain he did the right thing in pardoning Nixon, but he was everything this country needed then. Above all Ford was a decent and honorable man, something that sometimes seems in short supply these days.

In reading his obituaries yesterday, I was struck by an extraordinary passage in The New York Times. It summed up Ford's decency very simply:

On an early trip as president to South Korea, he called American enlisted men "sir."

Can you imagine some of our recent leaders being that humble?

I entitled this post a thank you for "then and now" because this is more than just a post about the past. Ford carried his decency into the 21st Century.

In 2001, he stated his full support of fair laws for lesbians and gays.

Ford told Detroit News columnist Deb Price in a telephone interview that the provisions should include Social Security, tax and other federal benefits.

"I think they (same-sex couples) should be treated equally. Period," he said.

In addition, he stated support for a federal law banning workplace discrimination against gays: "That is a step in the right direction. I have a longstanding record in favor of legislation to do away with discrimination."

Do you know how extraordinary those statements are? Ford went farther than President Bill Clinton, such an allegedly big supporter of gay rights. Clinton signed the horrendous and misnamed Defense of Marriage Act, which banned same-sex couples from getting any federal benefits among other things.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post has just released a 2004 interview where Ford said that George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq wasn't justified.

In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford "very strongly" disagreed with the current president's justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney -- Ford's White House chief of staff -- and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford's chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief.

Decent to the end and full of common sense. Thank you, Jerry. May you rest in peace.

About the Photo: I chose a photo of Ford with his wife, Betty, who seemed then and now to be so much a part of his legacy. Betty showed us how to be honest about our failings and helped many people in the process.

Housekeeping: Labels & posting comments on In This Moment

By Diane Silver

Tuesday I moved the blog from the old Blogger to the new version of Blogger. The good news is that it gives us a bunch of new bells and whistles to play with, including labels as you can see at the end of each post. Click on the label for "gay rights" and see all the posts on gay rights. Soon I'll post an index for folks and add a few other changes to the blog.

Unfortunately, moving the blog also seems to have made it hard for registered Blogger users to post comments, according to emails I've recently received. I'm not certain, yet, how to solve this problem. You might need to create a Google account to comment.

As a transitional measure, though, I'm going to reset the blog and allow anyone, including those who want to remain anonymous, to post.

I'd appreciate it if someone could create a Google account and let me know if that solves the problem. You can reach me directly at hopeandpolitics@yahoo.com.

The New York Times takes a look at lesbian & gay Kansas

By Diane Silver

New York Times reporter Ginia Bellafante does a good job in Thursday's paper of profiling the state's suddenly visible lesbian and gay population.

The 2005 anti-marriage amendment and the ongoing campaigns to paint GLBT citizens as evil sinners have backfired, the story notes. The conservative attacks have lead an increasing number of lesbian, gay and transgendered Kansans to not only come out, but to become politically active.

I met Ginia when she visited our state recently. From what I can tell, she did a good job of fairly portraying the people she met. She even uncovered a few stories I hadn't heard before like this one about a political colleague.

(Cyd) Slayton found that the more she opened herself up, the more she found solace. The day after the marriage amendment passed, her handyman, a Rush Limbaugh fan who came to install her air conditioner, expressed his sympathies. “He came upstairs and said ‘I’m just so sorry, Cyd, I know how hard you worked on this,’ ” she said. “He put his arm around me and it was just about as touching a thing that happened around this whole issue.”

Stories such as Cyd's show the true depth of the quiet revolution in Kansas. Such events won't win elections today, and probably not tomorrow, but the change is coming. Lies and stereotypes can only win for so long.

Kansas: Judge refuses to back Phill Kline, but outgoing attorney general appoints special prosecutor

[updated 12/28/06]

The latest on Phill Kline vs George Tiller with a little mud and politics thrown at Paul Morrison: A Sedgwick County judge ruled that Kline doesn't have jurisdiction to charge the Wichita abortion provider. Meanwhile, Kline appointed a special prosecutor and vowed to go forward despite the judge's ruling.

My question is legal, and I honestly don't have an answer to this one. If the attorney general doesn't have jurisdiction in this case, how can a special prosecutor appointed by the AG have jurisdiction? Anyone?

Update:

* Kline noted that Morrison can abolish the special prosecutor's job when he takes office Jan. 8, but asked Morrison not to do that.

*Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston said she would not allow a special prosecutor to file charges against Tiller. "If somebody is going to prosecute, it's going to be this office," she said, noting she has asked Kline for all the documents in the case.

* The Kansas City Star put it all in perspective by writing that Kline is abusing his authority even though the Kansas Supreme Court warned him not to do so. Kline wants to prosecute Tiller for taking the mental health of the patient into account. The Kansas Supreme Court stated:

“Until the United State Supreme Court or the federal Constitution says otherwise, however, the mental health of the pregnant woman remains a consideration necessary to ensure the constitutionality of the Kansas criminal abortion statute.”

12/28 Update:

The Wichita Eagle has the best blow-by-blow coverage of the hearing before Judge Clark and the legal issues involved. One interesting bit of trivia is that Kline did not argue the case before Clark, but instead had an assistant do it.

The Lawrence Journal-World has the best perspective on the anti-abortion activist appointed by Kline as special prosecutor.

Kansas: Phill Kline appoints special prosecutor to go after George Tiller

By Diane Silver

This is getting weirder and weirder. Does outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline really care about pursuing his anti-abortion agenda or is he starting a vendetta against Paul Morrison, the Democrat who defeated him in November?

The news: Just hours before a 2 p.m. hearing on whether he has jurisdiction to file misdemeanor charges against Dr. George Tiller, Kline appointed a special prosecutor whose claim to fame is yelling about Morrison. AP reports:

Kline chose Wichita attorney Don McKinney, a Democrat and brother of House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, as special prosecutor. Kline said
he chose Don McKinney because he's a well-respected attorney and a Democrat.

During Kline's campaign against Morrison, McKinney castigated a newspaper for not aggressively investigating 15-year-old, unproven allegations of sexual harassment against Morrison.

Those allegations were thrown out of court. Kline's mud slinging so angered Kansans that it might have helped defeat him. The choice of McKinney, a Democrat, looks good on the surface, but McKinney endorsed Kline during the campaign. His interest in flinging mud at Morrison makes it look like Kline's choice has more to do with personal anger than prosecuting Tiller.

The Lawrence Journal-World has a statement from Morrison.

10 myths about Iraq

By Diane Silver

Every American should read Juan Cole's "Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2006."

The post by the University of Michigan Middle East expert puts the debate over the future of Iraq policy in sobering perspective. Cole's post completely trashes the idea that more American troops will solve anything.

Hat tip to Americablog.

Kansas: Phill Kline gets one more chance to charge Wichita abortion doctor

By Diane Silver

If you're following outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline's on-again/off-again effort to nail Dr. George Tiller on misdemeanor charges, mark 2 p.m. tomorrow on your calendar.

That's when Sedgwick County District Judge Paul W. Clark has scheduled a hearing to reconsider his decision to dismiss the charges Kline filed against the doctor. The charges were dismissed over a jurisdictional issue. The hearing will be limited to discussing narrow legal issues. It will not deal with the substance the charges Kline filed against Tiller.

AP reports:

Clark said today that he will consider only whether a district court can limit a district attorney's power to dismiss a criminal case and, if there are circumstances allowing a court to intervene, whether they are present in Tiller's case.

In his one-page notice for the hearing, Clark also said an attorney for Tiller and Attorney General-elect Paul Morrison could participate.

Thus, Clark may well have not only set up a hearing to consider legal issues, but may have created a duel between bitter political opponents. Pistols anyone?

Kansas: Politics & a search for vindication push Phill Kline to charge abortion provider

By Diane Silver

AP Bureau Chief John Hanna does a nice job of explaining why outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline filed charges against Dr. George Tiller just before Christmas.

Kline wasn't playing the Grinch. The longtime darling of the Religious Right was seeking vindication and a way to tangle incoming Attorney General Paul Morrison up in abortion politics, Hanna argues.

Kline leaves the attorney general's office on Jan. 8. Through a weird series of events, he takes over as Johnson County district attorney for Morrison -- the Democrat who creamed Kline at the polls in November.

Kline will presumably continue his battle against Planned Parenthood in Johnson County. However, his jurisdiction over Tiller, who works out of Wichita, ends when Kline leaves office as attorney general.

Hanna writes:

Ultimate vindication for Kline would be a successful criminal prosecution of Tiller. But Kline's loss to Morrison meant Kline almost certainly wouldn't finish a case before leaving office.

However, he could begin one, raise questions about Tiller's activities, kick the anti-abortion propaganda apparatus into higher gear and create potential political problems for Morrison. Morrison then would face the choice of angering abortion-rights supporters or generating unending criticism from abortion opponents.

Kline could have forwarded his information to Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston for potential prosecution. However, he would have to take a chance that a Democrat many abortion opponents don't trust would file the case. The only way for him to be certain a case would get filed was to file it himself.

Filing the case himself, of course, lead a judge to dismiss the charges almost as soon as they were filed. The judge said Kline didn't have jurisdiction.

The silence of Christmas Eve

By Diane Silver

Winter sun and snow, so deep among the trees. There is no breeze today.

The cold freezes my nose from the inside out. The snow fills me with its smell and the sense of being home. The sound of every move is muffled.

Christmas is peace, connection, the quiet to hear yourself think, the silence to feel the divine, or at least it should be.

I have just returned from church, and these are just some of my thoughts as I prepare to welcome my son home for Christmas Eve. We will celebrate with my mother who will soon turn 80. We'll graze tonight on a light dinner of cheese, crackers, a bit of fruit and soup. Tomorrow we'll open presents and then pull together a turkey dinner and share it with a friend.

I'm living in snowless Kansas right now, where I've been for more than 20 years. I grew up in Michigan, though, and this photo reminds me of the silence of the forest and the moments from my childhood when I could feel the divine. The peace of it, the sense of there being more in the universe than I could see or touch, would fill every cell of my body.

May you know peace and love in whatever way holds meaning for you.

Happy holidays to all.