Daily Archives: Feb. 4, 2007

Open thread

Feb. 4, 20071:04 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (72)

Funny how the system seemed fine in 1996

Feb. 4, 20071:03 a.m.

In the unlikely event that Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback wins the presidency or, less unlikely, the vice presidency, his temporary successor would be named by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, and well-positioned to win the seat outright at the next election. If she chose a Democrat — herself, say — that would break the GOP’s 69-year hold on the state’s two Senate seats. That sounds to state Sen. Dennis Pyle (in photo), R-Hiawatha, like a scenario to be avoided. Under his proposed legislation, the governor would call a special election to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy, as now happens in the case of House vacancies. Pyle said that the change would bring “uniformity to both situations.” But it no doubt would bring peace of mind to Republicans, too.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (39)

The Obama dirt that wasn’t

Feb. 4, 20071:02 a.m.

It was Insight magazine that broke the bogus stories about Barack Obama having gone to a Muslim madrassa in Indonesia as a boy (it was a public school), and about Hillary Clinton’s camp having spread the Obama dirt. But it was “Fox and Friends” host Steve Doocy (in photo) who repeated the Insight story on the cable channel, exposing it to a wide audience and reportedly leading to a frosty relationship between the Obama campaign and Fox News reporters. Old-timers in these parts will remember that Doocy grew up in Abilene, went to the University of Kansas and hosted “PM Magazine Kansas” at KAKE, Channel 10, from 1980 to 1983. About the gaffe, John Moody, vice president for news at Fox, advised his staff: “Seeing an item on a Web site does not mean it is right. Nor does it mean it is ready for air on FNC.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (126)

Brownback in the newsweeklies

Feb. 4, 20071:01 a.m.

Time magazine — in an item headlined “How can you tell a Brownback from a Vilsack?” — described the senior senator from Kansas as “a standard-bearer of the social right — with a twist. He speaks out against poverty, the genocide in Darfur and the war in Iraq.” The magazine also put Brownback at an improved 3 percent among potential GOP primary voters, after John McCain (30 percent), Rudolph Giuliani (26 percent), Newt Gingrich (14 percent) and Mitt Romney (5 percent).
Meanwhile, U.S. News & World Report shared “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Sen. Sam Brownback.” For two: That he refused to sign the Contract With America in 1994 and that he was vice president of the national Future Farmers of America in 1976-77.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (18)

Welcome to Fecal Coliform 101

Feb. 4, 20071:00 a.m.

How bad is the deferred maintenance problem at Kansas universities? In the middle of an organic chemistry class last week at the University of Kansas, a brown stain appeared on the ceiling and began dripping.
Turns out an old drainpipe had burst, leaking human sewage, according to a Lawrence Journal-World article. The classroom had to be evacuated. At least students got a hands-off lesson in organic chemistry.
Here are some more horror stories about crumbling campuses.
Critics are lambasting the governor’s toll-road hike to pay for such repairs, but what are their ideas? Bloggers’ ideas?
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (48)