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Open thread 6/18
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted June 18, 2007 at 1:06 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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61 Comments
Some don’t think political contributions say much when an appointment is made to Kansas government. But look at this:
The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts takes action against its former president.Kansas City Star, Jun. 16, 2007http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/153641.html‚”The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts has censured its former president on allegations of malpractice, using falsified records and other misconduct. “‚”Howard Ellis, a Johnson County obstetrician-gynecologist and entrepreneur, became a political embarrassment to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in July 2005 when she reappointed him to a four-year term on the board after he had been off the board for two years.”‚”Just two months before the reappointment, Ellis had voluntarily retired his medical license in Missouri rather than face a disciplinary hearing there.”‚”After widespread media reports of his problems in Missouri, Ellis resigned from the Kansas board at Sebelius’ request. The board hired an independent investigator to examine his conduct.”
Ellis was a good contributor to Sebelius’ campaign in 2002, having given her $4000 before this appointment in 2005:05-15-2003 ELLIS, HOWARD 1000.00 SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN07-09-2002 ELLIS, HOWARD 2000.00 SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN09-13-2002 ELLIS, HOWARD 1000.00 SEBELIUS, KATHLEEN
Sebelius did not appear to be interested in getting the “best” person for this job. She appeared to be interested in getting one of her contributors into this appointment to make sure this board made the “right” decisions ‚Äì likely in matters related to a certain doctor in Wichita.
We need responsible people in Kansas government. There are many good people that don’t even make political contributions and would make good civil servants, but they don’t seem to get much consideration. Maybe Sebelius needs to take a lesson from the new KCMO mayor in his recent appointments of “regular folks” to the park board:http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/146345.html
Mayor Mark Funkhouser, in naming his appointments to the Kansas City park board, took a slap at the board for decades of “elitism and community divisiveness.”‚”The commissioners have often been chosen from among the city’s wealthiest,” said Funkhouser, … With the appointment of this board, I am signaling a change.”
“Ellis resigned from the Kansas board at Sebelius’ request. The board hired an independent investigator to examine his conduct.”
Yep, big conspiracy there. Glad you uncovered THAT one, Meadowlark!
“Sebelius did not appear to be interested in getting the ‘best’ person for this job. She appeared to be interested in getting one of her contributors into this appointment to make sure this board made the ‘right’ decisions ‚Äì likely in matters related to a certain doctor in Wichita.”
Is George Tiller behind everything for you guys? This is rank speculation in the absence of fact. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So far, for me, the evidence supporting this Tiller paranoia is extremely underwhelming. If Tiller was the man behind all these curtains, how would he have time to abort all those viable fetuses?
Meadowlark, did the money Brenda give you go to paying for that tinfoil hat you wear everywhere?
No one pays me for my postings to the WE Blog or any Meadowlark research or reports. Bill Clinton from 1996 is my inspiration for being involved in politics.
Does the Kansas Democratic Party pay you for your blog postings, or the Wichita Eagle for their news/commentary?
“The Democrat”, which is an official publication of the Kansas Democratic Party, is printed by the Wichita Eagle.
From p. 10, May 2007, “The Democrat”:
“In keeping with our Kansas Democratic Party tradition of working with union-friendly businesses, The Democrat is printed at the Wichita Eagle in Wichita, KS.”
But, can we focus? The topic I proposed is responsible government via responsible appointments.
“Sebelius did not appear to be interested in getting the ‘best’ person for this job. She appeared to be interested in getting one of her contributors into this appointment to make sure this board made the ‘right’ decisions ‚Äì ”
That sounds exactly like how the Bush administration appoints people.
The question is would KM be talking about responsible appointments if it was a republican governor? Ya . . . you bet . . . right . . . I still got that bridge for sale.
Keep on truckin’ Meadowlark, it’s refreshing to read the facts instead of the constant stream of editorials disguised as factual news that the MSM publishes today.
The battle of religions.
WASHINGTON – An aide to GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) has been reprimanded for sending e-mail to Iowa Republican leaders in an apparent attempt to draw unfavorable scrutiny to rival Mitt Romney’s Mormonism…………… Among the statements: “Theologically, the only thing Christianity and the LDS church has in common is the name of Jesus Christ, and the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith” and “The LDS church has never been accepted by the Christian Council of Churches.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070617/ap_on_el_pr/brownback_romney
Sy Hersh on Taguba’s Abu Ghraib investigation.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/17/sy-hersh-on-tagubas-abu-ghraib-investigation/
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070618/D8PR7MPO1.html
Good news, but it makes one sick knowing that vile sub-humans like this exist. Is there a severe enough punishment for what these cretins do to kids?
Hmph. Bill Clinton is meadow’s inspiration for his work?
Exactly HOW MANY fetuses did Clinton abort?
Still waiting on you to post the same stuff about the Kansas Water Board and the Kansas Water Authority.
The REAL dirt on sebelius is THERE! If meadow really is after governor leadership, why not post where she is most vulnerable.
Good news, but it makes one sick knowing that vile sub-humans like this exist. Is there a severe enough punishment for what these cretins do to kids?——————I’m not as concerned about the perps and I am concerned about the rescued children. Will they get the help they need to deal with what has happen to them physiologically? Without it they could easily become the pedophiles of tomorrow.
Hey farmgrrl,
There was water resource discussion with ‘Kansas experts’ on KOOD public TV last night.
Lasted an hour but I could only stand about 15 minutes. (had to worm my sheep and goats)
We’re screwed! If these are the so-called-experts here in Kansas working on our water resource problems we don’t have a chance.
Hank
km – I am certain that if you write them a chack the Wichita eagle will print your stuff too. That means nothing.
They’ve been trying to cope with the water problem out in Western Kansas for a long time, but the farmers and ranchers get in the way.
They successfully lobby to reduce the power of the Water Board to allow themselves to keep swallowing water for their federal subsidize crops.
Ben,
Yep. The Eagle runs a commercial printing business on the side. They’ll print for anyone with a checkbook, including Meadowlark.
As I pointed out to him on another thread yesterday, the Eagle’s commercial printing is reasonably priced, fast, decent quality, and they pay their union employees a living wage.
But that narrative doesn’t work for Meadowlark. He’d rather find some conspiracy to hint at; you know, since “The Democrat” is printed there, the Democratic Party somehow controls the Eagle’s editorial board.
::eyeroll::
No one pays me for my blogs either Meadowlark. :)
We the people-
hmmm. interesting concept. A Representative government.MY question is this:
How should it work? I have heard and read how so and so is just doing this to get reelected, or just pandering to their base, yada yada yada. SO, are our representatives statesman, or representatives?If they are getting reelected, are they not, in general, reflecting the majority of their constituents? And if so, what’s wrong with that? And if not, why are they getting reelected? Should they vote on issues in line with what they beleive their constituents want, or with some principal of “what’s right” which is ever moving?
Bush Family Evil Empire: Scandal Du Jour–The Abu Ghraib Prison Torture or “It’s only a heinous war-crime when THEY do it . . . ”
While the horrific sexual humiliation and torture shocked the world (well, everyone but Rush Limbaugh who likened it to frat hazings), it turns out that there was much, much more we didn’t see.
Sort of like a frat hazing . . . if the pledge master were the Marquis De Sade.
Seymour Hersch writes the following in this month’s “New Yorker”:
Gen. Taguba recalled, “I described a naked detainee lying on the wet floor, handcuffed, with an interrogator shoving things up his rectum, and said, ‘That’s not abuse. That’s torture.’
I learned from Taguba that the first wave of materials included descriptions of the sexual humiliation of a father with his son, who were both detainees. Several of these images, including one of an Iraqi woman detainee baring her breasts, have since surfaced; others have not. (Taguba’s report noted that photographs and videos were being held by the C.I.D. [Criminal Investigations Department] because of ongoing criminal investigations and their “extremely sensitive nature.”) Taguba said that he saw “a video of a male American soldier in uniform sodomizing a female detainee.” The video was not made public in any of the subsequent court proceedings, nor has there been any public government mention of it.
Nevertheless, Rumsfeld, in his appearances before the Senate and the House Armed Services Committees on May 7th, claimed to have had no idea of the extensive abuse. “It breaks our hearts that in fact someone didn’t say, ‘Wait, look, this is terrible. We need to do something,’ ” Rumsfeld told the congressmen. “I wish we had known more, sooner, and been able to tell you more sooner, but we didn’t.”
Rumsfeld told the legislators that, when stories about the Taguba report appeared, “it was not yet in the Pentagon, to my knowledge.” As for the photographs, Rumsfeld told the senators, “I say no one in the Pentagon had seen them”; at the House hearing, he said, “I didn’t see them until last night at 7:30.” Asked specifically when he had been made aware of the photographs, Rumsfeld said:
There were rumors of photographs in a criminal prosecution chain back sometime after January 13th . . . I don’t remember precisely when, but sometime in that period of January, February, March. . . . The legal part of it was proceeding along fine. What wasn’t proceeding along fine is the fact that the President didn’t know, and you didn’t know, and I didn’t know.
Taguba, watching the hearings, was appalled. He believed that Rumsfeld’s testimony was simply not true. “The photographs were available to him—if he wanted to see them,” Taguba said. Rumsfeld’s lack of knowledge was hard to credit. Taguba also recalled thinking, “Rumsfeld is very perceptive and has a mind like a steel trap. There’s no way he’s suffering from C.R.S.—Can’t Remember Sh*t. He’s trying to acquit himself, and a lot of people are lying to protect themselves.”
“From what I knew, troops just don’t take it upon themselves to initiate what they did without any form of knowledge of the higher-ups,” Taguba told me. His orders were clear, however: he was to investigate only the military police at Abu Ghraib, and not those above them in the chain of command. “These M.P. troops were not that creative,” he said. “Somebody was giving them guidance, but I was legally prevented from further investigation into higher authority. I was limited to a box.”
Taguba came to believe that Lieutenant General Sanchez, the Army commander in Iraq, and some of the generals assigned to the military headquarters in Baghdad had extensive knowledge of the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib even before Joseph Darby came forward with the CD. Taguba was aware that in the fall of 2003—when much of the abuse took place—Sanchez routinely visited the prison, and witnessed at least one interrogation. According to Taguba, “Sanchez knew exactly what was going on.”
When I spoke to [Florida Congressman Kendrick] Meek recently, he said, “There was no way Rumsfeld didn’t know what was going on. He’s a guy who wants to know everything, and what he was giving us was hard to believe.”
An aggressive congressional inquiry into Abu Ghraib could have provoked unwanted questions about what the Pentagon was doing, in Iraq and elsewhere, and under what authority. By law, the President must make a formal finding authorizing a C.I.A. covert operation, and inform the senior leadership of the House and the Senate Intelligence Committees. However, the Bush Administration unilaterally determined after 9/11 that intelligence operations conducted by the military—including the Pentagon’s covert task forces—for the purposes of “preparing the battlefield” could be authorized by the President, as Commander-in-Chief, without telling Congress.
In January of 2006, Taguba received a telephone call from General Richard Cody, the Army’s Vice-Chief of Staff. “This is your Vice,” he told Taguba. “I need you to retire by January of 2007.” No pleasantries were exchanged, although the two generals had known each other for years, and, Taguba said, “He offered no reason.”
[Taguba concludes that]“I know that my peers in the Army will be mad at me for speaking out, but the fact is that we violated the laws of land warfare in Abu Ghraib. We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values. The stress of combat is not an excuse, and I believe, even today, that those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable.”
*****
Who appoints the people in charge? Who supervises them? Who said he is “the decider, and make decisions?”
Blaming this scandal on a bunch of low-level lackeys is total BS.
Protecting his cronies who were implimenting HIS policies is your Bush Family Evil Empire: Scandal Du Jour.
Capn
Explain this.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1084796,00.html
Note: The sorce is the Guardian in the UK.
Also the relationship between Facility 1391, Gitmo and Abu Ghraib.
[ The same technique was employed in all three subhuman torture facilities ].
“We’re screwed! If these are the so-called-experts here in Kansas working on our water resource problems we don’t have a chance.”
No shit Hank! These “so called experts” are just political hacks. Wait to see who replaces David Pope. Given adrian polansky’s position, it will likely be a democrat HACK! What’s Earl doing these days….?
And I think it is funny as hell that NEITHER the dems or the repubs will tackle the water problem in this state. It’s here. Now. And it aint going away anytime soon.
No matter HOW many political games they play, they cant create more water.
Oh for a REAL leader who would address the state’s problems, not just their parties’ coffers or the all abortion all the time group.
I mean really, how many baptisms can you conduct without water? How many abortions?
How many governors will it take. ‘Cause THIS damn one isnt doing anything but angling for higher office…
Okay Ksfarmgrrl-
If you could change three things to do to address the water problems, what would they be?
Meadowlark, if you’ve never been paid by the Republicans for any work then why did Brenda hand you $1,000?
Haliburton moves headquarters to Dubai…
Anyone consider this move was to avoid investigation after Bush is gone?
Here’s a couple of other Republican campaign Meadowlark was paid to work on:http://www.accesskansas.org/ethics/CFAScanned/ElecCycle2006/200607/SW03EC_200607.pdf
http://ethics.ks.gov/ElecCycle2006/200610/H038AB_200610.pdf
If we take Meadowlark’s reasoning he’s paid to take orders from these candidates and paid to print up absurd conspiracy theories.
Doug,
OUCH. That smarts.
In the documents you posted, what’s the name under which KS Meadowlark received payments from the two campaigns?
Sent in my money to the Giuliani Campaign for a “Rudy” sticker. Going to put it on my car just to irritate people. :D
Hmm, what should I put on the front? :)
Could it be that Meadowlark is just another paid shill?
4,000 dollars from the candidate for insurance commissioner to “Kansans for Life” for “advertising.”
Does that include gas for the fetus truck to drive around and gross out kids?
Y’all remember Matt Lepacek?
prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/060607criminalindictments.htm
Sorry ’bout that. Meadowlark’s real name is Earl Glynn and can be found on the documents as someone paid to work on the campaigns.
A tag that says Bush Monkey…….Republican
“They successfully lobby to reduce the power of the Water Board to allow themselves to keep swallowing water for their federal subsidize crops.”
True dat Joe!
But mostly, they angle for positions on the water board to KEEP the power in the hands of irrigators and subsidy queens. And they hand out plenty of campaign cash to do so.
Kansas Farm Bureau anyone? Kansas Livestock Association? And they have made an unholy alliance with the Kansas League of Municipalities.
They even have their own henchman in the form of Mike (defeated by a woman democrat) Hayden who now cant kiss governor leadership’s ass enough!
Take a look at the political contributions of Steve Irsik, the CHAIR of the water board. Then look at HIS subsidies at the environmental working group website.
No special interests there. No. Uh-uh. If you look at the makeup of the water board, a disproportionate number come from south of 1-70. And a disproportionate number are also big irrigators.
And sebelius contributors.
Earl Glynn?
Didnt gsheridan post on other WE and Saljournal boards as “glynn” in addition to tippy?
Hmmmmm…….
Yes but it’s not the same person. I promise.
I didnt say it was the same person. But it is an odd coincidence…
…and by the way, not that we want her back, where is little miss hissy fit?
One of the prosecutors in the Jo Co DA office is speaking out. I heard her last night. She left and is working for Morrison in Topeka now. She said Phill is ruining the DA’s office. She told many horror stories. A murderer was up for parole on Monday and no one from the DA’s office was there to represent the people of Johnson County. The attorney who should have been there was playing golf. She told of another case where the defendant was charged with 5 felonies and had no attorney (she called this a no brainer win) and Kline’s people let him plea down to a misdemeanor and time served. And Kline is calling that a win.
The only case he has won was that murder trial last week where the defendant’s mother testified against him. DUIs are being thrown out because evidence is lost. Criminal defense attorneys are lining up to get easy wins since the prosecutors are so incompetent. 20 of 32 attorneys in the DA’s office have left since January, some fired and some quit.
She said someone needs to file a FOIA and find out how much restitution has been collected and paid since January in Johnson County.
Here’s the best part: Phill is working 6 to 8 hours a week – for $143K a year.
I emailed her the other day and she said that she’s been really busy with the business and family. She hasn’t been posting on any boards that I’m aware of anyway.
Sorry LJ, I didnt see this before:
“If you could change three things to do to address the water problems, what would they be?”
I could think of a hundred :) but if you want to limit it to three, here goes.
1. STOP THE DAMN HOLCOMB COAL FIRED POWER PLANT. Everyone piss moans and sighs about the pollution it will generate, and indeed it will, but the WATER it will waste is irreplacable.
2. STOP ALL ETHANOL PLANT CONSTRUCTION. And decommission a few that are already on line. Why the phuck does RUSSELL, with its eternal water shortages have a god damn ethanol plant sucking the water out of the Smokey?
And it isnt just the water the plants use that causes a problem. The grains they use are irrigation hogs, which brings me to the next point.
3. STOP ALL FREAKIN’ IRRIGATION!!!! Of course it isnt that easy, but unless the land is being used to grow “real food” as Joe says, the irrigation of grains must stop. Do you want water in the future? Then you HAVE to stop irrigating grains.
I know it will be painful and the big money big ag boys will cry like little bitches, and so will the county commissioners out here, but it has to be done.
It is really simple.
Keep irrigating grain = little or no water west of Salina in 15 years.
STOP irrigating grain = at least we have a CHANCE to keep enough water out here to sustain population at even a minimal level.
Water = population. Lack of population = economic death for half the state.
You taxpayers and voters get to chose if you want to pay the bill to empty out half the state.
And then they’ll come for YOUR water. And no one will be left to speak for you!
Pmom, GOOD!
I hope her business is so successful she NEVER comes back here.
I notice no one has even asked about her. Afraid it will bring her back, I guess.
I guess, since the other major troll, republican has no family, we could only HOPE for the same success as her?
heheheheheheheeh……
I sure wish Phill Kline would come back and post here again, that was fun.
This has got to be the most exciting blog I’ve ever been on, the Phelps clan, the Fox’s, Kline’s goon Bryan Brown, and now Kline too!
I’ll bet at least one of these posters has to be Troy Newman.
Maybe if we try hard enough the Prez himself will actually respond.
What KFG, no love lost?? lol.
Come on, I know you wish she’d come back and taunt you some more.
:D
I think my computer is just about to bite it. It keeps going whhhhhhhhoomp whhhhhhhooomp.
“Come on, I know you wish she’d come back and taunt you some more.”
Uh… no.
Pmom, maybe we could swap computer for my truck?
‘Cause it’s makin’ the same noise…
I sound like that when I get up in the morning, I think it’s gas!
lol g. That’s ok KFG, I think I’ll stick with the computer, the fix might be cheaper than your truck…but you never know.
My puter is over 8 years old, I think it is well past time to replace.
Doug and Capn,
Very interesting stuff from Eric Carter’s campaign finance report. But that $4000 from Carter to Kansans for Life does _not_ show up on KFL’s receipts for the same period.
Isn’t this the same KFL Meadowlark was saying “didn’t have any money”? Could it be that KFL is funneling unreported money through various tax-exempt charities? Why hasn’t the Eagle reported on this?
Meadowlark, why aren’t you beating the bushes on this one?
Or could it be that this doesn’t fit your spin? You know, it’s okay when your guys do this, but when someone else does, STOP THE PRESSES!!!!
::eyeroll::
P Mom, if your ‘puter is going “whump whump” it most likely is your hard drive is looking for a place to crawl off and die in peace. If you haven’t already, I would recommend that you back up any important files onto floppy or CD. HD’s are easy to replace, but the files can be lost forever.
Your local Best Buy or Circuit City sells replacement HD’s at reasonable prices. The actual replacement is easy for even the non-computer knowledgeable.
Thanks WSC, I think I’ll end up just buying a new computer. I need a laptop anyways.
I WILL be backing up my files though.
Oh look at this wah wah wah baby, Bryan Brown, could you exaggerate a little more?
A scratch to the face is a whole lot different than a flipping bomb or shooting you know. I don’t condone Flora’s actions, but please!
Could have created a mob? Nobody feels Newman is that important.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An anti-abortion protester is suing a legislator who was fined for assaulting the cockroach-costumed protester at last year’s Kansas State Fair.
Troy Newman, president of the Wichita-based anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, alleges Rep. Vaughn Flora, D-Topeka, violated his free speech rights. The lawsuit, which calls Flora’s conduct “socially outrageous, politically oppressive and beyond the bounds of decency which a civilized society should tolerate,” seeks $75,000 in damages.
The incident occurred in September 2006, as Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat seeking her second term, was debating her Republican opponent at the fair before more than 2,000 spectators. Flora ripped Newman’s mask off his face, leaving a 2-inch cut, according to the lawsuit.
Newman filed his lawsuit Friday in Shawnee County District Court. No hearings have been scheduled.
“We’re looking at a situation here where a message is sent to a crowd of about 2,000 people that this how we deal with political dissent,” Bryan Brown, Newman’s attorney, said in an interview Monday. “It’s a message that in Kansas, pro-life political dissent can be dealt with a smash to the face.”
Flora did not immediately return a message left on his home. Last month, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge in Reno County and avoided a 30-day jail sentence by agreeing to pay a $100 fine and $128 in court costs by June 29.
Newman wore his cockroach costume to gubernatorial debates to publicize what he viewed as Sebelius’ refusal to deal with substandard conditions in abortion clinics. Abortion foes have sought regulations targeting abortion clinics, but Sebelius, an abortion rights supporter, vetoed legislation in 2003 and 2005.
The lawsuit said Newman wanted to remain anonymous to “focus attention on his cause.”
He alleged that Flora struck him at least twice, making him fear for his safety. Flora has described the incident as unfortunate but has refused to apologize.
The lawsuit suggests Flora was serving as an agent of the campaign, something Sebelius’ staff said isn’t the case.
“It could have turned into a mob action and a mob beating,” Brown said.
—
The case is Troy Newman v. Vaughn L. Flora, No. 07C000830 in Shawnee County District Court.
Attacking a pro-life demonstrator, an ordained one at that, is a federal civil rights violation of free speech and free exercise of religion. Rep. Flora would be lucky to settle for paying up most of the $75,000.
Four years after our preemptive attack,
‘Iraq now ranked second among world’s failed states’http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070618/ts_nm/iraq_usa_states_dc;_ylt=ApzO13ro0bdowh8iXkfFZfes0NUE
Donations to Operation Rescue falling off, Parkay? Looking to line your pockets by suing people?
Hmmm…isn’t that how the Phelps do it?
Parkay has got to be Newman.
Pmom,
Or Sullenger, or Mason, or any one of that gaggle of morons.
Religious people…
Do NOT leave religious literature in place of a TIP at a restaurant. God doesn’t give you a free pass to be a cheapskate.
Augh.
If the service was poor, I could understand leaving no tip. But what I witnessed today was beyond ridiculous, the service was fine, and she wasn’t doing anything inappropriate to deserve that.
Pmom,
Not to mention that waitress was probably making Kansas minimum wage: $2.65 an hour.