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Conservatives tighten reins on Kansas GOP
http://cjonline.com/stories/012708/sta_240841105.shtml
The wingnuts continue to lead Kansas Repos
Conservatives continued Saturday to tighten their strong grip on the Kansas Republican Party by preventing a moderate from representing the state on the party’s national committee.
The other Kansan on the national committee, another prominent moderate, is stepping down as well. The GOP State Committee adopted a resolution last year accusing him of trying to hinder fundraising, suggesting he would have been removed anyway.
The State Committee decides who serves on the RNC, electing the state’s representatives for four-year terms. The new national committee members will take over their positions after the Republican National Convention in early September in Minneapolis.
Conservatives demonstrated their dominance by selecting challenger Helen Van Etten, a Topeka audiologist, over incumbent RNC member Alicia Salisbury, a former state senator, also from Topeka. The vote for Van Etten was 130-38.
Van Etten is president of the Kansas Republican Assembly. The group, formed by anti-tax, anti-abortion and evangelical Christian activists when moderates controlled the state GOP, has described itself as “the heart of the party” and “the Republican wing of the Republican Party.”
I can’t think of a better prescription locally to encourage Republicans to reregister as Democrats in order to participate in our Presidential caucuses on Feb. 5th – and to stay Democrats – than the tightening of the grip around the necks of moderate Repulicans by the neo-cons.
By the way, has anyone noticed how often Tiahrt is putting his letters to the editor in the Eagle? His re-election campaign articles appear more often than Dr. Bill Roy’s columns – whom I would rather read. Maybe I should be happy though that Tiahrt isn’t using my tax dollars to propagandize – like he did with that SCHIP mailer to everyone in the 4th district a month ago.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22845808/
Oklahoma law blamed for Hispanic exodus
Baby death underscores fear of measure from illegal immigrants, critics say updated 9:14 p.m. CT, Fri., Jan. 25, 2008
TULSA, Oklahoma – Edgar Castorena had diarrhea for 10 days and counting, and the illegal immigrant parents of the 2-month-old did not know what to do about it.
They were afraid they would be deported under a new Oklahoma law if they took him to a major hospital. By the time they took him to a clinic, it was too late.
A ruptured intestine that might have been treatable instead killed the U.S.-born infant, making him a poster child for opponents of a bill months before it was enacted as the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of Protection Act of 2007.
The law, billed by its backers as the toughest U.S. legislation against illegal immigration, took effect Nov. 1. It bars illegal immigrants from obtaining jobs or state assistance and makes it a felony to harbor or transport illegal immigrants.
“The sad part of it was the child didn’t have to die if House Bill 1804 didn’t ever come around,” said Laurie Paul, who runs the clinic where Edgar was finally taken. “It was a total tragedy because the bill was there to create the myths and untruths and the fear.”
A final portion of the law goes into effect July 1, requiring private companies to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires.
While it is difficult to characterize which U.S. state has the toughest immigration-related law, Oklahoma’s goes beyond most because it includes the clause about harboring and transporting illegal immigrants, said Ann Morse, program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Immigrant Policy Project.
“What I think these laws may have are unintended consequences on the general public,” Morse said recently. “How does the law get implemented? Who is the target?”
The crackdown and its consequences
The crackdown has caused Hispanics to leave for neighboring states, with as many as 25,000 leaving northeastern Oklahoma alone, according to the Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
The law’s fallout also can be seen in struggling businesses, worker shortages and widespread fear among immigrants who say they are afraid to drive to church or the market because police might pick them up.
“I feel like I’m in some kind of Nazi country where if they see your color, you’ll be stopped,” said Maria Sanchez, a 22-year-old student who is looking to leave Oklahoma rather than risk waiting the seven years it will take to get her papers. “I can’t work, I can’t study, I can’t go out, there’s no point of me staying here.”
Civil rights leaders call the law xenophobic and redundant, and they say other states will wrongly look to Oklahoma to push their own anti-illegal immigrant legislation. Business and church leaders also have been vocal opponents.
“Oklahoma was settled by immigrants … which means that diverse is normal in Oklahoma,” said the Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders. “It’s difficult for us to understand a state which is so Christian, that to have all this animosity toward immigrants is completely outrageous.”
Defending Oklahoma’s act
Supporters — described by Dan Howard, the founder of an anti-illegal immigration Web site, as “good, American, God-fearing people of the heartland that bleed red, white and blue” — say the law is necessary because of Washington’s bungled immigration policy. They also believe the law has helped deter crime and punishes the companies that make money on the backs of illegal labor.
The bill’s Republican author, state Rep. Randy Terrill, said similar versions have been introduced or are under consideration in more than a dozen states. Last year, more than 1,500 pieces of immigration-related legislation were introduced across the country, with 244 becoming law in 46 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“More than half the nation will soon be modeling Oklahoma’s bill,” said Terrill, who plans to introduce a companion piece this year that would make English the state’s official language, order schools to report how many illegal children are enrolled and require people or businesses who transport, hire or rent to illegal immigrants to forfeit property.
Dog, there really was no excuse for that baby to die. The law didn’t go into effect until after.
formed by anti-tax, anti-abortion and evangelical Christian activists when moderates controlled the state GOP, has described itself as “the heart of the party” and “the Republican wing of the Republican Party.”
Yes it is disturbing, the statement above is solely depends on the point of View.
I would say I am the heart of the party, but then again that too is from a point of view.
Kelly I do not see a mass defection happening to the Democratic party by the Moderates.
Most likely they will change to Independent, as I said once before the thought has crossed my mind. Though I have noticed that in some respect the Moderate Republicans might feel more at home in the DNC. As the Democrats truly have moved more to a centrist view of the economy and the like.
But definitely the days of the “Big Tent” GOP are over, it is coming down to either fight for the party and bring it back from the edge. Or jump ship and swim for the shore.
Both could end with the same outcome, we could leave the GOP to those wanting a Theocracy and those wanting a “Nanny State” big Government to fight amongst themselves. Much like two mangy Bears fighting over the same rotting Salmon.
LOL and a pre-thank you to JR, as I said above in many ways I might be more comfortable in the DNC. But for now I want to see where this goes, I am not as much fighting for the party but also the country too. My Party and my country have both been overran.
I really don’t want the exodus of republicans unless they believe in democratic values.
Oxymoron alert!
“I really don’t want the exodus of republicans unless they believe in “democratic values”.”
Yeah Mom, the article even touched on it, I am not sure if there is a winning solution. Having lived in OK I can tell you there are more then enough hard working poor in the state to fill any jobs that come up. I still remember setting the Halliburtion employment office and there were like 1,400 other people applying that day.
In part I think it is also the langage barrer, to few are able to explain to the other what is going on. I had to learn some Spanish while working in the Sedgwick County jail. Just in order to process the illegals. It made for some funny stories about doing a strip search.
But the point is that we have to find a balance between Hummanity and the laws. The Baby was born here so is a U.S. Citizen under current law.
I don’t predict a mass exodus either. But I do think that there will be converts just for the privilege of participating in our presidential caucus, and – to the extent the Republican Party continues to self-destruct – Democratic Party candidates will benefit.
In the Iowa caucus, I recall hearing that fully 50% of the participants were first-time participants. That doesn’t mean that all of those first-timers were Independant or Republican converts, but I’ll bet a lot of them were.
Dog,
Do what you wish. But please stand still, it’s hard to hit a moving target. :)
MOM and Fleet, I would suspect that the values between the parties is not the issue.
They may not differ that much, what does it the concept of how to serve those values.
To build a Nanny state where the government has a say in everything is not the answer.
When you give up the right to defend your own decisions on one issue it opens the door to you having to give up your right to decide on all issues. and both parties have become guilty of doing the same thing. Gun control and drug use, both have very similar arguments. And both have become dividing issues between the parties. But both also have the same benign qualities to them, left to the person there is no harm in either one.
It is when the effects butt heads with the society that it becomes an issue.
The truest Republican believe is that the situation should be present for the citizens to prosper. You have a good job and make a decent living from your work. Sadly the Party has lost that believe and the supposed majority thinks that it is all for the corporate benefit. Following that logic Capitalism has the same fate as Communism.
And the Democrats have the same believe in a situation that will cause the citizens to prosper. But its failing is thinking that the Government should have control over the corporations to insure that.
Regular not even on a bad day, why make it easier?
Dog,
You do what a lot of people do. You tie people who happen to vote for Republican candidates with hard core Republicans.
I have a voter registration card like most adults do. It says Republican Party on it. However, I have never done anything with or for the Republican party other than vote.
There are some issues I strongly disagree with about the Republican National platform, but there are even more I disagree with on the Democratic National Platform. Actually, I disagree more with the Democratic attitude and two-faced approach to politics.
Of late yes, even some Republicans in National and local power have become two-faced.
As a voter, I don’t do a sing-song every time a Politician gets flatulent on an issue. I’m of my own mind and it will still say Republican on my voter registration after the 2008 elections.
Writer – A Democratic Party weakness is that they believe in “control over the corporations”? What an incredibly simplistic statement. Democrats believe that too much regulation and control over corps and the economy is bad. But we do believe that appropriate and necessary regulation can avoid horrible disasters like the Great Depression, or the Reagan-inspired S&L disaster and federal bail-out, and now the sub-prime mortgage disaster and incipient federal bail-out.
I know that a vibrant economy and public investment in private endeavors and job creation are critically important to the maintenance of the middle class. But running up the flag of “no government is the best government” as a supposed weakness of the Democratic Party is short-sighted, naive and propagandistic. The key is moderation, and continuing critical analysis of past decisions and potential future regulation and legislation.
I agree with Kelly. We don’t want to snuff out business, but we want business to be responsible and accountable when they do wrong.
Dems are well aware that thriving business is good for everyone. We’re just not willing to sell our souls to protect the bad businesses.
Chas-Here is an update on the FBI cover-up story I promised you.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3257725.ece
From The Sunday Times
January 27, 2008
Tip-off thwarted nuclear spy ring probe
Insight: Chris Gourlay, Jonathan Calvert, Joe Lauria in Washington
AN investigation into the illicit sale of American nuclear secrets was compromised by a senior official in the State Department, a former FBI employee has claimed.
The official is said to have tipped off a foreign contact about a bogus CIA company used to investigate the sale of nuclear secrets.
The firm, Brewster Jennings & Associates, was a front for Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent. Her public outing two years later in 2003 by White House officials became a cause célèbre.
The claims that a State Department official blew the investigation into a nuclear smuggling ring have been made by Sibel Edmonds, 38, a former Turkish language translator in the FBI’s Washington field office.
Edmonds had been employed to translate hundreds of hours of intercepted recordings made during a six-year FBI inquiry into the nuclear smuggling ring.
She has previously told The Sunday Times she heard evidence that foreign intelligence agents had enlisted US officials to acquire a network of moles in sensitive military and nuclear institutions.
Her latest claims relate to a number of intercepted recordings believed to have been made between the summer and autumn of 2001. At that time, foreign agents were actively attempting to acquire the West’s nuclear secrets and technology.
Among the buyers were Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Paki-stan’s intelligence agency, which was working with Abdul Qadeer Khan, the “father of the Islamic bomb”, who in turn was selling nuclear technology to rogue states such as Libya.
Plame, then 38, was the glamorous wife of a former US ambassador, Joe Wilson. Despite recently giving birth to twins, she travelled widely for her work, often claiming to be an oil consultant. In fact she was a career CIA agent who was part of a small team investigating the same procurement network that the State Department official is alleged to have aided.
Brewster Jennings was one of a number of covert enterprises set up to infiltrate the nuclear ring. It is is believed to have been based in Boston and consisted of little more than a name, a telephone number and a post office box address.
Plame listed the company as her employer on her 1999 tax forms and used its name when she made a $1,000 contribution to Al Gore’s presidential primary campaign.
The FBI was also running an inquiry into the nuclear network. When Edmonds joined the agency after the 9/11 attacks she was given the job of reviewing the evidence.
The FBI was monitoring Turkish diplomatic and political figures based in Washington who were allegedly working with the Israelis and using “moles” in military and academic institutions to acquire nuclear secrets.
The creation of this nuclear ring had been assisted, Edmonds says, by the senior official in the State Department who she heard in one conversation arranging to pick up a $15,000 bribe.
One group of Turkish agents who had come to America on the pretext of researching alternative energy sources was introduced to Brewster Jennings through the Washington-based American Turkish Council (ATC), a lobby group that aids commercial ties between the countries. Edmonds says the Turks believed Brewster Jennings to be energy consultants and were planning to hire them.
But she said: “He [the State Department official] found out about the arrangement . . . and he contacted one of the foreign targets and said . . . you need to stay away from Brewster Jennings because they are a cover for the government.
“The target . . . immediately followed up by calling several people to warn them about Brewster Jennings.
“At least one of them was at the ATC. This person also called an ISI person to warn them.” If the ISI was made aware of the CIA front company, then this would almost certainly have damaged the investigation into the activities of Khan. Plame’s cover would also have been compromised, although Edmonds never heard her name mentioned on the intercepts. Shortly afterwards, Plame was moved to a different operation.
The State Department official said on Friday: “It is impossible to find a strong enough way to deny these allegations which are both false and malicious.”
It would be more than two years before Khan was forced to admit he had been selling nuclear weapons technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
In the meantime, the role of Plame and Brewster Jennings became public knowledge in 2003. Plame’s husband, Wilson, wrote a report that undermined claims by President George W Bush that Saddam Hussein’s regime had attempted to buy uranium in Niger – a key justification for the invasion of Iraq.
The following week Robert Novak, a journalist, revealed that Wilson’s wife was a CIA agent. In the scandal that followed, Novak’s sources were revealed to be two senior members of the Bush administration. A third, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, was convicted of obstructing the criminal investigation into the affair.
Phillip Giraldi, a former CIA officer, said: “It’s pretty clear Plame was targeting the Turks. If indeed that [State Department] official was working with the Turks to violate US law on nuclear exports, it would have been in his interest to alert them to the fact that this woman’s company was affiliated to the CIA. I don’t know if that’s treason legally but many people would consider it to be.”
The FBI denied the existence of a specific case file about any outing of Brewster Jennings by the State Department official, in a response to a freedom of information request. However, last week The Sunday Times obtained a document, signed by an FBI official, showing that the file did exist in 2002.
Plame declined to comment, saying that she was unable to discuss her covert work at the CIA.
Kelly, some regulation is in order practically when a corporation has a unrealistic profit driven operation. Certainly when it comes to pollution and working conditions, but it is true that there needs a balance, regulating and taxing Corporations is not the answer to every question. The swiping action of both effects not just the bad one but also the good one the same. Where the Republicans may not do enough the Democrats tend to do too much. Many times it would be best to leave it as a local matter and to the courts to decide. The Federal Government should be involved concerning Federal contracts and the like. What has happened in Iraq with Halliburton is shameful and since they are operating under Federal contract Washington should seek redress.
As I said I notice that the Democrats have moved farther way from their previous stance on these issues….
Like you, Reg…I don’t do anything for/with either party. I have a registration card in my wallet, and it says “Independent”. I like people who will listen, like Nile Dillmore, and do what they say they will do, regardless of party/theory or platform.
However, it seems because I poke holes insome ridiculous extremists arguments, those extremists want to label me as a right wing zealot…which is way off base.
Army Specialist John Sigsbee was laid to rest Friday in his hometown of Waterville, following his death last week in Iraq. Radical protesters had promised to picket his funeral service at the high school, but thankfully for the family, that didn’t happen.
http://www.wtvh.com/news/local/14406052.html
Fred Phelps strikes again…somewhere.
Because Taz and Regular are too lazy to actively campaign for what they believe in, we’re supposed to believe that they are more “reasonable”?
Democracy is not a spectator sport.
And if you think we can have a healthy, thriving democracy just by voting once every four years . . . think harder.
Assuming that everything would take care of itself is what gave us eight years of Worst. President. Ever.
Iraqmire.
New Orleans.
Mounting Debt.
War on the Middle Class.
Faith-based Education.
I had to get out my voter registration card to see how I’m currently registered. And it’s important because I plan to participate in the Democratic caucus for the first time ever. How I’m registered often depends on who and how I wanted to vote in a primary. It sure isn’t a static and certainly not a for sure – I vote for candidates, not a party.
Interesting results in South Carolina yesterday.
For instance, Clinton placed a distant second with 141,128 votes. A week earlier, John McCain won the GOP primary with 143,224 votes. That can only bode bad things for the GOP in the South. :D
For example:
Obama + Clinton + Edwards = 295,091 + 141,128 + 93,552 = 529,771 votes
McCain + Huckabee + Thompson + Romney = 143,224 + 128,908 + 67,897 + 64,970 = 404,999 votes.
Which means, of course, that the Democrats turned out 124,772 more voters than the Republics. Of all South Carolinians taking part in that state’s primary effort, 56.7% voted for a Democrat.
In the heart of Dixie. 8O
Linda–
No matter how you’re registered, you can RE-REGISTER as a Democrat and take part in the Feb. 5th caucus.
That’s what we’re seeing with this Democratic race. It’s bringing a lot of new people into the party.
They’ve seen what life is like under one-party Republic rule, and they know we can do better.
A lot better.
Correction: of all South Carolinians [voting for one of the 7 major candidates of either major party] in that state’s primary effort, 56.7% voted for a Democrat.
Sorry about that. :oops:
The really great news is that Southern voters confirmed my opinion of the general level of Dixie support for Yankees like Ghouly Rudy. As in, it ain’t there.
Sweet! :D
I forgot to point out–you can RE-Register at your caucus site as you’re waiting for the doors to open.
Instant registration.
Good posts, Pedant.
Thanks for the interesting analysis.
I’m currently registered as a Democrat. All is well in my world.
“Conservatives tighten reins on Kansas GOP”
Foot, meet pistol.
Idiots.
I agree with writerdog. Republicans are not going to max exodus to the Democratic party. However, the Christian and anti-tax wingnuts of the party form the activist core, and they have been taking over presincts for some time (some of the nastiest elections in Kansas have been local election battles between neighbors). The Christian Right here does not seem to get it. Their insistance on “our way or no way”, when translated into statewide elections, has been getting them into trouble. I have heard and seen many horror stories, including several cases where a moderate (and yes, a fiscal conservative) has ended up with some child on their doorstep saying “Why do you want to kill babies?”.
I am not sure what I am going to do myself. A number of very perceptive Republicans saw the seeds of big trouble after the 2004 elections, because fanatics tend to be very poor winners. The Republican losses in 2006, despite the claims of some clueless national pundits, were not just due to Iraq, it was due to a large body of Republicans trying to push their agendas down the throats of everyone else.
I am loathe to give up my Republican Party affiliation because the Republican Primaries in Kansas historically are the elections that actually matter. But, the fanatics have tended to win those battles anyway, because moderates are not the ones who are obsessed with the direction of the party. Frankly, I am pretty much sick of the party. I suspect this will be the first election where I will vote an almost straight party ticket, and it is not Republican.
And no, I don’t feel that I’ve left the Republican Party. The Republican Party left me and spit on me as they walked out the door.
One last thing:
The strategy of Democrats and moderate Republicans should be to widely publicize the things that Kris Kobach says to his faithful. That nitwit is the Kansas Republican Party’s own Ingrid Newkirk. 10 virtual points to anyone who can guess what I mean by that.
For those who can’t, in the words of Bugs Bunny.
Kris Kobach, what a maroon!
Stupid Spam Bam!
“Conservatives tighten reins on Kansas GOP”
Foot, meet pistol. The activist “core” of the Kansas Republicans continue on a path that will antagonize the swing and foul weather voters in this state.
I had a nice, long post on this subject about my disillusionment with the Kansas Republican Party. I am not going to redo it.
To put it in short.
I don’t feel that I left the Republican Party, the Republican Party not only left me, they spit on me as they walked out the door.
Democrats and Republican moderates should publicize everthing Kris Kobach says to the faithful. He is the Kansas Republican Party’s own Ingrid Newkirk (10 virtual points to anyone who gets what I mean by that).
fELLOW DEMS:
We must put the brakes on this republican media smear campaign pitting the blacks against the Clintons. The Clintons would be stupid to disrespect the blacks, and they know it.
Everything they say and do is being distorted into dual meanings, inuendo. It’s not true!
DO NOT let the Republicans get away with this. Their mouths are dripping saliva as they’re wafting the fire as fast as they can. We must carry more water faster! There will NOT be a racial divide in the Democratic party. We will not let them divide and conquer.
See, Reg? Capn proved my point by insulting us, by accusing us of being lazy. He is sooo anxious to castigate anyone who doesn’t follow his extremism, he doesn’t bother with facts.
For example, I have walked hundreds of hours in precinct walks, worked phone banks, stuffed envelopes, helped raise tens of thousands of dollars etc., all on behalf of various political candidates. I have lobbied in state legislatures and well as DC for issues/people I deeply care about. Never once have I done that for any generic political party.
But..because I don’t toe the extremist line, Capn calls me lazy. Typical extremist.
I will caucus for Edwards.
I am looking forward to meeting Obama fanatics in person. I want them to look me in the eye and tell me why I should even consider voting for a candidate who heaped praise on Ronald Reagan and called the GOP the party of ideas. I want them to tell me why we should work with the Republican slime of humanity just when we have them so scared of the consequences of their own actions.
JR,
While, like you, I’m “mad as hell and won’t take it any longer” and would like to see a fighting Dem party, across the board, I believe that working with each other is what the Founding Fathers had in mind. Don’t you think they knew that as long as there was a democracy, there would be two leading parties?
Stalemate gets us nowhere, and until there is a decided majority in one party or the other in Congress, that’s pretty much what we have and have had for some time. Compromise gets things done. Nobody gets everything they want, and everybody gets something they want.
Only in the last two elections (2004 & 2006) have I ever voted a straight ticket. Those two times were done in protest against what one party (Republicans) has done to this country.
There are good ideas in both parties. Most of the time I lean more to the Liberal, but I definitely side with the Conservatives on at least one issue. Currently, that issue is illegal immigration. I want to see something done about it, yet the stalemating on both sides has brought it to a complete halt, as has the complete ignoring of it by many. All talk and no action make Johnny a mistake.
WD, it’s terribly sad about the baby dying, but I have a lot of questions about it that will never be answered. Some of those are cold-hearted, I’m afraid. Would the parents have taken the baby to a doctor or hospital in Mexico, if they hadn’t migrated to the U.S.? Who were they thinking of and what did they think would happen by not taking the baby to a hospital? They allowed their child to die because of a fear that a law would be enacted in the future? Was it because of word-of-mouth that they might have believed it already was? And if so, was it because of a language problem?
As I stated, I’m on the side of most Conservatives and Republicans when it comes to illegal immigration. Because Federal Laws have been ignored for too many years, some states have taken it upon themselves to pass their own laws that may or not be too harsh and may or may not be effective. And this is why we have a Federal Government and why States Rights cannot be granted on everything. (Oops, more Liberal thinking? :) )
JR, didnt you vote for Reagan?
J R,
Obama did not heap praise on Reagan. That was a misleading charge by the Clintons.
P_mom,
The Clinton were guilty of using racial code words – by comparing Obama to Jessie Jackson (in effect saying “look, he’s the black candidate”) and as consequence got their asses handed to them in South Carolina – by nearly 30 percentage points.
The Clinton’s unmistakable loutishness on the trail is making me reconsider by earlier commitments to them. It’s the Clintons who are trying to split the party and it’s not cool.
I agree, Steven. They’ve shown the worst and ugliest sides of politicians recently. I don’t care what party they’re from, that won’t get my vote.
Kelly
If Obama comes here, think he will go n e where else besides El Dorado? Open to the public?
Poster — Many thanks for the Edmonds story posted upthread… I appreciate it!! Now, if it could just get into the main stream of news… might blow the lid off of the White House!! LOL
Frank Rich makes the case against a Billary nomination:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27rich.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
This entire nomination process is fairly much new and uncharted territory… FIRST, never before has the spouse of a former President been a candidate for Nomination/Election, as President.
So, it seems to me that any conclusions being projected, as extremely questionable, since there are absolutely NO precedents…. There is NO HISTORY to follow on what is now happening.
I am not huge Hillary fan, but, the role of her husband, and former President, should be seen as a massive PLUS factor…
IF he is screwing up her nomination process, MAYbe Bill would rather see Obama as the Nominee of his party… eh??
Caroline Kennedy is backing Obama:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html?ref=opinion
Caroline Kennedy makes an interesting endorsement.
Taz–
Wow. Good for you.
Most independents register that way so as to justify not getting involved, but there’re apparently always exceptions.
Who did you work for last time?
“Gun control and drug use, both have very similar arguments.” WriterDog
Huh? How exactly?
“Gun control and drug use, both have very similar arguments.” WriterDog
Huh?
How exactly?
And why, Taz, do you self-identify with “Reg”?
His voter registration card says, “RepubliCON.”
Extremists plotted attacks across Europe, Spanish paper says
MADRID, Spain (CNN) — Suspected Islamic extremists arrested last week in Barcelona were planning al Qaeda-style attacks in Spain, Germany, France, Britain and Portugal, according to an informant who “infiltrated” the group, Spain’s El Pais newspaper reports.
More at CNN
—————————
No doubt the Leftist Libs on this blog will say this is the fault of the United States being in Saudia Arabia.
Regular makes a lot of sense at times. And, most recently, I worked for Nile Dilmore (Democrat) from Wichita.
Ummm Regular??? There is nothing in that article that even MENTIONS Saudi Arabia… Looks like all that group is from Pakistan and India… That has little to do with Saudi Arabia!!
Must be one desperate democrat there Taz LOL
Contrary to your snide remarks, Chas..Rep Dilmore is an honest man who actually cares about representing his constituents. He also took time to meet with me in his office in Topeka as well as locally.
I ahve also been to DC several times to meet with reps/senators from this state and other staes I have lived in. Some Republican, some Democratic. Party label is not my first concern.
James
Posted January 27, 2008 at 8:23 am | Permalink
It’s always smart to read the original article when the Eagle editorial writers cite something on this blog, because their comments are frequently distorted. Noonan’s comments about Bush come in the 19th paragraph of a piece that is mainly about how despicable Bill Clinton is. But of course Brownlee, in typical journalistic fashion, took everything out of context and didn’t even mention the main points of Noonan’s article in his eagerness to make his own political points.
After the tirade last nite, where Regular lectured the Blog how he only posts with ONE nic, then this t urns up today??
Well, there goes any semblance of integrity!!
Taz, given your right wing leanings, its just sort of hard to imagine you working for a Democrat… or that a Democrat would HIRE you!!
Comment spam protected by SpamBam
(1966 spam filtered)
Does anybody know what this means???
Ken -
As the Eagle on-line is reporting now, Obama’s appearance will be open to the public, but you need to rsvp that you are coming. There is a website address in the Eagle story to use to RSVP. See ya there! I have not heard where else he might make an appearance – if anywhere. Although the doors open at 11:45 AM, I understand that he will not arrive before 12:40. Course if you aren’t there early, you might not get in.
HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dems are just as nice and understanding and caring and…as Repub’s
Whatever we need to do to put Kansas on the map. Never mind Phelps.
I don’t care how hard it is to imagine. By the same token, are you so naive to think there is a politician alive that will not accept volunteer help in an election campaign?
If I were running for office as a Democrat, I dont believe I would want any Republicans “working” for my campaign… I suppose others might feel differently…
What are you talking about Chas? I’m only posting with one nic.
So, you didnt post as “James” this morning??
Steven
Oh yes Obama did heap praise on Ronald Reagan. I heard him in his own voice.
The only redeeming thing in Reagan is he taught me in very short order that I was NOT a Republican.
We all must do what we think best. I only tell you what I see.
Some of the worst among the right that we see posting here are aok with Obama. THAT is telling.
Look, I like that some of you can still believe in the inherent good will among all Americans regardless party. I’m sorry. I don’t.
Republicans have spent the last 20 years ruining unions, American manufacturing, social programs, environmental protection, etc. You name anything we call good, and they have done their level best to tear it down. We’ve been backed up so far and some of you want to retreat some more?
The right is scared. We should not be comforting them. We should be fighting back.
My take is Obama won’t do that. My heart just sinks everytime he talks about working with those people.
No Chas, there is another poster named James.
There are probably a gazillion James out there in the world. You should know the James’s from the Bible as well.
It’s a common name, I don’t lay any special claim to it.
JR — Please do yourself a favor, and go look up the Obama Speech where he discusses Reagan’s Presidency… It is not that flattering, what he said… Honest… Just read it… It is fairly easy to miss the inuendo if you just listen to it…
Sheeeeez.
Be afraid, VERY afraid. Terrorists are coming for YOU!
But they live in Washington too.
Spin away Regular!!
A day to reflect. January 27, 1945
The liberation of Auschwitz.
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/auschwitz/
Spin away what Chas? That there is another poster named James?
Whatever Chas, I had hope for you, now I think you are just a total loon with nothing better to do than invoke your paranoid fears along with conspiracy theories. Get a life.
For all you Obama supporters in Kansas, he will be in El Dorado Tuesday.
http://www.kansas.com/news/updates/story/293766.html
Whatever, James… So you immediately revert to your usual ad hominem attacks… not surprising at all…. quite typical..
You had hoped for what?? Respect?? You have to earn that.. Not likely to happen any time soon..
Well Chas, you accuse me making a post I didn’t make and then state I am spinning I’m not posting under another name.
This is not the first time Chas, you accuse me of posting on other nics daily.
You are a loon and a paranoid one at that.
Get lost, you’re a world class loser.
I guess with your track record, its just a little hard to have much trust… Especially given the wording of the post by “James”
And, BTW, I dont take orders from you… whatever nic you post with… Got it??
Obama appears to be a realist, not infused with the irrational hate of a lot of the left.
You’re right JR, he doesn’t appear to be your man.
Obama appears to be a realist, not infused with the irrational hate of a lot of the left.
It’s not irrational either, outlander.
I know about twenty people named Charles and Chas, some being relatives. I suppose anyone of those could post here on the WE Blog as Chas and there would be anything you could do about it, because it is their real name.
You have to ask yourself, what purpose was it that you accused me of making a post at 8:23 am as a James. That is a different James. It’s probably his real name.
Get over it Chas, you have a reputation as the blog paranoid – wear it proudly.
Hey, clown, youre the one going around threatening stupid law suits… not me… And as for your relatives, let them post… I dont care… except for my email and my URL’s arent ones that most posters would use… LOL
“My take is Obama won’t do that. My heart just sinks everytime he talks about working with those people.”
What good is your take JR? Obama is more than capable of taking on both Clintons which makes him highly qualified to take on anything the repukes can throw at him.
What good is YOUR take “Kristin Shepard”?
First post I’ve ever seen from you.
Oh you’ll get no argument from me that Bill Clinton pandered to the right. But Senator Clinton has endured the full on assault of the right for 16 years. SHE knows the enemy. And she can hit them back and hard.
Any case, I didn’t come to answer your question.
Editors? Give us another live as it happens thread on the bush state of the union speech.
Let his defenders TRY and stand with how he is gonna spin the worst administration in history.
And let me and REAL Americans take that little corporate puppet apart.
JR, what’s your take on Governor Leadership giving the Democrat response to Bush’s speech tomorrow nite??
It makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with the DNC chas.
The answer to bush’s lie and spin SHOULD have been given to one of the Democratic candidates for President. NOT to the waffling governor of a state already lost to corporate feudalism.
Kathy says so little. Here is her chance to take her light out from under the bushel basket.
IF she has any light at all.
Well, let’s hope she can say something positive, and intelligent!! Should be interesting!
J R, giving any of the Democratic candidates for president an opportunity to rebut the SOTU address from Bush would present HUGE problems………
Which one………………..
If it were Obama, the Clintons would rightly scream, etc.
Regardless of your personal thoughts on Sebelius, she is viewed as a centrist Democrat capable of addressing the concerns of the Nation as a whole and the Democratic Party specifically.
My thought is she is going to make Bush look like a complete idiot.
Wait, anyone with half a brain could do that…..
But, she will do a fine job.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_Shepard
“Kristin Shepard, was a character in the popular American television series Dallas, …”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_%28TV_series%29
“The show’s central character is John Ross “J.R.” Ewing Jr., a greedy, scheming oil baron played by Fort Worth native Larry Hagman…”
“….she is viewed as a centrist Democrat …”
I call that a sell out WS.
I COME from the right wing originally. I can tell you. These people (the core of the Republican party) they are rich and they are mean. You try to work with them and you end up working for them.
Still? It’s Kathy’s moment to shine. IF she can.
Call me cynical. Like I say, I know the other side and those who pander to them.
Very Interesting, Cosmos… :-)
“I call that a sell out WS.”
I would not characterize it as such. In Kansas, a left of center Democrat has about as much chance of winning as does a possum on a dark roadway.
I would much rather have a centrist Democrat as Governor than a right wing SOB Republican.
Sebelius may not be an ideal Democrat, but on her worst day she is better than any Republican on their best day.
Chas…your closed minded labelling, as evidenced in your post, “If I were running for office as a Democrat, I dont believe I would want any Republicans “working” for my campaign… I suppose others might feel differently” is what makes it hard to take anything you say seriously.
You put a label on people and pigeon hole them according to some mental stereotype you have. As such, you miss a lot.
For example…I was nationwide communications director for the Walter Mondale campaign in 1984. As a sideline, I also helped out the McGovern campaign until his resignation party at the Parker House hotel on School street in Boston. Arlo Guthrie sang at that party..was a good time.
Anyway…I was with the candidate in his suite at the Meridian Hotel in San Francisco during the convention. The media had portrayed Mondale as stiff and unbending. Quite the opposite is true, he was witty, quick, personable and a decent person. But..had I pigeonholed him like the media did, I never would have had that experience.
I have worked other state/local campaigns in different states for different candidates. Some have been Republican, some have been Democrat. Unlike you, I don’t have blinders on that keep me from seeing beyond the party “label”.
correction: nationwide TELEcommunications director. I helped out with telephones…not press releases/position papers and all that stuff. Michale Roth ran that office…
Some thoughts on Barack Obama, a.k.a. the Black Eennedy, the Rhorschach Candidate, Mr. Nice.
Concerns about whether he will give away the store, so to speak, are quite legitimate. But, ya know, I was watching CNN, a report about the pointless, tragic, tribal violence that’s erupted in Kenya in the wake of the stolen election. The CNN reporter, Zain Verjee, didn’t go into details, but indicated that this went beyond the immediate election, and that, in this formerly peaceful country, they were “settling scores.”
Obama, of course, is the son of a Kenyan diplomat. Diplomats try to smooth over differences. But it’s also been said that “Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nice way”! :)
Let’s take a look at our own score-settling.
To say America has been divided is an understatement. The wacko rightists that controlled this country for too long were playing for keeps: They weren’t just using their power; they were seeking the making it permanent , through the combined forces of law and culture. People like Limbaugh, Hannity, and Coulter would have been hilarious if it didn’t seem that millions were taking their ranting seriously . And I remember all too well the full-on religious right gloating after the 2004 elections!
Now, it appeared their little bubble has blown up in their faces. Conversative evangelicals have finally come to realize that “when you mix religion and politics, you end up with politics.” The fractious coalition that began with Reagan, and reached both its apex and its demise under W., has finally, gratefully, split asunder.
What now? What do “we” do? Do we even know who “we” are–other than those who watched with incredulous dismay? Do respond in gleeful kind, relishing our revenge?
Uhm, obviously, no–at least, not if it’s about revenge. You do that, you’ve got. . . Kenya. . And, perhaps, a central reason why Obama talks and acts the way he does.
For my part, though, I cherish John Edwards’ bluntness–it’s long overdue. Yelling at each other is fine, so long as we keep some perspective.
But let’s not see fighting in the streets, folks. I would be content to reverse the regress and fix as much of the damage as possible. As Mr. Nice would remind us, we’re all people, and all in this together. Let’s not start “settling scores.”
Not that I expect that, as liberal and moderates tend to be nice! ;-)
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