After Rick Santorum crushed the opposition in Saturday’s Kansas caucuses, Twitter lit up with “Wizard of Oz” references, most of them predictably lame. A selection: “Rick Santorum wins Kansas. In related news, Dorothy no longer wants to go home.” “Looks like Dorothy better buy some aspirin.” “The Wizard wore a sweater vest.” “Tin Man takes second.” “Clearly Romney needs a heart, a brain and some courage.” “Exit polling showed the dog-on-the-roof episode cost Romney the Toto vote too.” Slate political writer Dave Weigel tweeted, “Exclusive photo of Mitt Romney’s Kansas caucus director” with a photo of the Wicked Witch of the East’s ruby-slippered feet beneath Dorothy’s house. At least Seth Meyers went another way in his “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live”: “Santorum was expected to do well in Kansas, because it’s also a giant square.”
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., supports ending birthright citizenship. So does Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the architect of the nation’s toughest anti-immigration state laws. But to eliminate the 14th Amendment’s automatic citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, they’d need to get past Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “This is a tax on every child being born,” Norquist said last week. “It solves no problems and instead creates all sorts of problems and costs in terms of Americans.” His comments came as the National Foundation for American Policy released a study showing that to establish citizenship for each child, parents would have to spend $600 to $1,000 on legal fees.
Moderate GOP state lawmakers have big targets on their backs from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and others eager for a conservative takeover of the Kansas Senate. But former Senate President Dick Bond of Overland Park argued in a Kansas City Star commentary that, historically, moderates have been key in making Kansans a better, smarter and safer people. “The leadership of moderates for nearly 100 years created quality K-12 education; excellent universities; superb highways; a safety net for the poor, disabled and aged; support for local government; a balanced tax system that sought parity of taxation (one-third property, one-third income, one-third sales); and government with respect and civility,” he wrote. All that has changed, he said, and he faulted moderate voters who skip GOP primaries. “Moderates give the far right election victories by not voting,” he said.
After Rick Santorum crushed the opposition in Saturday’s Kansas caucuses, Twitter lit up with “Wizard of Oz” references, most of them predictably lame. A selection: “Rick Santorum wins Kansas. In related news, Dorothy no longer wants to go home.” “Looks like Dorothy better buy some aspirin.” “The Wizard wore a sweater vest.” “Tin Man takes second.” “Clearly Romney needs a heart, a brain and some courage.” “Exit polling showed the dog-on-the-roof episode cost Romney the Toto vote too.” Slate political writer Dave Weigel tweeted, “Exclusive photo of Mitt Romney’s Kansas caucus director” with a photo of the Wicked Witch of the East’s ruby-slippered feet beneath Dorothy’s house. At least Seth Meyers went another way in his “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live”: “Santorum was expected to do well in Kansas, because it’s also a giant square.”
