Department of Labor shuffling

There’s a hole at the top of the Kansas Department of Labor.

Back in September, Gov. Brownback sent former Sec. of Labor Karin Brownlee
to the unemployment line.  Deputy Secretary of Labor Lana Gordon was given
the nod, but only in the interim.

Still no word – not even a whisper as to why Brownlee was canned. I’ve got
my own theories – specifically, when you board the Brownback train, you sit
in your seat and keep your mouth shut. You so not attempt to help read the
map or offer suggestions for scenic routes.

This is perhaps a character flaw in our ambitious Governor.  I suspect he
likes to be surrounded by ‘yes’ men and women rather than trusting the
judgment of those around him.

Anyway, rumor has it that despite their differences, Brownback offered
Brownlee an olive branch in the form of an appointment to a
well-compensated board. I think she said no, but this is third hand rumor,
so do with this information what you will.

And as for that hole at the top of the labor department? Brownback is said
to be considering a soon-to-be former legislator who lost his election,
largely as a result of redistricting snafus.

Annnd the race for KS GOP Chair is on

I was wondering whether Amanda Adkins, current Kansas GOP Chair, would
continue her rein as Queen of the Kansas GOP, but it appears she's turning
in her crown.


Kelly Arnold, a guy who has really adorable curly man hair, has announced
his intent to run for Chair of the Kansas Chair. He currently serves as
Vice Chair. And really, the only thing I know about him is that thing about
his hair. Oh, and he's originally from McPherson and now lives in Wichita.
(I think.) According to what I just Googled, he also serves as the County
Clerk of Sedgwick County.


Anyway, Arnold is running to replace Adkins as Chair of the GOP. And as is
the (strange) tradition in GOP circles, he's also announced a slate of
candidates to fill leadership positions.


His slate includes elevating Michelle Martin, a Salina attorney, from who
secretary to vice chair of the state party. For secretary, Arnold's slate
lists Derek Kreifels, the current assistant treasurer of Kansas. Arnold's
slate would see TC Anderson remain in his current role as treasurer of the
state party.


I know this is rare, but I have few opinions on this topic. Adkins and Co.
did a fine job, although with the exception of Adkins I couldn't pick the
leadership out of a line-up. I know of no scandals that occurred during the
Adkins rein, and the same can't be said of her predecessor Kris Kobach.


I guess if I had one, teeny, tiny complaint, it would be that I think the
group is hand-selected by the Governor. In my mind, that's backwards. It
should be a bottom-up process in which grassroots people elevate the
leaders among them rather than this kind of top-down leadership that I
believe is the norm in today's Kansas GOP. (And maybe always has been. As
I've said before, I'm relatively new to the whole scene.)



I also think I've said this before, but I'd like to see another slate --
not because I don't like the current leadership. Just, a little competition
never hurt anyone. In fact, I'd argue it makes us stronger.


Anyway, Arnold recently sent a letter to grassroots folks seeking their
support. Here's what he had to say:


I am running for Chair of the Republican Party because I believe in Kansas
and I believe that conservative principles will lead our state and our
country on a path to prosperity.  We must continue to fight back against
Democrats who want to make government bigger and more involved in Kansans’
lives.


 I have been intimately involved in our grassroots Republican Party for
over a decade, not only serving in numerous leadership roles, but more
importantly volunteering for hundreds of campaigns to get conservatives
elected. Additionally, I was reelected this year as Sedgwick County Clerk.
 I look forward to working with you over the next few weeks as we refine
our message and work to make sure our conservative principles become a
reality by winning important elections for years to come.

Mods get down and they get up again

Republicans are setting up the firing range. Our targets – one another.

At least, that’s what I believe is probably the case with a new group
calling itself “Moderate Kansas.”

The group has created a very vague website and is happily tweeting
(@ModerateKS) itself into the state’s lexicon.

The website,  www.moderatekansas.com, is red. That’s about all there is to
see. There’s a motto: A Rational Voice for the Majority of Kansas. But I
don’t know what that means. It’s awfully hope-y change-y to me. You can
ascribe whatever values suit your purpose to it.

According to their Twitter account, they are planning an organizational
meeting to write a platform in January.

If I had to guess, this is the reincarnation of the so-called moderate
Republicans. I just think we’ve heard this song before. The tune was catchy
for awhile and then wore thin, kind of like “Tub Thumping,” by Chumbawamba.
(They were one-hit wonders for a reason.)

I guess the mods are hoping they’ll get back up again after getting knocked
down in the primary election last August. This time, however, it appears
they hope to start a third party.

Look, I get it.

I am far more Libertarian than what currently passes for a Republican these
days. We’ve got Gov. Sam Brownback pimping for wind credits. You’ll never
find a Kansas Republican that doesn’t think farm subsidies are a brilliant
piece straight from central planning.

There are days, many of them, when I seriously consider trying to build the
Libertarian Party. I guess if this group of Moderate Kansas really gets
going, there might be chance to splinter even further.

If nothing else, it will be interesting to watch.

Repulsive

He's disgusting.

Speaker of the House John Boehner makes me puke. I could live with his orange vanity spray tan. His helmet head hair is almost acceptable. It's his smug face I can't handle. (Also his accent. I don't like it. He sounds like he's from the Appalachians, which I didn't know were in Ohio, but according to Wikipedia, they are, so OK. Fine.)

This guy needs to be ceremoniously dumped as Speaker of the House. He's a pandering, vain fool. Moments after the dust settled on a very painful Nov. 7, Boehner announced that House Republicans would consider "new revenues."

Maybe, Mr. Speaker, you should ask your members before you start running your mouth. YOU are not their boss. We are. And I would hope to high heaven that my Representative (Paging Congressman Kevin Yoder) would not vote to allow another red cent from the American people into the U.S. Treasury until real cuts are made. (And cutting defense and only defense is not a compromise. Let's just get that idea out of the way.)

Speaker Boehner sticks his foot in his mouth almost as often as he spray tans. I'd like to suggest a more thoughtful, less pandering challenger to Boehner for the Speaker's position. How about Rep. Paul Ryan?

Please, please, please remaining members of the House GOP, do not cast another vote for John Boehner as Speaker. I will hold it against you, and other voters may well too.

Straight jackets and tin foil hats

I hate to sound like a bitter, angry liberal, but, that election was stolen.

I see no other way we ended up with the outcome we got.

It isn't just the presidential race, although if I had to pinpoint which of the losses on Tuesday night hurt the most, that one gets top billing.

I've never placed much stock in polls. And I think they've only gotten less reliable as land lines become obsolete and groups like the Tea Party distrust pollsters and in my experience are unwilling to answer their questions.

We can take from this election that the pollsters are smarter than they look and the American people are getting dumber and dumber, or we can trust what we know of our friends, family and countrymen -- we are a center-right country.

And yet, we somehow elected in an electoral college landslide the furthest left president in the history of this country. Those facts don't jive.

In 2008, the Republicans fielded an absolute horrible candidate -- the trollop John McCain. While the Democrats ran a youthful black candidate who spoke eloquently about "hope and change." Sure that was a vague and meaningless slogan, but we're dealing with 30 percent of the population who probably have to write "L" and "R" on their shoes to know which one goes on which foot. Vague and meaningless works for those people.

We were also dealing with Bush fatigue. (I still miss that guy. I mean really, really miss him.) He spent too much money, presided over too much warring and joined the Democrats for some of the worst legislation ever passed. (Ahem. No Child Left Behind. Medicaid Prescription Drug Benefit.) So, if a voter like me, who adored GWB was sick of him, it's no surprise that less partisan Americans thought it might be time to try something else in 2008.

We have none of those excuses in 2012. I recognize that I live in reddest of red Kansas. (And trust me, Wednesday morning when I woke up I said a grateful prayer of Thanksgiving that I live in a place where the people  utilize common sense and refuse to be helpless dependents of uncaring bureaucrats). However, I am well traveled -- probably better traveled than just about anyone I know. I've spent oodles of time all over this country, and I am telling you, by and large, Americans aren't as liberal as the media or even this election would suggest.

When I spent several weeks in Boston, the breadbasket of liberal ridiculousness, I was shocked when almost every single person I met was a conservative. I mean, almost to a man. I was there in an industry that has nothing to do with politics. I mean less than nothing. Many of the people I met were even union people, and they were not fans of the Democratic Party.

Yes, that's situational, but I am telling you even in the cities where I expect to be surrounded by screaming liberals dressed in vagina costumes, more often than not I find I'm sitting and chatting with a conservative or at least a Republican.

So fast forward to this election. We have a president who no longer seems all that popular. Instead of massive Greek columns and filled-to-capacity stadiums for his speeches, Obama was attracting tens of people even when he had The Boss and Jay Z at his side.

All of the momentum and enthusiasm seemed to rest with Romney. Massive crowds. Winning independents. By all accounts, it was going to be close, but if it was a landslide, all signs pointed to it being a Republican landslide.

Instead, Obama won. Handily in the Electoral College. I quit watching when it was Obama at 303 electoral votes and Romney at less than 200. (I still haven't had the heart to look at a completed Electoral College map.)

If it ended there, I'd simply think the power of incumbency and Obama's personal story took him over the top. But it didn't end there. The bad hits just kept coming on Tuesday night. Somehow every single swing state in which there were tightly contested Senate races, the Democrat won.

I don't believe it. I just don't. I don't think that's ever, EVER, happened in my lifetime, in which the Democrat won every single tight race. That just doesn't happen. And somehow, Mitt Romney received 3 million fewer Republican votes than John McCain did. I just don't believe that's possible. I just don't.

And so yes, I am saying here I think the Dems cheated in a handful of swing states. They jiggered machines. They voted early and often. The dead rose from their graves and cast ballots for the Democrats. I truly believe this. Cheating wouldn't require too much effort in the correct precincts and polling places. I'm thinking of precincts like the elementary school in Pennsylvania with a giant Obama mural. The polling places where Republican judges were thrown out.

I honestly believe that when the panic settles and reasonable analysis begins to take shape, we will learn there was widespread voter fraud. I honestly believe that.

And that's really the only reason I'm mentioning it here. For now, it's politically incorrect (and should be) to even suggest we just had an Argentinian election in which the outcome was known long before the polls closed, but that's what I'm saying (anonymously) here. It's what I believe.

To believe otherwise is to suggest that the majority of our countrymen are happy to be bonded in velvet handcuffs. We want to be Greece. We want to be dependent. We want a bureaucrat telling us what to eat, how many children to have, how much money we're allowed to spend on unnecessary goods.

I simply don't believe the majority of my fellow countrymen are that stupid.



 

Achin' to lose

Is Todd Akin trying to lose? I mean, is he going out of his way to botch things? Is he a Democrat plant selected by the libs to ensure a Democratic victory in the Senate?

Yesterday, he announced for the thousandth time that he is indeed staying in the race against sitting Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Today, the filter between his brain and his mouth broke down again. It wasn't as bad as "legitimate rape," but he said McCaskill wasn't "ladylike" in the debate. He may as well have talked about how she should be at home barefoot and in the kitchen.

I'm sorry you're stuck with him, Missouri. But once again, I implore you to do the right thing -- fire Claire.

National polls

This is getting a lot of play in conservative circles these days.

The site attempts to take the media bias for Obama out of polling numbers. Their polls suggest that when Obama bias is removed, Romney leads in national polls by an average of 7.8 percent.

I want to believe.

It sure seems like there are fewer and fewer Obama apologists everywhere I turn these days, but then I live in the reddest of red Kansas. The people I meet and know are largely more conservative than those in say, Boston.

Akin is staying

Todd Akin should probably just stick his foot in his mouth and leave it there until sometime around Christmas.

The deadline for an easily withdrawal from the Missouri Senate race is long gone, and the man who somehow managed a bigger gaffe than all of Joe Biden's gaffes combined will be the Republican nominee in Missouri.

If it weren't Missouri or another swing state, Akin's stupid "legitimate rape" stupidity wouldn't matter nearly as much. If he were in Mississippi or New York or California, I'd simply be shrugging my shoulders. Oh well. Republican voters made their choice, and now they must live with it.

But this is Missouri -- the swingiest of swing states. And the GOP needs this state. We don't need it so we can bask in the sweet glow of power. We need it so we can save the country.

Republicans must win the presidency, because we're one Supreme Court Justice away from the slippery slope to Cuba or commie China. We need to win the Senate, because we're going to have to act quickly to save the country from economic collapse.

Missouri may just be the tipping point, and Akin and his big, fat, unfiltered mouth might cost us the Senate. And who knows how big of a drag Todd Akin may be on the top of the ticket. The GOP's path to the White House all but requires Missouri, and it could be close.

I'm disappointed that Akin believes that his candidacy is more important than the rest of the country. This is serious business this campaign season, and Akin should've fallen on his sword.

Instead, we're stuck with him. All we can do, all we can hope is that Missourians are willing to overlook an off-the-cuff moment of sheer vapidness. You hear me Show-Me-Staters! We need you to swallow your disgust, hold your noses and cast a ballot for Todd Akin in November.

The country is at stake. We're counting on you.

My Akin, Breakin' Heart

Todd Akin, the now-infamous GOP candidate for Senate in Missouri, said something so monumentally stupid it stings like a slap to the face.

I won't repeat his comments in full, but let's just say when any part of a comment you make involves the term, "legitimate rape," you need to have a long talk with that little filter that lives between your brain and your mouth.

That said, the idea of him resigning after winning a cut-throat primary two weeks ago, makes me sick. The idea of Claire McCaskill, quite possible the worst U.S. Senator in my lifetime, getting another term, also raises bile in my throat. She's a hideous, horrible human and I swear if I have to listen to her whiny, squeaky "Mom" voice for another four years, I may have to move out of the Kansas City metro area.

Elections have consequences, and the people of Missouri should have to live with it. Had I lived in Missouri (Ewwww.) I probably would've voted for Akin a few weeks ago. He seemed to be the anti-establishment candidate in every way possible.

Now, I think maybe the Establishment knew something the rest of us didn't: That guy's filter doesn't work. At all. It's too bad Steelman or Brunner, Akin's Republican opponents, were unable to get that message out in a meaningful way. Maybe they didn't know.

I'm talking way, way out of school here, because, maybe they tried. I followed that race in from the peripheral. We share the same television and radio market, so it's impossible for some of the noise from Missouri campaigns to leak over to the Kansas side. But the only negative ad that I remember seeing was one complaining that Sarah Steelman was backed by union thugs.

I love that a non-Establishment candidate, who I'm told spent far, far less than the other two, was able to pull out a giant win in the state next door. I detest the idea of party insiders (the Establishment) getting to pick his replacement should Akin back out. (It looks like he's staying as news is leaking to Twitter that he purchased ad buys for the next two weeks).

Akin essentially shot himself in the head last weekend. If he stays, I truly pray he recovers. One (monumentally stupid, uneducated, moronic, embarrassing) statement should not override Claire's record.

Beer Fest

There's going to be a beer fest in Wichita next month. Swoon. An early word of advice for Rep. Kevin Yoder should you decide to attend: Keep your pants on.

I gave at the office

Well, well, well.

In a stunning turn of events that should surprise absolutely no one, the Chronicle of Philanthropy is reporting today that red states are more charitable than blue ones. Read about it here.

The eight states whose residents gave the highest share of their income — Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Idaho, Arkansas and Georgia — all backed McCain in 2008. Utah leads charitable giving, with 10.6 percent of income given.

And the least generous states — Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire — were Obama supporters in the last presidential race. New Hampshire residents gave the least share of their income, the Chronicle stated, with 2.5 percent.

It's high time liberals with their smug little noses in the air, quit demanding that conservatives give money to the government. Conservatives give at the office, they give at church and they give at home.

Liberals, on the other hand, take at the office -- you can find the last bastion of liberals who are actually employed working for vaunted organizations like the Department of Motor Vehicles; and everywhere else. We're subsidizing their housing, their educations and sometimes, even their cell phones.

And in return, we are beaten with their snobbery about how we should help the less fortunate by paying higher taxes. 

Exasperating.

That's no ice cream truck

Well this is just sad.

There's a mobile "Who's Your Daddy?" mobile traveling around doling out DNA tests like popsicles. It's the Maury Povich Show on wheels.

“They flag us down, they pull us over, they talk to us,” owner and operator Jared Rosenthal said Wednesday. “Sometimes, because of the nature of the services, they want to be a little more discreet about it, but they do come or they’ll call the number.”

Depressed yet?

Supplemental blogging

I want to keep Wannabe fairly pure. It will be a blog mostly about politicians and the people who work for them rather than about the issues themselves. However, there will be times when I want to blog about the issues and not the personalities.

You'll find that information here on this supplemental blog.