Will Christian Morgan criticize Sarah Palin for going to a basketball game?

In a recent AP story, it has come out that Sarah Palin charged the state a per diem allowance on Thanksgiving Day 2007 so she could attend the Great Alaska Shootout, a college basketball tournament.

Will Christian Morgan criticize her like he did Kathleen Sebelius for attending major sporting events involving the University of Kansas and Kansas State University? Or is this just a Governor acting in her ceremonial role?

I think we all know the answer. Don't you hate it when you're idiotic partisan attacks come home to roost, Christian?

So, if it's Sebelius' fault when jobs are lost, it must also be to her credit when they're created, right?

If you ask Christian Morgan, anytime a private company makes a decision to either cut jobs or not to create them in Kansas, the blame lies at the feet of Kathleen Sebelius. Not the Republican-dominated legislature, not Congress, not the President, but Kathleen Sebelius.

So, one must expect a post over at the Trunkline commending Sebelius for Spirit Aerosystems recent decision to build a new plane in Wichita, creating nearly 700 high-paying, permanent jobs in Kansas, right?

Wrong.

Honestly, we don't know what role if any Kathleen Sebelius played in this decision. But that's the point. These decisions are made by private companies. It'd be one thing if a government entity decided to ship Kansas jobs overseas without any help from the people in whose districts the jobs should be (see: Boeing; Roberts, Pat; Tiahrt, Todd).

Here at LBK, we think the pro-business climate created in Kansas by Sebelius and her Lt. Governors John Moore (a former executive at Cessna, who will work with Spirit to build the planes) and Mark Parkinson certainly didn't hurt.

Anything to attack the Governor

Christian Morgan and the KS GOP will attack the Governor for just about anything these days. It's almost sad. If she wore a jacket that didn't match her blouse, Christian Morgan would probably post a blog saying she was out of touch with Kansas fashion values.

Now, in typical fashion that sounds like it was written by a schoolyard bully with a college education, Morgan is attacking Sebelius for a written statement her office released in response to a bit on the Colbert Report.

Awhile back, Colbert was mocking John McCain's trip while Obama was speaking to 200,000 in Germany, and he said that he was in Canton and "not the Crappy Canton in Georgia, I'm talking about Canton Oh-hi-O". Well, the Canton, Ga. mayor apparently doesn't know how to take a joke. Here is Colbert's response.




Sebelius' office issued a playful response, inviting Colbert to Canton, KS. Morgan apparently takes exception to this.

Apparently the Governor has a lot of time on her hands considering she has been pretty busy these days campaigning for Obama, meeting with radical environmentalists in Colorado, speaking at fundraisers in San Francisco, posing for Vogue photo shoots, hanging out in Ohio, paling around in North Carolina, having tea in England, having more private meetings with the secret bilderberg conference and now, responding to a comedian's lame attempt at a joke.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Governor Sebelius didn't take time out of her day to sit down and write this herself. Moreover, Morgan isn't THAT dumb, he knows that, but he doesn't care if he makes it look like she did. (BTW, who the F cares?)

Also, apparently Morgan has about as much of a sense of humor as Mayor Hobgood. Anyone with half a brain in their head (or that knows anything about Stephen Colbert) should know that this bit is mocking the Canton, Ga., mayor for having the same reaction that Christian Morgan did.

I say, tip of the hat to Gov. Sebelius and her staff for playing along and wag of the finger to Christian Morgan for being a douche with no sense of humor.

A Republican and a lie, two peas in a pod

Homer Simpson once said, "It takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen."

In this case, we refuse to take part in the Kansas Republican Party's latest mistruth.

In a Harris News story this morning, the Boyda camp rightly called the GOP's claims that Boyda voted for "the largest tax increase in history" "malarkey." (See Boyda Bloc's explanation).

The fact of the matter is, Boyda supports several aspects of the Bush tax cuts -- the ones targeted at the middle class, where they should be. The problem is most of the actual revenue is lost from the tax cuts on the uber-wealthy, which a Boyda spokesman even said she would support if the Republicans could find a responsible way to fund them (they can't, don't worry!)

So what smoking gun did the poster who goes by the name "Kansas Republican Party" (didn't Christian Morgan blast so-called "anonymous" blog posters awhile back? Just asking.)

An alleged quote from Boyda's MySpace page two years ago, a page that the GOP knows full-well was not run by the campaign or anyone associated with it.

If ever you needed proof that the KS GOP was run by adolescents, this is it.

"But, but, but...you said on your MySpace page!"

Something else worth noting in the Harris piece. Morgan claims that McCain will be a boon for the victor of the Ryun/Jenkins snoozefest.

Uh, perhaps you didn't see the poll commissioned by Sen. Roberts. McCain is polling under 50% in Kansas. There go those facts again.

McCain outraised by Obama in Kansas; Roberts hires Mean Girl to campaign

A couple of interesting notes in a Harris News story from this weekend.

First, we see that Sen. Barack Obama has raised more money in Kansans than has Sen. John McCain.

Obviously, it's early and this isn't necessarily a good method of predicting elections, but it was certainly unexpected and I think goes to show that a) Kansans are excited about the candidacy of Barack Obama and b) John McCain still has some work to do after losing the Kansas caucuses to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Especially intriguing was the response by KS GOP Executive Director Christian Morgan...

"Senator McCain has a pretty big lead in the state of Kansas and he's not going to lose that lead to Barack Obama," Morgan said.

OK. Glad to know the KS GOP still thinks John McCain will win Kansas. Doesn't really address the fundraising numbers, but hey, it'll do.

Speaking of intriguing responses. Responding to Slattery's claim that Sen. Pat Roberts used your tax dollars to come back to Wichita and film a TV commercial, Roberts' camp had an especially venomous response that would make Regina George proud.

"Kansas is winning and Jim Slattery is whining," said Roberts' spokeswoman, Molly Haase.

Classy. Word is Tina Fey has contacted Molly about being cast in the sequel to Mean Girls.

Of course, Sunday's Topeka Capital-Journal shows even the mainstream media now realizes that whatever Kansas may have won from the recent GAO decision, it was in spite of, not as a result of, Pat Roberts, Sam Brownback, John McCain and Todd Tiahrt.

Offensive rhetoric from the KS GOP

Christian Morgan and the KS GOP have reached a new low.

In a recent blog post, Morgan and his cronies parrot a National Review story criticizing Sen. Barack Obama for supporting giving constitutional rights to detainees at Guantanamo Bay (the scoundrel!)

As if it wasn't bad enough that McCain called the decision“one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.” Ya, right up there with Dred Scott and Plessy v. Ferguson. Or Roe v. Wade if you are so inclined.

Worse than that though, Morgan and the National Review call Obama the "September 10 candidate." This is nothing more than cheap, underhanded fear politics and Christian should be ashamed of himself.

People on both sides of the aisle should be able to agree on one thing, the thousands that died on Sept. 11, 2001 did not die so that people could use their deaths to score cheap political points and to do so trivializes the tragedy that was 9/11.

Not only that, but it's insulting and outlandish to insinuate that any candidate, Republican or Democrat, would ever do anything they felt would make an attack like the one of that fateful Tuesday more likely.

Supporters of Obama and McCain can debate the legal merits of extending the writ of habeas corpus to those incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay, but neither side should resort to accusing the other of promoting further terrorist attacks or being on the side of the terrorists.

Whatever your political leanings may be, we think we can all agree that this sort of political hackery is unconscionable. If you agree, call Christian Morgan and tell him the best way to honor those who were killed on 9/11 and those who have died fighting to protect those rights is to refrain from using their deaths to score cheap political points. The number is (785) 228-0353.

GOP leaders: Sorry Mr. President, we have to rearrange our sock drawer

No members of Kansas' Republican Congressional delegation have gotten around to endorsing Sen. Nick Jordan in his quest to unseat popular incumbent Dennis Moore. They're very busy (though, not busy enough to keep them from endorsing a candidate for a county office in Johnson County, where neither of them live)

Those same busy schedules appear to be keeping Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback and Reps. Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran away from today's fundraiser with President George W. Bush.

Some of you might be saying, "See, this was a bad idea to bring the President and his record-low approval ratings."

Not so says Christian Morgan.

Kansas Republican Party executive director Christian Morgan said he doesn't believe the president's poll numbers are an issue.

"If the president's popularity really had something to do with it, then they would have stayed away from even putting their names on something with the president," Morgan said. "I don't think its a case of them skipping this event, it's a case of them having scheduling difficulties, especially when this thing was thrown together pretty quickly."

So, the fact that only 39% of voters in our Republican state support the President is of no concern to Christian. We're standing by his side because...well...why the Hell are we standing by his side?

In reality, this is just further proof that Christian Morgan, Nick Jordan and the Kansas Republican Party are so radically out of touch with everyday Kansans that they still think that George W. Bush has appeal to the average voter.

Speaking of out of touch, Pat Roberts had a perfectly legitimate reason to miss the event. He's going to be in California raising money.

Sen. Pat Roberts will be in California on a longstanding trip to raise money for his own re-election bid, campaign spokeswoman Ashley McManus said. She said Roberts was proud to be named an honorary chairman of the fundraiser and "he was proud to be with the president three weeks ago in Greensburg."

The part about Roberts supporting Bush despite the miserable failure that has been his Presidency and his awful approval ratings in Kansas should come as no surprise to anyone. Roberts has been George W. Bush's lapdog for nearly seven years. What shocked me is the cavalier manner in which his spokesmodel admitted to raising money in California.

I suppose this shouldn't surprise me either, since Roberts hasn't lived in Kansas since 1962, but I guess I always just thought since they've been trying to start a pissing match with Jim Slattery over who's more of a Kansan that they might try to downplay it just a little.

Guess not.

KS GOP on The Internets

If you head over to The Google on The Internets and type in Kansas Republican Party, what you'll find may just be a microcosm of why the Kansas Republican Party just can't seem to catch any breaks lately.

You see, the KS GOP web site, in addition to not being the most attractive site around, hasn't been updated since January 10 of this year. Oh, sorry, they do have an national news section that is probably automatically generated.

If you'll recall the email sent by Kris Kobach at the end of last year -- you know, the one where he bragged about illegal voter suppression.

Well, there was something else in that email too. Kobach said the KSGOP was on the verge of starting....a blog.

We have instituted a wholesale technological change at Party headquarters. We have updated everything, from our website to our email system. Additionally, we are getting ready to launch the official Republican Party blog—to further help spread the positive actions of all of Republican elected officials.

Apparently, there are no positive actions of Republican elected officials for to spread, because to the best of this bloggers knowledge, no such blog was ever launched.

The KS GOP did have a brilliant idea to use The Internets to get their supporters involved with the shaping of the party's new platform. This initiative, called 50 Ideas, was kicked off with an "Idearaiser" (get it, it's like a fundraiser only instead of giving money, you give ideas. BRILLIANT!)

A committee was formed, chaired by Rep. Peggy Mast of Emporia. There was even a 50 Ideas blog.

All of this was to culminate in the release of a new, totally revamped, grassroots inspired party platform. Only such a release never occurred. Perhaps Rep. Mast was too busy trying to root out gangsta rap from our communities.

The web site and blog have been dormant since October of 2007.

But all that might just change, you see the KS GOP sent out an email today proclaiming anew their commitment to the 50 Ideas...idea. Although, they apparently forgot to put any new content on the web site to which they direct people in the email.

No matter, things around here are about to change...

It’s no secret that the State of Kansas is facing some substantial problems as
we look towards the future. The government needs answers.

The 2008
Kansas Republican Party Platform seeks to find answers and provide solutions to cure Kansas’ stagnant and downward spiraling economy, curb violent crime, make
government more open and accountable, prepare Kansans to compete in a global
economy by making our schools not just good, but great, and maintain the values
and beliefs of America’s heartland.

Our vision of a better Kansas does not start in the halls of the Capitol or with the input of special interest lobbyists. It starts with people like you.

Republicans believe that the best and most effective government is the government closest to the people. We want to listen to people’s thoughts, discover their dreams, and renew a sense of hope and optimism.

Join with us today and submit your ideas to pioneer change in Kansas.

Welcome back to The Internets, Christian and Kris! I'll look forward to hearing more on these "50 ideas."

Democratic Domination, explained

Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about the drubbing the KS GOP received from Democrats in the 2006 election cycle and wondering "How the Hell did we Democrats do so well in a state where the registration numbers say we should get our clocks cleaned every year?"

Well, I think the majority of the reason is Democrats have a vastly superior organization on the ground and some great candidates. But there is something else that sometimes I have trouble putting my finger on. And then I get another email from Christian Morgan and it all comes back to me. Let's break down the latest (sent at 10:51 on a Friday night...I bet that got a lot of play, Christian!)

Democrat Week in Review

Say it with me now...Democratic...Democratic. Democrat is a noun, Democratic is the adjective. It's hard to take you seriously when your grammar is so piss-poor.

In case you missed it, here are a couple of highlights from the last week.

Kathleen Sebelius

In her continuing attempts to use Kansas as a stepping stone for her national political ambitions, the Governor was in New York this week discussing the Republican led legislature's ideas on reducing crime and recidivism rates in the state—while the Legislature was hard at work trying to undo her rejection of the most substantial job growth opportunity for Western Kansas in the last decade.

Of course, all of our kids will have emphysema, but by God their grandfathers would have been given a chance to work construction on a power plant (of course, chances are those jobs would've gone to out of state skilled laborers, but that's neither here nor there.)

While she was gone, she also managed ignore the hard work of House and Senate Republicans by taking credit for Kansas being one of the "Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States."

We can't help but wonder if the authors of StayRedKansas and the authors of this email share the same brain waves. Much like StayRed, good ol' Christian didn't feel the need to cite (or apparently read) the study he mentions. We'll help. See here or here. The author of the study said the results reflected a commitment from the Governor's office to business friendly practices. We'll give the legislature credit for the criminally-low minimum wage in Kansas, though.

But we were quick to point out that it's because of the Republican legislature passing pro-business tax credits, economic growth incentives, and tax cuts that make Kansas such a business friendly state. The Governor seemed to forget that she stood in the way of these policies by proposing tax increases, socialized medicine, and rejecting job growth proposals.

Yes, because most businesses our against providing free health care to children under 5. Which, by the way, Susan Wagle is now all for. Too bad she waited until after George W McCain...er...Bush...made sure there was no money to fund her new-found pet project.

Nancy Boyda

There seems to be a disconnect between the freshman Democrat's rhetoric and her actions in Washington. A few weeks ago, she made a big splash in the press about how she was not going to use auto-dial calls during her campaign. A few days later, residents across the 2nd District received an auto-dial message from Boyda's office. While she didn't specify that she wouldn't auto-dial from her official office, we find this just another case of Boyda not following through on her promises to the people of the 2nd District.

I'm not a big fan of robocalls, but a robocall from Nancy Boyda's office asking me what I think would be more than I (or anyone else) ever got from Jim Ryun, and he was in office for 10 years. If she wasn't conducting these surveys, this space would be used to criticize her for not being in touch with her district.

Speaking of not following through, Boyda made earmarks a major campaign issue in 2006, but has repeatedly failed to live up to her end of the bargain. She stated, "The earmark process has been abused in the past. Members of Congress have set aside funds for programs that turned out to personally benefit them." Yet this year, she has submitted $48 million in special earmark requests; we'll leave it to your good judgment whether her millions in earmarks "personally benefit" Mrs. Boyda.

Careful Christian, we now know that Todd Tiahrt, Sam Brownback, Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts all handed out more money in earmarks this year than did Nancy Boyda, and since Boyda is the only one on that list who makes her earmark requests public on her web site, this probably isn't a fight you want to start.

Thankfully, change is coming to Washington and you can be a part of it. Click here to contribute to the KS GOP and help us keep this liberal Democrat accountable.

Dennis Moore

Dennis is known for saying one thing in his district and voting the other way in Washington, DC. Most recently, he has been practicing this bad habit with two crucial pieces of legislation—FISA and the SAVE Act (immigration reform).

First, Dennis Moore promised to support a bipartisan Senate bill that would have protected those who helped protect America after 9/11 but then voted with Nancy Pelosi to block this bipartisan legislation and passed a bill that not only fails to protect those who have helped America fight terrorists but allows for a massive pay off to powerful special interests like the trial Lawyers.

The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted Moore's double-cross on this important issue. To read the whole story click here.

Wow, after Nancy Boyda shoved this argument where the sun don't shine, they've moved on to Dennis Moore. Well guess what, the facts don't change regardless of who is on the receiving end of your baseless attacks. See this factcheck piece in Newsweek.

And then there is immigration reform. Moore states that he supports "...strong reforms that will improve our border security and make our immigration policies more realistic, enforceable, and complimentary to the global economy we live in...." however, he is standing in the way of meaningful reform by blocking the SAVE Act (Secure America with Verification and Enforcement) which would improve border security and boost immigration law enforcement.

It is clear that Dennis Moore has become part of the broken system in Washington that is failing us. It is time for a change.

I wonder why they haven't attacked Nancy Boyda on immigration...oh right, it's because she's already done more to address the issue than Jim Ryun managed in his entire 10 years in Congress. Although, I think I've done more to combat illegal immigration since I started writing this post than Jim Ryun ever did. Look, the fact of the matter is that Nick Jordan is a massive tool. Why they even bother wasting their time on this race is beyond me. Maybe it's just sour grapes on the part of Kris Kobach since Dennis Moore trounced him by double figures.

Apparently though, they have nothing to say in support of Todd Tiahrt or Pat Roberts.

Since they're using these lies and fabrications as a fundraising tool, lets hit'm right back. Below are the web sites for our federal candidates. Support them in any way you can, whether it's volunteering, donating $5 or donating $2,300. We've done well in 2006 and our situation is looking pretty strong again, but we're always up against a staggering registration advantage, so complacency is not an option.

Jim Slattery

Lee Jones

Donald Betts

Dennis Moore

Nancy Boyda

Kansas Democratic Party