Free Republic

Author Thomas Frank was just another buttoned-down, Ronald Reagan-loving suburbanite when he headed to college in 1983. The transition from Johnson County to Douglas County proved jarring. Within his first semester at Kansas University his ideals tilted to port. And it wasn’t politics per se that spurred the shift. “There was a moment I remember vividly to this day when I was in Lawrence and I heard on the radio they were playing The Sex Pistols,” Frank says. “In Kansas City in the early ’80s no one ever played The Sex Pistols. It struck me as so incredibly right. It...

“This is the opportunity that pretty much all of these people have labored in the vineyards for years to bring to fruition,” Kensinger said. “And the spirit around them is pretty good.” Former state Sen. Nick Jordan, who lost to Moore by 16 points in 2008, was in a good position to hit the ground running after Moore’s announcement. He said he had been actively considering another run against Moore for the past two months and was boosted by a poll paid for by some of his donors that showed him with a strong name identification in the 3rd District...

Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) is set to announce Monday that he will not seek reelection next year, sources confirmed to The Hill. Moore’s exit will pave the way for a tough open seat defense for Democrats, as the six-term incumbent has resolutely held on to a conservative-leaning district that has often frustrated Republicans. Moore, 64, won the seat from one-term Rep. Vince Snowbarger (R-Kan.) in 1998 and has been a target ever since. Despite his perseverance, Republicans believed they had an opening again with Democrats pushing proposals that could be unpopular in the deep red state.

Former ambassador and presidential candidate Alan Keyes blasted President Obama and his policies in a speech to a Wichita audience Saturday night. "It looks like nothing any rational person would do if he was hoping for a positive outcome," Keyes said. Keyes spoke to about 200 people at the Beech Activity Center, 9710 E. Central, in support of Republican congressional candidate Jim Anderson. Keyes criticized Obama for both his foreign and domestic policy decisions. He said Obama was fiscally irresponsible for the federal bailout of financial institutions and the auto industry, saying it has saddled future generations with huge debt....

Texas began the night 10 – 0. Their path to the Big 12 South is clear with a win against Kansas. But never count your opponent out, especially when the opponent is looking to redeem themselves after a five game loosing streak. “We will see a team in here from Kansas that is excited about playing, trying to right their wrongs from over the past five weeks, and trying to get in a bowl game,” Said Coach Mack Brown. “They have us and then their rivalry game with Missouri the next week, so they have a lot to play for.”

It's one of America's most haunting crime stories: four members of a Kansas family brutally murdered on Nov. 15, 1959, at their rural farmhouse. The slayings of the Clutters — chronicled in Truman Capote's book, "In Cold Blood" — have overshadowed the town of Holcomb for the past half century and the trial and execution of the culprits has brought little, if any, closure. For many townsfolk, the wounds have been slow to heal partly because of Capote's critically acclaimed, nonfiction novel that spawned a new literary genre. The book has been reviled in its birthplace by residents because of...

I support a phased withdrawal of U.S. and allied troops from Afghanistan, starting Jan. 1 and ending no later than Dec. 31, 2012. The Afghan people have suffered enough and the U.S. government should promote a negotiated settlement to the war. Afghanistan has been at war almost continually since 1979. We’ve been over there since 2001. At the end of 2012 we’ll have been there 11 years. That’s more than long enough to achieve our mission. And 32 years of war is too long for the Afghans. Afghanistan is an impoverished country. Sixty-eight percent of its population has never known...

Obama Touts Good Economic News, Yet Warns More Job Loss to Come October 31, 2009 ABC News' Jordyn Phelps and Sunlen Miller report: President Obama touted good news in the economic recovery in his weekly address, pointing to Thursday’s report that GDP has grown for the first time in over a year and credited his administration in helping to bring about a conclusion to the current economic recession. “We can see clearly now that the steps my administration is taking are making a difference, blunting the worst of this recession and helping to bring about its conclusion,” the president said...

We all know that the US has lost 4.5 million jobs under President Obama's march to Socialism. But what about the aborted jobs?

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), who is currently running for the Republican nomination in a contested 2010 U.S. Senate primary, has now endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 special election -- the second sitting member of Congress to openly do so, after Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). Tiahrt's press release blasts the moderate GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava, questions her party loyalty, and casts the race as a test for the soul of the GOP:

I am afraid to report that when I compared Thomas Frank's book, which I believe was a cheap hatchet job on the majority of the people of Kansas, and the 2009 Cohen/Winston documentary of the same name, I found that the apple does not fall very far from the tree. A few fundamental themes ran through the film. The first theme is that when Christians and their values are mixed with politics it is the recipe for political doom. The liberal crowd on viewing night seemed quite joyful as the pro-lifer, Phill Kline, is defeated by Paul Morrison for Kansas...

Speaking to a respected Hispanic leader in KCK, Dennis Moore reportedly called decorated and disabled Marine Veteran and Congressional Opponent "White Trash" in a recent (recorded) telephone conversation. The KCK leader, who has formally supported the incumbent congressman, is supporting Daniel Gilyeat's candidacy for the Kansas 3rd District Congressional seat. Dennis Moore called the KCK man after hearing the Hispanic community leader's support had changed. Dennis Moore said he had $7 million for the campaign and could not believe the naturalized citizen was supporting "White Trash" over Moore.

A broken clock...

Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore warned Democrats that have backed away from Obama's health care reform plan to get on board or risk losing their seat next year.

This Sunday on the circuit, it's Kansas City, Kansas and Race #3 in the Chase for the Cup. Sprint Cup and Nationwide run this week-end, no Trucks racing.

Ah, Kansas, the home of hard working, god-fearing, regular average Americans. You would never know that if you read Thomas Frank's bestselling book "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Frank paints the picture of the plains state as a land of conservative morons who self abuse themselves by following evil Republicans, who use trickery to create a backlash effect to past liberal doctrines. As a Kansan who read Frank's book cover to cover, and had been besmirched by the demeaning description of Kansas conservatives therein, my preliminary critique of his book was that it was of the same quality as what...

The Alliance for Worker Freedom sent out the following press release: Kansas Gov. Parkinson Refuses to Provide Financial & Email Records between SEIUParkinson’s Departments Use Taxpayer Money to Collect Names for UnionWashington, D.C. — Last week, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) called on Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson (D) to release financial documents and correspondence surrounding his Departments using taxpayer money and state resources to collect healthcare provider names and addresses for the Service Employee International Union (SEIU)....

He saw a squirrel the other day in his new back yard in Derby and chased it up a tree. First time he'd ever done that. He hadn't seen squirrels, or trees, in Afghanistan. It was a big moment for ETTy, a black and white mutt that was adopted in Afghanistan in December by 1st Lt. Chris Corman of Derby and some of his Marine buddies Corman, 28, was stationed with about 20 other Marines in Mehtar Lam, halfway between Kabul and Jalalabad. For nine months, they served as an embedded training team with a unit of the Afghan National...

As a liberal, I agree with about a third of the people in "What's the Matter with Kansas?" A conservative would probably agree with the others. What's interesting is that every single person in this film is seen as themselves, is allowed to speak and seems to have a good heart. I've rarely seen a documentary quite like it. It has a point to make but no ax to grind. This is its point: Conservatives in the heartland have persuaded themselves to vote against their own economic and social well-being because they consider hot-button issues more important than their incomes,...

Okay, you’re probably thinking that when politicians and edbiz theorists talk about spending more money on education, they don’t have leafy suburbs and ivy-clad universities in mind. It’s those inner-city schools that are “failing our children.” That’s where we should be spending more money, right? The optimists’ faith that spending oodles of money will solve any problem is quite touching. In the case of education, though, the spend-more-money theory has actually been tested to destruction in several places. The Thernstroms cover two of these tests in detail in No Excuses: Kansas City, Mo., and Cambridge, Mass. Kansas City is the...

It's always sad when the son of someone famous gets tangled up with the law. But even if sad, it is one ting that newspapers love because it gives them something salacious to excite their readers. Naturally, the first paragraph nearly always includes the name of the troubled scion as well as the name of his famous father or mother, especially if they are politicians. But the Kansas City Star recently bucked this top-of-the-story outing of the parents of a troublemaker with the Sept. 11 tale of a young man that tangled with the Kansas City Police Chief at a...

By documents obtained by AWF staff, we have learned that Kansas is using state resources and taxpayer dollars to collect healthcare providers names, addresses and phone numbers for the SEIU. Outraged, the AWF sent the following letter to the Gov, the two Senators from the state and former Gov Sebelius demanding transparency of this effort and called on the Gov. to condemn this practice... ------> Please check out the full action alert at WorkerFreedom.org

A Night to Remember On the evening of May 4,2007, around 9:30 p.m., I heard the news of severe weather around Greensburg, Kansas. I stepped outside of Vosburgh's home when an unbelievably warm wind touched my face. It sent a chill down my spine, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as tall as a cottonwood tree. The lightning lit up the dark sky above, like the flashing cameras at a Friday night football game. The booming thunder rumbled my chest, but the world around me felt so calm, so eerie. When the dark sky opened...

PATIENTS FIRST BUS TOUR Join Americans for Prosperity as we welcome the national Patients First Bush tour to Johnson County. The AFP Patients First Bus Tour Bus has been traveling the country, stopping at healthcare rallies, and now it’s coming to the 3rd Congressional District in Kansas. We hope you’ll join us next week in rallying against government-run healthcare, and telling Congressman Dennis Moore that patients come first! Patients Fist Rally Tuesday, Spetember 8 , 2009 12 p.m. Shawnee Mission Park — Shelter House #12 7900 Renner Road Shawnee, KS Hear how a Washington takeover of health care will allow...

Two thieves tried to pilfer landscaping rock from next to the Keeper of the Plains early this morning, but their would-be heist sank — literally.......

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - In Kansas, Carrie Nation battled booze by smashing up saloons, the state school board once approved science guidelines questioning evolution and anti-abortion leaders have made their stiffest stands - all burnishing the state's conservative credentials.

This has been circulating around the internet for a while. It was confirmed true by TruthorFiction.com. Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard: Heavenly Father, We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that's exactly what...

I sent an Email to the Liberal Fascists regarding healthcare and posted a vid of the event to Youtube.

$896,487 mere months after winning $75,000 on a scratch ticket, a Topeka newspaper says. The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal reported Saturday that Wichita resident Edward Williams followed up his win on a $10 scratch ticket last September by successfully picking all of the winning Super Kansas numbers this week. Williams' lottery win Wednesday came on a $5 Quick Pick ticket he purchased at a local eatery and will result in him receiving a check for nearly $627,541. The lottery win by the former U.S. Marine reset the Super Kansas jackpot to $100,000 as of Saturday.

Greetings Modern Day Patriots, The Congressional Recess gives us a great opportunity to provide feedback personally to our representatives, below is a listing of August events. In the grand tradition of our founding fathers Kansans and Missourians have a responsibility to join together and support the other for the fight for our freedoms "UNITED WE STAND". Please try to attend as many of these functions as possible our country is counting on Modern Day Patriots like you. We would like to announce the end of summer event. The last thing our representatives will see before they go back to Washington...

On the morning drive Quinn & Rose radio show, I heard about the famous high school graduation exam from Salina, Kansas which Snopes had debunked as a hoax. I remember when they did this as I checked their site which categorically stated that such an exam did not exist. Well, it turned out that such an exam does exist and is preserved by a historical society in, of all places (drum roll, please) . . .

Not in my backyard! Not in my state! Not in my country! That was the response from politicians and business leaders in Kansas on Monday to moves by President Barack Obama to transfer terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to facilities in the United States, perhaps including Kansas. "This is a patently bad idea," Republican Senator Sam Brownback told reporters in the northeast Kansas riverside community of Leavenworth ... The Washington Post reported on Sunday that a government task force was considering as possible sites Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a 604-bed maximum security prison in Standish, Michigan, that is scheduled...

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is looking at creating a courtroom-within-a-prison complex in the U.S. to house suspected terrorists, combining military and civilian detention facilities at a single maximum-security prison. Several senior U.S. officials said the administration is eyeing a soon-to-be-shuttered state maximum security prison in Michigan and the 134-year-old military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., as possible locations for a heavily guarded site to hold the 229 suspected al-Qaida, Taliban and foreign fighters now jailed at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. The officials outlined the plans the latest effort to comply with President Barack Obama's order to...

Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt touched off a controversy last Thursday when he urged Congress not to fund abortions in D.C., pointing out that had such funding existed years ago it could have snuffed out the African-American luminaries of today before they were born. The children aborted in Washington, D.C., correlating to the city's community of poor on a whole, are disproportionately African-American. During his remarks the Kansas congressman called for an up-or-down vote in the House of Representatives on the abortion funding in the Financial Services Appropriations bill. The bill had adopted a suggestion by President Obama to eliminate a...

(CN) - A county attorney in Kansas violated a girl's privacy by showing around photos of her sexual assault, the teen and her mother claim in Topeka Federal Court. The Anderson County Attorney refused to prosecute the assailant, but showed other parents photos of the sexual assault, and was suspended from practicing law for 6 months for it, the family says. The parents say their 17-year-old daughter attended an outdoor party in May 2007, where four men or boys forced her to take off her clothes. One of them had sex with her in the bed of a truck, despite...

Wichita, KS (Lifenews.com) -- An abortion advocate attacked the national headquarters of the pro-life group Operation Rescue on Friday. The attack saw someone attempt to disabled the pro-life organization's security system.

A high school teacher in Kansas who claimed his contract was not renewed due to his conservative political views has been reinstated. Tim Latham, 44, who was told that his school-affiliated Web site was "too patriotic," will return this fall to the 2,000-student Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kan., where he'll continue teaching American history and government for a second consecutive year. Since the contract renewal became official late last week, Latham, a teaching veteran of 20 years, said he's received countless well-wishes from students and teachers alike.

...... Latham also said that Gentry asked him about a "McCain-Palin" bumper sticker on his car. "She said, 'I don't know how you could support that woman,'" Latham said. "That was the beginning of what was going on. They were trying to find a reason to get rid of me." The married father of three said the experience hasn’t affected his desire to teach. And support from students and a local conservative group have inspired him to fight for his job. Chloe Mercer, who graduated Lawrence High School last month, said Latham's class was her favorite and said he was...

Rare books containing old and expensive artwork have been stolen or torn apart, resulting in thousands of dollars of damage at a University of Kansas library, according to campus police.

Early in May, Lawrence High School of Lawrence, Kansas fired government and history teacher Tim Latham. Latham charges that District 912 fired him because he is a conservative and many of his students have since rallied to his defense. Some 200 of them joined a FaceBook page in support and four appeared at a school board meeting on June 8 to advocate for their favorite teacher. One reason given for the firing is that Mr. Latham did not show Obama's inauguration live in his class and another is that staff members disparaged him for supporting Republicans during the late presidential...

Doc plans to offer 3rd-term abortions in Kansas Staff from Dr. Tiller's clinic may join the Nebraskan to help train others  Wed., June 10, 2009 OMAHA, Neb. - A Nebraska doctor says he'll perform third-term abortions in Kansas after the slaying of abortion provider George Tiller, even though Tiller's clinic is closed.Dr. LeRoy Carhart declined to discuss his plans in detail during a telephone interview with The Associated Press, but insisted "there will be a place in Kansas for the later second and the medically indicated third-trimester patients very soon." "I just think that until everything is in place, it's...

SHAWNEE, KAN. - A homeless man who told police he was "tired of being out" and wanted to go back in jail, groped a receptionist at State Farm Insurance in Shawnee. The woman fought back by clocking the man on his head with her desk phone. Jo Cronin with State Farm said she saw Ricardo Ramirez walk into the office at 6011 Nieman Road and started to hug one of her co-workers. "I heard her say, 'Get away,' and I knew it was not normal," Cronin said. Ramirez had put his hand down the woman's blouse and was groping her...

Hundreds are expected to turn out this morning under tight security for the funeral service for George Tiller, the Kansas physician specializing in late term abortions who was gunned down in the vestibule of his Lutheran church where he was working as an usher Sunday. The suspect in his death, Scott Roeder, a 51-year-old man with dire financial problems who authorities say flirted with a number of militia-style protests against the government before becoming fixated on the abortion issue, has been charged in Tiller's death.

The Fox News star had compared Tiller to a Nazi, called him a "baby killer," and warned of "Judgment Day" | When his show airs tomorrow, Bill O'Reilly will most certainly decry the death of Kansas doctor George Tiller, who was killed Sunday while attending church services with his wife. Tiller, O'Reilly will say, was a man who was guilty of barbaric acts, but a civilized society does not resort to lawless murder, even against its worst members. And O'Reilly, we can assume, will genuinely mean this. But there's no other person who bears as much responsibility for the characterization...

WASHINGTON, May 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- Gold Star Mother Betty Pulliam, who lost a son in Viet Nam, now works to take the lives of other women's sons and daughters at George Tiller late-term abortion mill in Wichita, Kansas. Yesterday, she breakfasted with President Obama and was honored in our nation's capital as part of a Memorial Day observance. This is yet another connection between Obama and late-term abortionist George Tiller. Obama's new Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, had close connections with Tiller. Pulliam was among those who were honored by Sebelius at a party held in...

Reports out today that a controversial abortion doctor has been murdered in his own Church, are a "lose-lose" for all sides of the abortion debate. We condemn the killing of late-term abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller. Read more...

They are already trying to lump every person on the pro life side to the man who committed this act of violence, it's gonna get alot worse...

Late-term abortion doctor George Tiller, a prominent advocate for abortion rights wounded by a protester more than a decade ago, was shot and killed Sunday at his church in Wichita, a city official said. A City Hall official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the case told The Associated Press that the 67-year-old doctor was killed Sunday morning at Reformation Lutheran Church. Police spokesman Gordon Bassham would not confirm the victim's identity pending notification of relatives. He said the shooting occurred at 10:03 a.m. and the gunman fled the scene in a 1993...

Kansas Abortionist George Tiller was shot today as he was going to Church.

Note: The following text is a quote: Eight Uzbekistan Nationals Among 12 Charged with Racketeering, Human Trafficking & Immigration Violations in Scheme to Employ Illegal Aliens in 14 States Twelve defendants, including eight Uzbekistan nationals, have been charged in a 45-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on May 6, 2009, on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges related to labor racketeering, forced labor trafficking and immigration and other violations in 14 states. Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev, 30, Nodir Yunusov, 22, Rustamjon Shukurov, 21, citizens of Uzbekistan residing in Mission, Kan.; Ilkham Fazilov, 44, Nodirbek...