In Case You Weren't In Church This Sunday

Can Kansas Find Someone Better Than Kris Kobach?

A couple of days ago, the Department of Justice published it's findings that police in the St. Louis, Missouri area do, indeed, have a tendency to ignore the constitutional rights of African Americans. This, naturally, did not brighten Kris Kobach's day. What it has to do with immigration is beyond the imagination of yours truly, but somehow, a gentle listener of some silly-assed conservative radio show has manufactured a connection and called in to share it with Kobach, and he packaged it, without proving it. He put it all together, verbally, in a way that promotes racism and misinformation as usual. Is there anyone who can serve as secretary of state in Kansas without ignoring the constitution and telling not only bold faced lies, but presenting fantasy as truth? This notion that African Americans will cease to face prosecution for any crime may actually serve as proof that Kobach is certifiable and in need of treatment for delusions.

Third Reason Why Kansas Schools Should Consolidate

To further discuss reasons why Kansas public schools should consolidate, instead of operating in "unified" districts, a misnomer because school districts in Kansas are not unified at all, a third reason is unequal and selective hiring practices and selective application of the law in relation to teachers and other employees of the "unified" school districts. The Renwick school board, near Wichita, has terminated the contract of Troy McChristian, principal of Garden Plain High School, pictured to the left; because he was arrested in the recent past for DWI. Officials cited that McChristian was "not setting a good example" for students, and was not reporting criminal activity, both prosecuted and unprosecuted, to the board in order to ensure proper decision making! Okay; driving while intoxicated does not set a good example....no argument there, but what about Noble Rick Pendland? He taught in a different public school in Southern Kansas, and was a foster parent, to boot, yet it took years to get rid of him, and his school isn't even responsible for the decision: Pendland was arrested and jailed for sex crimes against children, and was not granted work release pending bond or trial so that he could continue to go to work at the school where he met some of his victims. Terminating Pendland's contract was simply necessitated by circumstances, and would not have happened if law enforcement had not removed his presence from his forced audience, the students. This is a glaring example of unequal, and possibly selective, application of Kansas law, used to make or break a school employee's contract with a "unified" school district's school board.

 

If public schools in Kansas were consolidated, it would be much easier to insist that the same laws be followed by all Kansas teachers in public schools. Parents would have a basic notion of what to expect from their childrens' teacher; Rick Pendland and his ilk, favored by conservative Christians, would have to curry favor with a school board governing the public schools in all of Kansas, rather than just brown nosing the republicans on the school board in one locale. There would not be teachers who get away with drunk driving or showing up to teach classes while drunk (yes, Frankfort, you covered for a teacher with addiction problems) in one part of Kansas, while the same is not tolerated in other parts of Kansas. Children would have more stability, as well, through knowing what to expect. As things are run at this point, each unified district is allowed to play picksies/choosies with which laws it will respect and which laws it will ignore, at the ultimate expense of the children.

 

Another problem with laws, and the applications thereof, that could be cleared up with consolidation of public schools in Kansas is not only the favoritism employed by unified school districts, but the favoritism employed by local judicial systems and county prosecutors. When a teacher commits a serious crime, especially a person felony against a student, and a parent steps forward with a complaint, terminating his contract should be the next logical and acceptable step. According to the Kansas Department of Education, prosecution for a crime is not what determines breach of contract. Breach of contract is setting the bad example in the first place. It should not matter if the policeman responding had the teacher for eighth grade social studies, or if the teacher's parents also taught at the same school and donate money to the school, or if the county attorney has personal problems with the child's parents and denies justice out of personal prejudice. Once the state school board hears about a teacher who criminally endangers a child, such as Tom Schroeder, pictured on the right, who abandoned a fourteen year old girl along a highway in Marshall County Kansas, that teacher's walking papers should be forthcoming. There should be no exceptions made because of political or personal favoritism, and if all of the public schools in the state of Kansas answered to one school board, instead of un-unified  unified districts, equality, justice, and common sense would have a stronger chance of prevalence in such decisions.

 

Has anyone noticed a difference in skin complexion between the two teachers cited in this post who did not get sanctioned by their "unified districts", and the teacher who did? In other places, this might be chalked up merely to coincidence; but in Kansas, it deserves consideration.

 

Ann Coulter, Another Reason To Vote Democrat

 

This is Ann Coulter, conservative political commentator and professional bigot, posed with a recent tweet she made after the third presidential debate between Romney and Obama. Obama called Romney out on at least half a dozen lies, gave Romney a lesson on military strategy, and kept Romney on the defense most of the evening. In short, Obama won the debate. This was to be expected, since Obama had clearly done his homework before the debate, and has clearly done his job for the past four years. Mitt Vote-For-Me- Because-I'm-White Romney neither had answers or honesty in any of the debates, and he was unprepared for a discussion with Obama. Having learned his lesson after being told to sit down and be quiet during the second debate, Romney decided to behave this time. And so......we got to hear the nasty comment from Ann Coulter. Here's a letter she got from a man with Downs Syndrome.

John Franklin Stephens

Dear Ann Coulter,
Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult?
I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow. I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you. In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night.
I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child by people like you, but rose above it to find a way to succeed in life as many of my fellow Special Olympians have.
Then I wondered if you meant to describe him as someone who has to struggle to be thoughtful about everything he says, as everyone else races from one snarkey sound bite to the next.
Finally, I wondered if you meant to degrade him as someone who is likely to receive bad health care, live in low grade housing with very little income and still manages to see life as a wonderful gift.
Because, Ms. Coulter, that is who we are – and much, much more.
After I saw your tweet, I realized you just wanted to belittle the President by linking him to people like me. You assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult and you assumed you could get away with it and still appear on TV.
I have to wonder if you considered other hateful words but recoiled from the backlash.
Well, Ms. Coulter, you, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor.
No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much.
Come join us someday at Special Olympics. See if you can walk away with your heart unchanged.
A friend you haven’t made yet,
John Franklin Stephens
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Rick Santorum Running For President?

Rick Santorum thinks he may run for president. I guess I should have seen this coming. I guess, as conservative, republican candidates go, he's ok...........he could always be worse; but here's my question about him: why, oh why, does his religion have to enter into so many of the statements he makes concerning the general public; and why, oh why, is religion an avowed focal point of his professional decision-making? I respect his religion and what he claims it has done for his family, I really do. But I have my own religion, and it differs from his. If he were president, I would be very nervous about my country being run by his religious notions and ideas, which he has claimed should work for everyone. His religion will not work for me. I do not want it forced upon me at all, I do not want my children pressured at school, or anywhere else, by proponants of Santorum's religion. Any time he enters a public building, forum, or venue to serve the population at large, he needs to check his religion at the door.