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Mary Pilcher-Cook

Liberal Kansas internet groupies flip-flop faster than John Kerry

It’s a set of dance moves that would make John Kerry proud.

Government run healthcare supporters gathered in Wichita Saturday to protest the Healthcare Freedom Amendment (HFA). The Amendment, sponsored by Reps. Brenda Landwehr, Peggy Mast and Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, would try to prevent the federal government from imposing fines, or even jail time, to Kansas citizens who choose not to have health insurance. Opponents of the HFA claim that it would opt Kansas out of any “public option” that passes in Washington. However, no where in the two page document are these provisions found.

The Wichita protest was to target Rep. Landwehr for her support of the HFA and was a follow up to a rally in early November in Shawnee targeting Sen. Pilcher-Cook. At that protest, government healthcare supporters were met by a large group of freedom loving patriots.

The spin from the left was that they were all shipped in by Koch Industries, even though they were unable to produce any evidence of this assertion. One would think big buses with a whole bunch of people would be easy to document. Of course, they are unable to do so because it simply doesn’t exist. Any “busing” by Koch or AFP is pure fiction, a grand lie concocted by liberals to convince themselves only the left can produce an uncoordinated, spontaneous grassroots movement.

The Koch lie seems to be in line with previous attacks by the left, where even they admit they were wrong when challenged to provide evidence.

This morning, I received an e-mail from Melissa “Missy” Cohlmia, the Communications Director for Koch Companies Public Sector. In it, Ms. Cohlmia asked:

“Can you point me to the facts behind this statement? The astroturf movement is paid for by David Koch of Wichita-based Koch Industries to the tune of $20 million of his own treasure.”

Admittedly, I failed in my post yesterday to appropriately link that statement. Mostly, however, that failure was because it’s a commonly known fact that Koch Industries is behind Americans for Prosperity, widely reported by the traditional and non-traditional press.

In fact the truth is AFP now has over 700,000 individual donors. Koch donations now account for less than 5% of AFP’s donations.

But as liberals go, they just couldn’t stop themselves and had to go even further.

One way that’s ever so popular with liberals is parading the children around. We must do it for the children, don’t you know! Thus Kansas’ 58,000 uninsured children becomes the call for more government programs. Of course, never mind there’s already a program out there called Kansas Healthwave. To a common sense Kansan that’d be evidence of a government failure, but to a liberal, it’s a call to more government action.

In fact, it seems the lefties have gotten themselves so worked up, they’ve forgotten what exactly happened in Shawnee less than a month ago.

In a weekend update, the left says things never got out of hand.

Despite the tone of our local Fox affiliate, that morning never got ugly. Passions are high on both sides, but never did the event escalate over some shouting matches.

But just a few weeks later, an organizer with the same liberal blog told a very different story to the Wichita Eagle.

“We had a bunch of (tea party supporters) come out and get pretty much in everybody’s faces,” said Sarah Burris, a spokeswoman for Forward Kansas. “They just want to raise a ruckus.”

Could it be liberals change their story based on what they think will get them the most traction in the press?

It also looks as though it’s okay to come from out of town for the rally, just as long as you make the trek for the right side. Just before the Shawnee rally, liberals had this to say:

…none, I repeat none, of the pro-Reform rally members will be bused in from surrounding areas — like American’s for Prosperity and David Koch did in Washington DC yesterday.

But they boasted of all the out of town folks for yesterday’s gathering:

Many of the demonstrators drove to Wichita from cities all over Kansas. Colin Curtis, of Manhattan made the trip because he wanted to ensure his side was represented in the debate

And I guess when flip-flopping on your version of protest etiquette doesn’t yield the results you want, you can always just start calling names.

From Twitter:

  • @sarahburris: If you use teabagger in a press release do we think they’ll use it? #fwks
  • @sarahburris: @immunis the experts say only if its in a quote just FYI #fwks

From the Wichita Eagle:

“We had a bunch of (tea party supporters) come out and get pretty much in everybody’s faces,” said Sarah Burris, a spokeswoman for Forward Kansas.

Now that’s a term even the Wichita Eagle won’t publish, try as the liberals might.

I’m willing to make a decent bet (tea party supporters) was inserted because the liberal’s spokeswoman decided to use a derogatory term for their opponents rather than show a little class.

Unfortunately, facts don’t get in the way of liberals. Their perception is reality, no matter how skewed it is, no matter how little evidence they have to support their assertions.

It’s the kind of insinuations and lies we should expect from this group in the future.

Morris, Vratil appear to endorse Democrat for reelection

A Thursday Winfield Courier article cited Senate President Steve Morris and Vice President John Vratil as saying the reelection of Democrat Greta Goodwin would be critical to retaining moderate leadership in the Senate.

Calling Goodwin the ’21st Senator’, the Courier cites Morris and Vratil as saying the Senate seat will be pivotal in deciding Senate leadership positions in January.

Goodwin said she was sometimes called the “21st senator” among the moderate Republicans who control the Senate leadership. Those senators want to see her back. Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, chairman of the judiciary committee, said hers was one of the key races that will determine the Senate leadership next year. Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, agreed.

The Winfield article comes on the heals of an AP story where Anthony Hensley, Senate Minority Leader, wouldn’t rule out using a little known rule to block conservative leadership.

The Senate majority leader and minority leader are chosen only by fellow party members. But all senators vote on the president and vice president after the majority party designates its choices. By custom, the minority party defers to the majority party’s choices. But if a conservative is designated as the next president, Hensley said, Democrats could use their votes to prevent that person from taking the top job. Hensley acknowledged doing so would be unconventional and probably unprecedented. Still, Hensley said: “It’s not outside the realm of possibility.”

Even after the heated primary where Senate leadership fed $45,000 into KTRM hit pieces against conservative challengers, including calling a former Congressman a racist, the Courier article comes as a surprise just under two weeks out from the election.

While conservatives and moderates have always had their differences, the party has a history of coming together for the general election and focusing on the work at hand of defeating Democrats and electing Republicans.

To be fair, Vratil and Morris didn’t come out and say they endorse Goodwin and the paper was curiously unable to produce any quotes from the pair. And the statement that the Goodwin/Abrams race will play a role in Senate leadership elections is a factual statement.

However, the way the article is presented, it seems as though the pair hope Goodwin will win so that they can keep their power.

In the same token, it would be folly for one to assume that the appearance presented in the paper is accurate without some verification. It shouldn’t escape anyone’s notice that the article hardly mentions Abrams at all and even goes so far as to say, “Polls show Goodwin with a slight lead over her opponent, Steve Abrams, of Arkansas City, according to sources within the Democratic Party.” Because we all know how reliable those Democratic polls are, right Jim Slattery?

For the sake of party unity, it would seem prudent for the two to clarify their remarks publicly and either validate or clarify their remarks to the Winfield Courier. If however, the appearance of the article is correct and Vratil and Morris have publicly supported a Democrat in order to keep their leadership positions, one has to seriously wonder how they’ll be able to effectively lead after having demonstrated that power is more important than party or any kind of value system they may have held.

In the end, what Republicans need to take to heart is that this race will be critical. Will it again play a pivotal role in deciding critical pieces of legislation like CARA, coal plants and more? Now is not the time to forget the folly of two years ago when Gene Rardin was handed a House seat by Republican leadership only to turn around and be the deciding vote on important coal plant legislation.

And lest you think all hinges on this one race, think again. Conservatives have many candidates across the state that need your help now! Any one of them could be the vote that changes the course of our state the next four years.

Steve Fitzgerald for Senate District 5 – Donate Online!
Mary Pilcher-Cook for Senate District 10 – Donate Online!
Jim Zeller for Senate District 18 – Donate Online!
Steve Abrams for Senate District 32 – Send a check now!