Great Plains

The Tea Party Put Into Action: The Tragedy Of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback

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Kansas is the state that helped to bring on the Civil War, due to bloodshed in that territory after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, allowing the possibility of the expansion of slavery into that Great Plains state.

Kansas was one of the centers of the Prohibition Movement, which led to the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, outlawing the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages in 1919, although Prohibition was ended by the 21st Amendment in 1933.

Kansas was the center of the segregation battles, as the only truly non Southern state to allow segregation of the races, becoming the center of attention in the Brown V. Board of Education Of Topeka, Kansas case in 1954, outlawing school segregation nationally.

Kansas was also the state of some of the major anti abortion battles, the murder of an abortion provider, Dr George Tiller, and the present attempt to prevent all abortions in the state, contestable in the federal courts right now.

And now, Kansas is the center of the greatest experiment of all in the promotion of the Tea Party Movement, with former Senator Sam Brownback now the new Governor of Kansas, and determined to promote its basic principles.

The goal of Brownback is to cut expenditures for education; take action against the Obama Health Care legislation; promote massive cuts in social service agencies and the arts; reduce the number of laws and regulations and state agencies; cut the number of state workers; and take advantage of the biggest Republican dominance in the state in a half century by working to eliminate even moderates in the party who oppose such drastic change.

Brownback is promoting the virtues of limited government, but his critics accuse him of “slash and burn” tactics, and a level of arrogance tied to his devout religious beliefs. The influence and support of the Koch Brothers, Charles and David, is clearcut in Kansas.

The critics believe Kansas will be damaged long term by what Brownback is doing, and that his hope of promoting economic growth in a state that has not seen for decades any major population surge will fail to be achieved.

Meanwhile, Kansas will continue to be at the center of some of the major controversies in the nation, as it has been since its beginning!

The Flaws Of A Mitt Romney Presidential Candidacy

Ronald 1 Comment

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has many virtues, many positives, that should make him a model candidate for the White House, including:

1. Strong business background with Bain Capital and as head of the Salt Lake City Olympics Committee for 2002.
2. Promoted a health care plan in Massachusetts which is seen as a major success by many.
3. Bright, intelligent, photogenic candidate, with great family image, including his wife and five sons.
4. Knowledgeable about economic matters, and seen as Presidential caliber in many people’s minds.
5. Has presented good body language in debates and has greater potential to appeal to moderates, Independents, and conservative Democrats.

Despite all of the above, there are a long list of flaws that will make it difficult for Romney to win the GOP nomination for President, and if he does, to win the election over President Barack Obama. Among them are :

1. Romney comes across as a chameleon, a person who is constantly over the years changing his views on many issues, seen as originally a moderate and trying to paint himself as a conservative–therefore perceived as a phony candidate, and a “flip flopper”!
2. Romney was not well liked personally by his opponents in the 2008 Presidential race, particularly John McCain and Mike Huckabee, and is not even now well liked by the Bush clan and other Establishment Republicans.
3. Romney is not well regarded by evangelical Christians, a large group in primaries and caucuses, because of his Mormon faith, and one wonders could he win the “Bible Belt” South and Great Plains, areas usually Republican. but seeing Mormons as a cult, and not Christian!
4. All through the race for the GOP nomination, despite Romney showing the best ability in polls to compete with President Obama, there has been a constant search for an alternative, whether Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, and now Chris Christie, not a sign of much feeling of emotion or passionate feelings of love for Romney.
5. Romney has shown insensitivity toward average people, by joking that he is unemployed; by talking about his Cadillacs collection; and by having a project to increase the size of his home to a mansion at a time when many are losing their own homes. Being the richest candidate in the race may give him a money edge, but he comes across as not understanding the problems of the middle class!
6. Despite his recent improved debate performances, Romney still has an image of being stiff, uncomfortable in his own skin, not totally relaxed, and not truly knowing how to deal with irate questioners at rallies, and with strong criticism. It makes one wonder would he be able to work well with Congress, whether his own party or the opposition, with so little political experience, only one term as Governor, and thinking his lack of a career in politics is a plus, which it really is not!
7. Romney’s ability to get people out to vote for him is doubtful, since he does not evoke strong feelings of support, and his poll numbers are still seen as very soft.
8. Romney’s attempt to steer clear of the Tea Party Movement makes one wonder if he could ever work well with fellow Republicans, who in many cases would be much further to the right politically than he would feel comfortable being himself, once in office.
9. Can a candidate from the Northeast, the stronghold of Barack Obama, have any opportunity to defeat him in any scenario that would add up to 270 electoral votes? That seems highly doubtful, as in many ways, Romney comes across as somewhat distant in the same way as two past Massachusetts Democrats who ran for President had trouble overcoming–Michael Dukakis in 1988 and John Kerry in 2004. Those two who lost to father and son Bush did not face a man with the charisma and emotional feelings of support that Barack Obama has had, and even in bad times, still has to some extent today!
10. By coming out hard line against immigration reform that allows illegal immigrants and their children a path to citizenship, Romney, like other Republicans, is losing the future, as Hispanic population and voter participation is growing in the Southwest and across the nation, and they are not likely to throw support to a candidate who demeans them and treats them as not deserving of respect and empathy for their futures in America!

There are probably other points that could be made, but it is clear that Mitt Romney has major flaws in so many ways that his candidacy for President is going to require a lot of luck and good fortune for him to end up in the Oval Office!

The Arizona Dust Storm: Hints Of A New Dust Bowl As In 1930s?

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The news yesterday of the Arizona Dust Storm over Phoenix, one of the largest metropolitan areas in America, was stunning.

It demonstrated once again what a crazy year we are having weather wise–with devastating and frequent tornadoes, major flooding, wildfires–and now a massive dust storm at least 50 miles wide and churned by near hurricane force winds!

It also reminds us of the dust storms over the rural Great Plains during the 1930s, which led to mass migration to California as an escape.

Hopefully, this Arizona dust storm is a fluke, but it could also be a forerunner of the future, of shortages of rain leading to many metropolitan areas in the Southwest and the Southeast being subjected to massive dust storms that threaten lives and health of millions of Americans in urban areas, not the comparatively small numbers of people in rural areas, as in the 1930s!

America is certainly starting to see the effects of climate change or global warming, no matter how much the naysayers deny it!

Kansas: Historic Center Of Massive Battles And Turmoil Does It Again!

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The state of Kansas, center of the Great Plains, is one often overlooked or ridiculed, but it has been a center of massive battles, turmoil, and struggles throughout its history.

Blessed and cursed by its location in the Wheat Belt, Kansas has seen tornadoes, blizzards, drought, hail, floods, and grasshoppers, and was the center of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, forcing many farmers to leave the state and go west to California for salvation!

It is the territory and state where the Civil War began over slavery in the 1850s, before that war erupted nationally, and it was the center of struggles between Indians and whites from 1860-1890.

It was also the original home of the prohibition movement against liquor, and a center of the Populist movement of the 1890s and the Progressive movement of the early 20th century.

Kansas also became the rare example of a non Southern state which adopted racial segregation legally, and it was a case brought by a young black girl, Linda Brown, in Topeka, Kansas, which led to the famous Brown V. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in May, 1954.

And abortion has become a major controversy in Kansas, with Dr. George Tiller, an abortion doctor, murdered in Wichita a few years ago by an anti abortion fanatic.

Now the state government, under right wing conservative Republican Sam Brownback, former Senator, has passed restrictions on abortion, which has led to only ONE abortion center being available in the entire state, a major victory by the so called Pro Life movement, and a major blow to the Roe V. Wade decision of the Supreme Court in 1973.

So the abortion debate rages on in many states, with Kansas again being the center of controversy, as it often has been in its history over the past 160 years!

Natural Disasters Overwhelming America In 2011: Reminders Of The Dust Storms Of The 1930s And Mississippi River Flood Of 1927

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America seems to have been besieged by natural disasters this year, not that it is unique to 2011, but between the horrible tornadoes that hit Alabama and numerous other states in April, and the emerging Mississippi River Flood affecting many states right now, it reminds one of the natural disasters of the 1920s and 1930s!

In 1927, we witnessed the worst Mississippi River Floods ever, at least to now, with the possibility that we might see a worst disaster in the making as the author writes!

Back then, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, the winning candidate the following year for President, gained a great reputation for his efforts to help those in distress, even though he seemed inept to deal with the Great Depression which followed.

And on this day in 1934, a massive storm sent millions of tons of topsoil from the Great Plains eastward, affecting New York City, Boston, and Atlanta. This was the time of the Dust Bowl, which sent many farmers from the Great Plains out west to California and other western states in desperation.

Franklin D. Roosevelt took action to deal with the Dust Bowl, with federal regulation of conditions of growing crops and helping farmers in other programs under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

With recognition that hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires can also do tremendous destruction, and have in the recent past in this country, it makes trying to cut the deficit in the budget and deal with the national debt all that much more challenging!

The Ultimate Battleground For The 2012 Presidential Election: The Midwest!

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As a result of the Midterm Elections of 2010, it is becoming clear that the 2012 Presidential Election will be ultimately decided in the Midwest, an area of the country suffering more heavily from the Great Recession, and also an area that is losing a significant number of seats in the House of Representatives reapportionment that will take place, as a result of the Census of 2010!

Even though the Midwest is losing electoral votes because of a smaller relative population as compared to the growing Sun Belt, it still contains states that are among the top ten states in population plus others that are in the next ten states in population!

It is also an area that can presently be described as “purple”, rather than “blue” or “red”, but has moved in the direction of the Republican party in the midterm elections due to the economic hard times and the tendency to blame the party in the White House for the poor economic conditions!

With all of the key Midwestern states electing Republican governors except for Illinois, and many state legislatures and House seats going over to the GOP, it poses a massive problem for the Democrats and President Barack Obama as they look at the electoral scene for 2012!

However, two of those states historically are particularly crucial in a Presidential election–Ohio and Missouri!

Ohio has been the decisive state for the Republican Party, as every Republican President since the first one, Abraham Lincoln, to the last one, George W. Bush, has won Ohio! At the same time, it means that if Ohio goes to the Democrats, as say Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008, the chances of Gerald Ford and John McCain were therefore dashed!

Missouri, if anything, has been the true bellwether state, as every single time since 1900, except 1956 and 2008, the winner of Missouri has become President! And even Dwight D. Eisenhower came close to defeating Adlai Stevenson in Missouri in 1956, and Barack Obama came extremely close to defeating John McCain in Missouri in 2008!

Since the Atlantic Coast of the nation–New England and the Middle Atlantic–is seen as solidly Democratic except maybe for New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and the Pacific Coast also seen as solidly Democratic, while most of the South, maybe all of it including Florida, Virginia and North Carolina, are seen as solidly Republican next time, and much of the Mountain West and Great Plains also solidly “red”, it will be the Midwest which will decide the electoral winner again next time!

So the Democrats and Barack Obama will have to make inordinate efforts to appeal for support in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and cannot afford to lose much of this area if the party and Obama are to win in 2012!

That is one of the reasons why the Democratic Party is planning its national convention in the Midwest in 2012, with St. Louis, Cleveland, and Minneapolis as the key competitors for that honor!

So despite declining population percentages, the heartland of the nation again will be the central focus in the upcoming national elections in 2012!