Subject: Sam Brownback

• Fuck You, Sam Brownback

  June 7, 2007

• Sam Brownback: Slipping Logic a Roofie

  June 12, 2007

• Nosing Into Your Neighbor's Politics

  October 2, 2007

• Brownback Stands By Howe Endorsement

  May 27, 2008

• Socialism for me, right-wingers for everyone else

  By DAVID MARTIN Olathe banker Don Bell contributes money to right-wing causes and politicians. But when his business stands to benefit, socialism begins to look pretty awesome. The Kansas City Star reports today that Brittany Savings Corp., the parent company of Security Savings Bank, plans to apply for funds from the $700-billion bailout Congress approved in October. Bell is the chairman of Brittany Savings. He's seeking help from the Treasury Department in spite of his distrust of secular i

  November 20, 2008

• Daily Briefs: Funkhouser; Econocalypse; Brownback

  Dumb-bunny civic embarrassment Mayor Mark Funkhouser's proposal to settle Ruth Bates' lawsuit against him was rejected by the City Council, 2-10. Funkhouser wants to settle because he can TOTALLY WIN THIS THING in court. He was asking for $135,000 to pay off the legal tab incurred by wife Gloria Squitiro's fat, stupid mouth, plus another $40,000 for his attorney. BUT! Councilman Ed Ford said that the council wouldn't approve a settlement unless Funkhouser dropped his crybaby lawsuit against the

  December 5, 2008

• Stealing Time: Fred Phelps thinks Santa Claus molests children

  Fred Phelps is spreading joy to all the boys and girls of Washington state with a special holiday message: "Santa Claus will take you to hell." Phelps, pastor of Topeka's least popular church, wants his Christmas cheer included in Washington's state capitol next to a nativity scene and an atheist sign. But Phelps' message wouldn't be complete unless he slandered Santa Claus as a child molester and blames the deaths of American soldiers on the jolly old elf. Westboro's members aren't the only loc

  December 11, 2008

• Stealing Time: Any Kansas Dems want to be governor?

  Does any Democrat want to run for governor? Christian Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, laughs at the idea that any Kansas Democrat would dare challenge Sam Brownback or Ron Thornburgh. Kansas Jackass answers Morgan and reels off 20 potential candidates and reminds Morgan that the 2010 election is a long way away.

  January 6, 2009

• Grease Spots

  January 24, 2002

• Brownback yielding seat on Judicary Committee

  Sam Brownback's decision to run for governor will immediately cost Kansas some status in Washington. With Topeka beckoning in 2010, the two-term senator took one for the Republican team and yielded his seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.The committee has 19 members. Democrats were entitled to an 11th seat after the November election increased their majority.There had been speculation that Republican Sen. Tom Coburn was going to lose his seat on the committee. Coburn is an eccentric who once

  January 30, 2009

• Moon Pie

  December 25, 2003

• Brownback backs away from letter calling President Obama a "pro-abortion radical"

  Sam BrownbackKansas Sen. Sam Brownback is backtracking from an extremely brash fund-raising letter that questions the Catholic cred of several lawmakers -- including John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi -- and refers as well to President Barack Obama as a "pro-abortion radical." The letter bearing Brownback's signature was sent on behalf of the Catholic Adocate. Intended to drum up opposition to the federal Freedom of Choice Act (though no bill has been filed, such legislation would secure a

  February 24, 2009

• Brownback congratulates Sebelius on HHS nomination. Will it haunt him in 2010?

  Kathleen SebeliusFire up the "Truth Truck." President Barack Obama is expected to name Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius his nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services today (watch it live at noon), and that's not going to make anti-abortion group Operation Rescue happy. For weeks, they've been criticizing Sebelius as unfit to serve because she hearts abortion. They released this nifty "fact sheet" chaining Sebelius to Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller. They also e-mailed around this ne

  March 2, 2009

• Brownback in Operation Rescue's doghouse

  Sam BrownbackYesterday, I wondered what Operation Rescue thought of U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback congratulating Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on her nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services. Looks like Brownback officially made the Wichita anti-abortion group's shit list. Operation Rescue President Troy Newman sent out a typo-filled e-mail today. Here's an excerpt:"It is unimaginable that a Catholic pro-lifer such as Sen. Brownback would support Sebelius' nomination to a post where she ca

  March 3, 2009

• Baby Drama

  October 13, 2005

• Sam's Clubs

  June 8, 2006

• Wind to carry T. Boone to Lawrence

  Photo by Daniel KramerT. Boone PickensT. Boone Pickens, the octogenarian who is spending a fortune made in oil promoting wind power and natural gas, will be in Lawrence on Sunday to pitch his plan. The Dole Institute of Politics hosts the town-hall event at 4:30 p.m. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback will introduce Pickens, the subject of a recent feature in The Pitch. Brownback has a pretty solid record on energy independence. In 2005, he co-sponsored a bill which aimed to reduce oil consumption by 2.5 m

  March 31, 2009

• Letters from the week of January 4

  January 4, 2007

• Arguing about the stimulus, pork-producing hometown Republicans have made a ridiculous stand for austerity

  February 26, 2009

• Lovetown

  February 12, 2009

• The Toxic Avenger

  January 22, 2009

• Double-Odd '07

  The Department of Burnt Ends thanks you for making it so easy to find this year funny.

  December 27, 2007

• Uncle Sam

  September 21, 2006

• Opus Sam

  May 18, 2006

• Bosom Buddies

  While Ahmad Chalabi fights for his political life, his Iraq-invasion co-conspirator is breezing to re-election.

  October 28, 2004

• Tit for Tat

  Sam Brownback just keeps milking the media.

  April 29, 2004

• Iraq and a Hard Place

  Protesters bear witness while Sam Brownback hibernates.

  August 22, 2002

• Lawrence's answer to Project Censored

  KU religious studies professor Tim Miller chronicles media foibles with Plumber's Friend

  May 11, 2000

• Environmental group releases congressional scorecard

  Republicans are anti-environment and Democrats are pro-environment. That is the rhetoric heard in political campaigns everywhere. And with the publication of the League of Conservation Voters environmental scorecard, released last week by the Sierra Club,

  February 17, 2000

• Senate committee to vote on Sebelius' nomination Tuesday

  Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is expected to be confirmed as the next health secretary Kathleen Sebeliusdespite heavy opposition from anti-abortion groups and a powerful Republican senator.The next step is Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on whether to send Sebelius' nomination before the full Senate. CQ Politics reports that ranking Republican Chuck Grassley is making noise about Sebelius understating her campaign donations from Wichita abortion doctor George Tille

  April 20, 2009

• Senate to vote on Sebelius confirmation

  Kathleen SebeliusKansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is on the verge of getting this swine flu problem dumped in her lap -- unless anti-abortion activists and Sarah Palin's peeps get their way (they've already failed once). A majority of the U.S. Senate is expected to vote to confirm Sebelius as secretary of Health and Human Services this afternoon. That hasn't stopped Sarah Palin's online fan club, Team Sarah, from trying to foil Sebelius' confirmation via arm-twisting U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback. You kn

  April 28, 2009

• The Give-a-Shit List

  This week: A stark conversation piece exposes the War Within for U.S. soldiers and veterans, the city's cycling guru gets you ready for Bike to Work Week, and a possible reason why your mom thinks you're missing the point when you buy her a dumb card from Walgreens in honor of Mothers Day.

  May 4, 2009

• Say it ain't so, Sam: We're brave enough to take Gitmo's prisoners, aren't we?

  Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback's been on an all-out media tour recently, talking about how Gitmo detainees should stay in Gitmo. Here's his most recent video, on location:Which just makes me want to keep pointing out that Brownback and other politicians keep harping on the fact that "to keep America safe" we need to keep our prisoners of war offshore, they insult the very defense industry they're supposedly so proud of. Sure, the idea of housing terrorists at Ft. Leavenworth is a little scary, but wh

  May 20, 2009

• Colbert smacks down Brownback

  On Tuesday, Kansas U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback gushed about how Guantanamo Bay is a special snowflake of a maximum security prison and scoffed at the mere thought that Fort Leavenworth could hold back detainees. These prisoners must be like Wolverine times ten. Anyway, Brownback must have been reeling from Monday night's ripping by Stephen Colbert, who ripped Brownback's arguments against moving Guantanamo's detainees to Fort Leavenworth. Here's The Word: The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10

  May 20, 2009

• Kansas Democrats are NOT advertising for U.S. Senatorial candidates on Craigslist

  Someone is recruiting Democrats to run for U.S.Sen. Sam Brownback's soon-to-be-vacant 2nd Congressional District seat on Craigslist with ads like this one.Are Kansas Democrats that hard up for candidates in 2010 that they had to take to an online classified ad? Nope. "We didn't [post it]," Andrea White, communications director for the Kansas Democratic Party, told me this morning. ""Somebody's being funny."The ads are written pretty straight (see here, here, here and here). The first ad appeared

  June 9, 2009

• Surprise, surprise: Brownback still sour on Judge Sotomayor

  Breaking non-news in a statement from Sen. Sam Brownback, who met with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor yesterday:I asked for and appreciated my meeting with Judge Sotormayor today. I wanted to hear more from her as I have serious concerns about her philosophy as it relates to an activist judiciary. Unfortunately I did not hear anything in our meeting that allayed those concerns. As Chief Justice Roberts said, a justice should be an impartial umpire, not a player in the game. I am afraid Ju

  June 11, 2009

• Hello, Gov. Brownback

  Ron ThornburghThe road to Cedar Crest just got a helluva lot easier for U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback. Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh announced today that he's out of the running for Kansas governor in 2010. Basically, he didn't think he could pull out the W. That leaves Brownback in the race for the Republicans. And if Sunday's bit of rumoring is true, maybe Bill Kurtis running as a Democrat will give Senator Sam a run for his money in the November election.

  June 15, 2009

• Brownback likes prisons. Prisoners, not so much

  Space constraints did not allow me to share a bit of irony in this week's column, which explored one the weaker arguments against bringing detainees from Guantánamo Bay to Fort Leavenworth.The argument in question says moving the detainees to Kansas will lead Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other nations to pull military officers who attend the Command and General Staff College at Forth Leavenworth. The college's International Student Division receives officers from dozens of countries each year.In th

  June 19, 2009

• Trying to save Leavenworth from Gitmo detainees, Sen. Sam Brownback lacks good intelligence

  June 18, 2009

• Brownback sacrifices own dignity to preserve 'human dignity'

  In the latest round of attacks on mermaids, minotaurs, fawns, bat boy, man bear pigs, reverse mermaids and ThunderCats, Sen. Sam Brownback has introduced the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2009. Snarf, I don't know about this, Lion-O. On his blog, Brownback wrote about the act's intent, which is to preserve the sanctity of human life by banning the competition. This issue has been of grave concern since Ancient Greece, and it's the third consecutive year that such legislation has gone

  July 14, 2009

• Insurance agents want Brownback as governor

  As a U.S. Senator, Kansas Republican Sam Brownback insists the nation's health-care crisis can be cured with private-sector solutions. Now, those private-sector industries are writing checks to boost Brownback to the Governor's mansion in 2010. U.S. Senator Sam BrownbackLast month, when Brownback visited Cleveland Chiropractic Clinic in Overland Park, the Senator made clear he doesn't favor the public insurance option Democrats are pushing in Congress. He doesn't want the government meddling in

  July 17, 2009

• Kansas is totally not psyched to house Guantanamo Bay detainees

  ​State and local officials are pissing themselves at the thought of Fort Leavenworth making the short list of new homes for detainees. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins fist-bump-activated their Wonder Twin powers at a news conference earlier today. Jenkins transformed into an eagle and Brownback took the shape of water to douse the idea of moving detainees to Kansas. Then Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson said, "Bring 'em on, bitches," while touting Fort Leavenworth as the most impe

  August 3, 2009

• Brownback lies about cap-and-trade

  ​U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback is spouting nonsense in an effort to denigrate a bill intended to halt climate change.In a taped address to the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Brownback recently warned that cap-and-trade legislation in Congress would slap a family of four with a $1,500 annual increase in energy costs.But as Media Matters points out, Brownback's $1,500 increase seems to have been pulled from thin air.

  August 5, 2009

• Locals react to the death of Ted Kennedy

  Ted Kennedy​Here's what Kansas and Missouri senators are saying about the death of Ted Kennedy (we'll keep adding them as they come in). Pat Roberts​Kansas U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts: "The Senate has lost the lion's roar of the left," Roberts said. "His wife Victoria, his family, friends and staff are in our thoughts and prayers." "When I came to the Senate, Senator Kennedy was one of the first to welcome me and invite me to his office to discuss legislation where we might work together and mov

  August 26, 2009

• Brownback and Thornburgh will make an announcement Thursday

  Ron Thornburgh​Sam Brownback​Kansas Republicans will have something to celebrate Thursday. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh will make a "Brownback for Governor campaign announcement" at the Kansas Republican Party HQ at 11 a.m. Thursday. Is this the ticket? Will Thornburgh be the "Macho Man" Randy Savage to Sam Brownback's Hulk Hogan, forming an awesome-yet-combustible Mega Powers tag team? Or is Thornburgh merely offering his endorsement of Brownback's candidacy

  September 1, 2009

• Thornburgh will help lead Brownback's bid for governor

  Ron Thornburgh​Sam Brownback​The suspense is over. On Tuesday, Kansas Secretary of State, Ron Thornburgh, and U.S. Senator Sam Brownback primed the media pump, amping up intrigue for their joint announcement at the Kansas Republican Party headquarters this morning.    Well, here's the big news. Thornburgh isn't going to be Brownback's running mate; he's going to co-chair the campaign. According to PrimeBuzz, the two men exchanged praise during the press event. Brownback complimente

  September 3, 2009

• Kansas town really is just dust in the wind

  ​Add another destination to your list of day trips not to take.The New York Times notes today the passing of Treece, a lead-contaminated Kansas mining town near the borders of Missouri and Oklahoma. Town Mayor Bill Blunk tells the Times, "It's dead. Wasted land." About 140 residents remain, most of them waiting ... and waiting for the federal government to relocate them. Despite pressure from Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback and Rep. Lynn Jenkins and Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, the E

  September 14, 2009

• Kansas senators say Gitmo transfer a no go

  ​For those of you already losing sleep over the possibility that torture-tuned terrorism suspects currently held at Guantanamo Bay might end up at Fort Leavenworth, I have four words: Rest easy my pretties.Today, Prime Buzz reported that Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts are "confident" the deal is kaput. The U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth was one of a handful of facilities being considered for the high-profile terrorism suspects.President Barack Obama has pledged to close th

  September 16, 2009

• Brownback losing ground in race against Mr./Madame X

  I'm Sam Brownback, and I'm ready to take you on, you, you ... who are you?​Last week, the Kansas Democratic Party was celebrating a drop in approval ratings for Sen. Sam Brownback, who is leaving the Senate to run for governor. "In September, public support for Brownback dropped 6 points," the Dems said, heralding new numbers  from SurveyUSA. "More notably, one in ten moderates withdrew their support from Brownback during September. With an approval rate of only 48 percent, Brownback has

  October 12, 2009

• Bond, Brownback call on Obama to push for better health care for troops

  Kit Bond​Sam Brownback​Props to U.S. Sens. Kit Bond and Sam Brownback for pushing President Obama to make sure U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan get the mental health care they need. PrimeBuzz reports that Bond and Brownback are among a group of senators urging Obama to "fight against the military's misuse of personality disorder discharges," which they all teamed up on in 2007. PrimeBuzz notes that "the military views personality disorders as a pre-existing condition, [but]

  October 20, 2009