Politics with Rachel Robson

November 5: American Fascism

2004-11-05T13:38:00.000-05:00

We'll be joined for the hour by author and journalist David Neiwert, who argues that the current American political climate shares a disturbing number of features with fascist movements. We'll discuss the ascendancy of authoritarianism in the United States, and the implications of Tuesday's election results for these trends.

Neiwert is the author of Death on the Fourth of July and In God's Country, which examine white supremacists and the militia movement.

UPDATE: A reader of David Neiwert's blog captured the audio of this program. In case you missed it, you can download the complete program here.

October 29: Congressional District 3 revisited

2004-10-28T15:12:00.000-05:00

The race between Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore and his challenger Kris Kobach to represent Kansas Kansas' Third Congressional District is expected to be extremely close. It is also extremely important, with implications for the future of the national Republican Party, as well as for our state and its already-fractured GOP.

This is also the only race in which this program will endorse one candidate over another. The views presented on "Politics with Rachel Robson" do not represent those of KJHK radio or Student Union Activities.

In this episode, "Politics with Rachel Robson" is breaking with its neutrality and strongly endorsing Rep. Dennis Moore for re-election. This program will revisit our earlier interviews with Rep. Moore and Mr. Kobach, and will replay clips from their October 17 debate at Johnson County Community College, which aired on KCPT on October 18. We'll also be joined by Mary Ca Ralstin, who helped found Republicans for Moore and asked a question at the KCPT debate, and by Josh Rosenau, a KU student who has been fact-checking the claims made in this race.

Mr. Kobach claimed on the KCPT debate and elsewhere that Rep. Moore merely jumped on an already-crowded bandwagon in his support of a bill to pay the Rest & Recuperation travel expenses of deployed troops, and that Rep. Moore was not instrumental in getting this bill passed. Mr. Kobach's claim is demonstrably false, as can be seen here, where it is clear that Rep. Moore is the main sponsor and original author of an early (October 1, 2003)resolution on this issue. While it is true that the version of this bill that eventually passed was later (January 27, 2004) sponsored by Rep. Jim Ramstad of Minnesota and not by Rep. Moore, Rep. Ramstad's office, in a phone conversation, confirmed Rep. Moore's version of this story--i.e., that Rep. Moore and Rep. Ramstad worked together to get this bill passed. Note also that Rep. Moore is one of only three original co-sponsors of this bill, not one among "hundreds" as Mr. Kobach claimed on the October 17 debate. Contrary to Mr. Kobach's repeated assertions, Rep. Moore clearly deserves the credit he claims in getting deployed troops travel expenses back home paid for. Proof of Rep. Moore's additional claim, similarly contested by Mr. Kobach, that he sponsored a bill to increase the military death gratuity from $12,000 to $50,000, can be found here.

The Lawrence Journal-World piece cited by Mr. Kobach on the KCPT debate as if it were an unsigned staff editorial expressing the considered opinion of that paper's editorial board was in fact written by Journal-World publisher Dolph Simons, well-known locally for his very conservative views. Ironically, the Simons column, written more than a year ago, highlights the importance of a positive race, free from name-calling, in the Republican primary. "It will be a tight horse race between Taff and Kobach, but if they can avoid serious name-calling and if the rift between Johnson County Republican moderates and their Republican cousins who call themselves staunch conservatives does not become too deep, there is a good chance the Republican primary winner could defeat Moore," Simons then wrote. Mr. Kobach ignored this other bit of advice from Dolph Simons' October 2003 column, repeatedly calling his primary opponent Adam Taff a "liberal" who supported the "radical gay rights agenda," although he denied that he had ever called Taff such names on his October 1 interview on this program.

More information on Mr. Kobach's extremism, with links to supporting documentation, can be found here.

October 22: U.S. Senate and Douglas County Clerk

2004-10-22T14:15:00.000-05:00

From 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., we'll be joined by Lee Jones, the Democratic challenger to Sam Brownback, the Republican Senator who has now represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate for the past eight years. Sen. Brownback was offered opportunites to be interviewed on this program several times, with the first request for an interview being made to Sen. Brownback's office in July. All interview requests were refused. Additionally, Sen. Brownback has yet to agree to a debate with Jones, and has granted few interviews to any media outlets this campaign season. "Politics with Rachel Robson" makes every reasonable effort to provide equal time to all candidates in the races discussed.

From 7:30 to 8:00 p.m., we'll talk with Republican Marni Penrod and Democrat Jamie Shew, who are competing to be Douglas County's County Clerk. They'll discuss the Help America Vote Act and its implications for elections in Douglas County, as well as their differing approaches to leadership in the County Clerk's office. There is no incumbent in this race, as the current County Clerk, Patty Jaimes, is retiring from the post.

October 15: Dennis Moore and DAs

2004-10-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

Because of KU's fall break, "Politics" is and hour and a half instead of its usual hour, and begins at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7:00.

From 6:30 to 7:00 p.m., we'll be joined by Douglas County District Attorney Christine Kenney, who is up for re-election this year. Ms. Kenney was first elected to the office in 1996. She'll discuss her office and its accomplishments since 1996.

Ms. Kenney's challenger is Charles Branson, a Lawrence attorney. He'll join us from 7:00 to 7:30 to discuss his campaign, and why he thinks Doulgas County needs a new District Attorney. We'll take your calls at 864-4044 during this segment of the program.

From 7:30 to 8:00 p.m., we'll talk with Congressman Dennis Moore, who is running for re-election in Kansas' Third Congressional District. Rep. Moore was first elected to this office in 1998. He is being challenged in this race by Kris Kobach, with whom we spoke on October 1.

Scheduling conflicts that were mainly my responsibility prevented Rep. Moore from having more than 30 minutes for this interview. Since Rep. Moore's opponent Mr. Kobach was allowed an hour on this program, every effort will be made to provide Rep. Moore with his additional 30 minutes of equal time prior to election day.

October 8: Kansas House District 10

2004-10-06T15:12:00.000-05:00

Republican Rich Lorenzo is challenging incumbent Democrat Tom Holland to represent Kansas' 10th District in the state house. They'll discuss their stances on taxation, education, economic growth, gay marriage, and other issues on this program. We'll also be taking your calls at (785)864-4044 so you can ask these candidates your questions.

October 1: Kris Kobach

2004-09-28T20:49:00.000-05:00

Kris Kobach is running against incumbent Democrat Dennis Moore to represent Kansas' third Congressional district. This is an extremely contested district, one of the most competitive in the nation. The last election was decided by just a few hundred votes.

Kobach will discuss the war on terrorism, taxes, immigration and gun control, among other issues on this program. We'll also be taking your calls at (785)864-4044 so you can ask about issues important to you.

September 24: Nancy Boyda

2004-09-19T19:03:00.000-05:00

Democrat Nancy Boyda, who is challenging incumbent Republican Jim Ryun (interviewed September 10) to represent Kansas District 2 in the U.S. House of Representatives, joins us for the hour. We'll discuss national security, healthcare, the economy, the war in Iraq, and science policy. We'll also take your calls at 864-4044 so you can join the discussion.

Rep. Ryun was also offered an hour-long interview, but scheduling conflicts prevented him from being available for more than 30 minutes.

"Politics with Rachel Robson" makes every reasonable effort to provide equal time to all candidates in the races discussed.

September 17: State Senate District 2

2004-09-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

The three candidates for Kansas Senate District 2 joined us to discuss their competing visions for our state.

Reform Party candidate Jim Mullins was our guest for the first 20 minutes of the program. Mullins is the former head of the Douglas County Republican Party. He is running as a Reform Party candidate in this election because he feels that the Republican candidate is too liberal.

Incumbent Republican Mark Buhler joined us for the second 20 minutes of the program. Buhler has been serving in the Kansas Senate since 2002, when sitting senator Sandy Praeger was elected as Insurance Commissioner. Prior to that, Buhler served eight years on the Douglas County Commission.

Democrat Marci Francisco joined us for the last 20 minutes of the program. Francisco is a former Lawrence mayor who is heavily involved in community organizations.

September 10: Jim Ryun and Bill Wagnon

2004-09-19T18:01:00.000-05:00

Congressman Jim Ryun joined us for the first half-hour, discussing issues like the economy, the PATRIOT Act, the war in Iraq, the war on terrorism, and embryonic stem cell reseach restrictions. Ryun's accomplishments during his four terms representing Kansas District 2 in the U.S. House of Representatives were also discussed.

In the second half of the show, we were joined by Bill Wagnon, who represents District 4 on the State Board of Education. The state's school financing formula was covered at length, and Dr. Wagnon expressed his views on state standards for science and social studies teaching. Dr. Wagnon is in favor of the continued teaching of evolution in science classrooms, and he also favors a broad social studies curriculum including information on other nations and cultures rather than a narrower focus on the history and culture of Kansas and the United States.

Dr. Wagnon's opponent in the November election, Robert Meissner, refused to be interviewed on this program after dozens of requests beginning in July. Dr. Meissner, a Topeka dentist, has not made his views known on any of these issues. He has refused interviews with all media outlets in which his opinions on such issues would be made explicit. For this reason, some suspect that Dr. Meissner may be running a "stealth campaign" against Wagnon, similar to the one used successfully against moderate Republican Val De Fever in 2002. What is known for certain is that Dr. Meissner refuses to let District 4 voters know how he would represent them if he were elected to the Board of Education.

September 3: State Senate District 3

2004-09-02T13:33:00.000-05:00

Democrat Jan Justice and Republican Roger Pine are competing to represent District 3 in the Kansas Senate. They'll join us for the hour to discuss their differing stances on issues like education, taxes, and gay marriage.

We'll take your calls at 864-4044, so you can ask these candidates about issues important to you.

August 27: Republican civil war

2004-08-25T11:09:00.000-05:00

University of Kansas political science professor Burdett Loomis and Republican state legislators Bill Kassebaum and Tom Sloan join us for the hour.

Sloan and Kassebaum are both incumbents and moderate Republicans who faced conservative challengers in their August 3 primaries. Kassebaum lost his primary, while Sloan won his. (Primary election results here.) Sloan and Shari Weber, the conservative candidate who beat Kassebaum, do not face Democratic challengers in the November 2 general election.

The split between Kansas moderate and conservative Republicans has gotten more national attention as it's gotten more heated. The split is discussed at length in Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas, the topic of last week's program. National groups, seeking to influence the results of Kansas moderate vs. conservative matchups, poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into such races, although lax campaign finance disclosure laws in Kansas prevent voters from knowing for certain how much of that money came from Kansans and how much came from out-of-state.

Kassebaum is the son of Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a popular Kansas Republican Senator, and the grandson of Alf Landon, a Republican governor of Kansas who ran unsuccessfully for President in 1936. Two years ago, he beat then-incumbent Weber, the conservative who won this year's Kansas House of Representatives District 68 Republican primary. A documentary, Bill's Run, was made by brother Richard Kassebaum about that 2002 race.

Sloan has represented District 45, which includes most of west Lawrence, since 1995. He serves on the House Higher Education Committee.

Hype and whatnot

2004-08-24T12:29:00.000-05:00

Wow. Check out this article from the University Daily Kansan.

As they say, I've got a face for radio....

:)

August 20: "What's the Matter with Kansas?"

2004-08-17T13:41:00.000-05:00

Thomas Frank, the author of What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America joins us for the hour. Frank is a contributing editor at Harper's magazine and the founder of The Baffler, as well as a former KU student and KJHK listener.

The 1896 William Allen White essay from which Frank's book takes its title can be found here.

An article about Frank's book from the Lawrence Journal-World can be read here. Alan Bjerga, a political reporter for the Wichita Eagle, wrote a review of What's the Matter with Kansas? that can be read here. Conservative columnist George Will's thoughts on the book can be read here, and OxBlog's Josh Chafetz' review is here.

The transcript of Rush Limbaugh's conversation with the alleged KU student "Steve" to be discussed on the program is no longer available through the official Limbaugh site but can be found here.

August 13 Sneak Preview: Science and Politics

2004-08-17T12:42:00.000-05:00

The guests for this episode, which was pre-recorded on July 23, were Dr. Kurt Gottfried, a founder of the Union of Concerned Scientists and science journalist Chris Mooney.

A searchable list of the signers to the UCS statement protesting the Bush administration's politicization of science can be found here. The statement itself can be found here.

The editorial "Bush-league Lysenkoism," published in the usually apolitical Scientific American can be found here.

More information on science, politics, and the Bush administration can be found here.

Several internet searches failed to uncover a single scientist who is publicly endorsing Bush for re-election. A Bush campaign spokesperson, originally contacted in mid-July, promised in phone calls and e-mails to send information on scientists who are so endorsing Bush for re-election, but so far has not provided that information. UPDATE: August 23, 2004: Danny Diaz, the Bush campaign spokesperson mentioned above, referred me to two scientists he said were publicly endorsing Bush for re-election, Dr. William Happer, a physicist from Princeton, and Dr. Charles Arntzen, a botanist at Arizona State University. Dr. Happer is a strong supporter of President Bush, although he also disagrees with the President's decision, made at the beginning of his term, to demote his science adviser to a non-Cabinet level position. Dr. Arntzen, in a phone conversation, said that he thought that criticism of Bush as being anti-science is overblown, although he added that he personally did not agree with a number of science policy decisions made under Bush's leadership either.

The Bush campaign's response to criticism of Bush's science policy, which was extensively quoted by Rachel during this interview, can be found here and here.

Show starts August 20

2004-07-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

The host of the award-winning "Real Alternative Radio" returns to KJHK after a four-year hiatus to host "Politics with Rachel Robson." As election day approaches, Rachel will interview politicians, professors and pundits about Kansas politics. Future guests include Rep. Dennis Moore, Rep. Jim Ryun, and author Thomas Frank. We'll take your calls so you can join in the discussion. Tune in and get informed!

"Politics with Rachel Robson" starts August 20.