Dec 18, 2006
(Updated Dec 20, 2006)

The Left-Leaning and Unprofessional Kansas Press Maligns and Impugns Phill Kline

See Wichita Eagle (WE) Blog's Open Thread for Discussion

Kline Accepted Nomination to be Johnson County District Attorney a Week Ago

The Kansas Press and the Kansas City Press, in particular, have gone overboard in their recent attacks on Phill Kline.  The Kansas Press is showing their political agenda more than professionalism in their reporting of how Attorney General Phill Kline and Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison have now switched jobs.  The Press pretends to be "fair and balanced" in their reporting, yet the dominant part of their reporting is often mostly about pushing their left-leaning political agenda.

Instead of making up reasons about why Kline is unfit for office, and impugning Kline's character and professional credentials, why didn't the Kansas press just say they were pro-abortion and are opposed to anyone that is not? The Press characterized the pro-life precinct committee voters as single issue, but those adamantly in favor of abortion are not also single issue?  If pro-life voters are single issue, wouldn't the non pro-life voters, who didn't care about that issue, be indifferent instead of only taking a pro-abortion stance?  Are the pro-abortion voters, including almost all in the Press, actually more single-issue voters than the pro-life voters?  Aren't the recent complaints about Phill Kline by the left-leaning press more ideological driven than factual? 

In yesterday's commentary in the Star, GOP picks principle over politics, Steve Kraske explains the precinct committee members voting for Kline was another example of principle trumping politics.  (The text of the article says "politics" but the biased article title was changed to "progress," equating "politics" with "progress.")  Would Kraske oppose pro-life advocates, who fought slavery during the Civil War, because principle was trumping politics during that time?  How have we lost our way as a country when a newspaper suggests "politics" is "progress" no matter what principles are being ignored?

Does the Kansas press expect Kline to prosecute all cases in the 10th Judicial District personally?  What will the 30 prosecutors in the DA's office do?  If Kline as Attorney General can oversee prosecution of criminal cases in 105 Kansas counties, and had the support of 89 Kansas sheriffs in his bid for re-election, why would Kline have problems overseeing the activities of the JoCo DAs office?  The JoCo DA job should actually be easier.

Where were any press accounts of  Kline failing to enforce all laws in the State of Kansas?  Kline ran on a platform of being tough on crime, yet somehow the Kansas press thinks Kline will be different as JoCo DA?  Kline is a gifted public speaker, and has excellent oratory skills, yet the press questions his ability to present a case, and convince a judge and jury of the guilt of criminals in JoCo?  

Consider the following recent biased, left-leaning articles in the Kansas Press against Phill Kline:

• Kansas City Star Commentary by Steve Kraske, Dec 3, Kline shamelessly bucks the tide
  - "He squeaked by a political unknown, Democrat Chris Biggs, by 0.523 of a percentage point" [Editor's note:  yet the Star absolutely refuses to explain why this was the case -- no investigation, no analysis, no reporting]

• Johnson County Sun, Steve Rose Memo, Dec 7, Deja vu all over again
  "Politics aside, this is what a DA should be all about:
  The DA should be a very competent trial attorney.
  The DA should be able to conduct a thorough investigation.
  The DA should know all about search warrants.
  The DA should know about selecting jurors.
  The DA should know about, and have attended, autopsies.
  The DA should know about presenting DNA evidence. 
  The DA should have tried homicide cases.
  The DA needs to know when to prosecute and when to negotiate plea bargains.
  In short, the DA needs to know everything about putting bad guys in jail."

• Kansas City Star Editorial, Dec 8, Phill Kline lacks qualifications for the job

• Wichita Eagle "WE" Blog, Dec 12, Picking Kline a loser for GOP
  - "The Johnson County Republican Party just thumbed its nose at voters by installing outgoing Attorney General Phill Kline as the county’s new district attorney."

• Topeka Capital Journal, Dec 13, Kline must prove ability

• Kansas City Star Editorial, Dec 13, Kline's selection was an insult to county voters
  - "irritating lack of regard for the voters of heavily Republican Johnson County"
  - "Kline should subdue his propensity to hire aides who lack appropriate experience"
  -"Phill Kline and his supporters have shown a stunning disregard for voter sentiment in Johnson County. They have a lot of gall."

• Kansas City Star Commentary by Mike Hendricks, Dec 13, Kline is back — politics trumps proficiency
  - "How many years do you think it will be before we know just how much damage the Republicans did"
  - "And they chose the hack — someone who was rejected by 65 percent of Johnson County voters a month ago"

• Hutchinson News Editorial, Dec 14, Unqualified:  Kline lacks experience for Johnson Co. DA post
  - "The lameduck attorney general"
  - "Kline lacks the prosecutorial credentials"
  - "Clearly, law is more a hobby than a career for Kline."

• Kansas City Star, and Associated Press, John Hanna, With Kline move, voters stuck with politician they rejected
  -" In the attorney general's race, Kline received only 41 percent of the vote statewide and just 35 percent in Johnson County."

• Kansas City Star's editorial board wants to lower Kline's salary, Dec 20, Without Morrison’s tenure, Kline should get starting pay
  - "Given Kline’s credentials and the circumstances under which he received the job, a reduction would be appropriate."

Kline beat Dennis Moore in Johnson County 52.1% to 44.9% in 2000.  Kline beat Chris Biggs for Attorney General in Johnson County 55.9% to 44.0% in 2002.  Over the last four years because of ideological differences, the Kansas City Star suppressed many "good" stories about Phill Kline's work as Attorney General, and focused mostly on "bad" stories about Phill Kline.  In particular, the Kansas City Star in its ideological support for Dr. Tiller in Wichita simply does not report much anymore about what happens in Wichita on a daily basis.  The Kansas City Star very early on served as a cheerleader for Paul Morrison's campaign.  If voters knew the complete and unbiased truth about Phill Kline, would the 2006 results be different?

The Johnson County Sun's Steve Rose and KBMZ's Scott Parks were on the KBMZ Shanin & Parks program with Mike Shanin on Tuesday night (Dec 12) maligning Phill Kline, who won the job as Johnson County District Attorney the night before.  The week before on Dec 7, Steve Rose almost laughably attacked Kline in his  Johnson County Sun "Memo," Deja vu all over again, which was a litany of reasons why Kline should not be District Attorney.   Both Parks and Rose were almost irrational in their attacks on Kline and should be embarrassed by their lack of objectivity and professionalism.  One caller asked for an example of when Kline as AG had failed in his job to prosecute a criminal.  Rose and Parks were laughable in their response asking how they should know.  They had no specific examples of any failures of Kline to prosecute criminals as Kansas Attorney General. Rose's hyperbole and over-use of the word "none" to describe Kline's abilities showed a lack of journalistic integrity.   

During the Kris Kobach show on KBMZ  on Sunday Dec 17, guest host John Altevogt talked with Steve Maxwell, Senior Assistant Attorney General, about Rose's claims.  Altevogt and Maxwell went through Rose's claims one-by-one as to why Kline would not be an effective prosecutor.  They showed how each of Rose's claims was ridiculous, yet falsely reported by the press. Every point in Rose's column was factually wrong.  Rose was blinded by his biases against Phill Kline.  Is that journalistic integrity? 

Altevogt later provided this information about the new JoCo DA Office::

Steve Maxwell will be Phill's #3 and Eric Rucker will be his #2.  Rucker not only has been a prosecutor, he teaches criminal law and also trains beginning prosecutors at a national school.  Maxwell has handled six homicide cases in just the last year, including two capital cases, winning a death sentence in one and life without parole in the other.  Both men are more qualified than Phill's opponent, you know, the one the press wanted the precinct people to elect.

Rose claimed Kline "should know about presenting DNA evidence."  Does Rose do any research before he writes his articles? Did Rose know that Kline ordered an audit of KBI procedures, which resulted in new DNA equipment for the KBI and reaccreditation in 2004?  [from Hays Daily News, April 28, 2004]

Kline ordered an audit of KBI procedures last summer after learning that a blood sample from rape suspect Douglas S. Belt had been mislabeled in 1991.   ...

The new, $94,000-DNA extraction equipment will speed up the process of analyzing and documenting DNA evidence, officials said. It also will eliminate the need for the state to send about 10,000 blood samples a year to labs outside of the state for processing.

Kline noted that DNA evidence increasingly leads to crimes being solved and to innocent people being released.

Did the Kansas Press recently report how Governor Sebelius impeded homicide investigations by the KBI in 2004 and did not cooperate with Kline to fight crime in Kansas?  Why did Rose endorse Sebelius for Governor when Sebelius was playing politics with the KBI's budget?

Republican Atty. Gen. Phill Kline, whose office oversees the KBI, blames most of the funding problems in the agency on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat.

"It's a serious concern," Kline said. "We have several vacancies over there we need to fill. My budget has gone from $6 million from the state general fund when I came into office to $3.8 million. We have people working harder, and we're spending less on travel and furniture, being more efficient.

"I'm rowing the boat when it comes to tough economic times."

Kline criticized Sebelius' veto of funding to create a white-collar crime division in his office, while the Governor's Office budget skyrocketed.

"The KBI over a period of years has not been a budget priority, and we need to change that," Kline said.

The Kansas City Star's video shows Kline walking out without talking to the press after he was elected JoCo DA.  Why should Kline ever talk to members of the Kansas Press again when they are so biased and unfair when he has so much to do with so little time?

Should the Kansas City Star mention they are an award winning newspaper from a defendant in one of Kline's criminal investigations?  Does the Star's defense of Planned Parenthood have anything to do with their attack on Kline's credentials to be JoCo District Attorney?  Does it matter that these same "journalists" fail to mention they received an award from a defendant in the case Attorney General Kline is investigating?

Planned Parenthood Federation of America "Maggie Award
"The Kansas City Star, editorial writing
In 2005, reproductive rights in Kansas were under constant attack — bids to seize confidential medical records, efforts to pass a clinic regulation bill designed to block abortion services, and ongoing legislative efforts to de-fund family planning programs. PPFA honors The Kansas City Star that through it all, championed reproductive justice, family planning, and the right to confidential health care on its editorial pages, providing a welcome antidote to the efforts of anti-choice extremists."

Does the Star's failure to protect child rape victims and viable babies in Kansas matter?  Here's what Bill O'Reilly said on Nov 6, 2006 about the KC Star (and the Eagle)?

"There's no question The Kansas City Star, and the Wichita paper as well, are against any kind of action against Tiller, and it is disgraceful in my opinion. McClatchy, which owns both papers, they are shameful."

O'Reilly has called for a "Don't Buy, Don't Advertise" Boycott of the Kansas City Star

Why is the Kansas City Star, and Kansas Press in general, so afraid of Kline enforcing all the laws of the State of Kansas, whether as Attorney General or Johnson County District Attorney?

KC Buzz Blog, Dec 12, 2006

Paul Morrison, on Phill Kline's election as his replacement:
"I think what we've seen with Phill Kline and Currie Myers certainly showcases the flaws in that (committee election) system."

JoCo Sun, Deja vu all over again, Dec 7, 2006

This would be like a repeat performance of what happened when Republican conservatives at the precinct level picked Currie Myers as sheriff to fill the unexpired term of the sheriff who died. Myers was chosen because he was pro-life and because he kowtowed to the right wing - not because he was the best qualified man to serve as sheriff.

Johnson County voters watched Myers flop around as sheriff, antagonizing local police chiefs and mayors, and alienating all the good people in the Sheriff's Office. They voted him out in the next election, replacing him with the very qualified Frank Denning.

Why is the Kansas City press maligning former Sherriff Currie Myers as if his election to sheriff by Republican precinct committees was flawed?  Does Rose do any research before he writes his articles? 

Frank Denning is ONLY sheriff of Johnson County now because his brother BOUGHT the election for him, and the press ignored the story!  The July 26, 2004 contribution report for the Citizens for Justice PAC showed $47,000 in contributions from just two contributors: Frank Denning's brother, Jim Denning, contributed $11,000 + $20,000 + $5,000 = $36,000, and sister-in-law, Marearl Denning, contributed $11,000. So, without Frank Denning's brother and sister-in-law donating $47,000 to his campaign via the Citizens for Justice PAC, would Frank Denning be sheriff today?  Since Jim Denning is the CEO of Discover Vision Centers, shouldn't Frank Denning be known as the Discover Vision Centers sheriff?  

The election results show Frank Denning won the August 2004 primary 40,153 to Myers 36,391. That was $47,000 to win by 3762 votes, which works out to almost $12.50 per winning vote. If Myers had a brother that could spend $47,000 on a PAC to support Myers for sheriff, would Denning be sheriff today?  For additional information ignored by the press: Denning's brother "buys" JoCo sheriff's election for him with Citizens for Justice PAC.

Just like in Kline's elections, the Kansas City press is silent about political money used to knock out conservatives.  In both 2004 and 2006 the Kansas City Star was silent about political money ($20,000 in 2004 and $25,000 in 2006)  from the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commence PAC, which was sent to Steve Cloud to help Cloud control Johnson County Republican politics, including the election of Republican precinct committees.

Jim and Marearl Denning, as the Republican Precinct Committee from Overland Park, Ward 5, Precinct 2, mailed out an endorsement using Discover Vision Centers envelopes and postage for Rick Guinn from their  Discover Vision Centers office in Independence, MO.  Frank Denning is the Discover Vision sheriff, and Rick Guinn might have been the Discover Vision District Attorney.  Why is the press silent about this political money?

• The Jebo Xanga Blog, Dec 14, Rose Not Worth the Time of Day

K a n s a s M e a d o w l a r k @ e f g 2 . c o m