More on Kansas' Gain - The Nation's Loss
Every time I hear the name Kathleen Sebelius I grieve a little bit. To hear that name associated with this liberal Democrat is a bitter pill. I was good friends with the late Keith Sebelius, one-time Kansas State Senator and later Congressman. It was Keith's son, Gary, who gave the Sebelius name to Kathleen, daughter of a Democrat Governor of Ohio.
In the 1960s, Kansas had a Sunday Closing law which forbid the retail sale of much hard goods on Sunday. Merchants who lived in the interior parts of the state loved it. They, and all their competition closed on Sunday, saving one day's operating costs with essentially no loss of business. Customers had to shop on Saturday, or wait until Monday to buy.
Merchants nearer Kansas' borders hated it, especially those in the Kansas City area. When they closed on Sunday, their customers just crossed the state line into Missouri and did their shopping.
The Kansas State Chamber Of Commerce conducted a series of hearings around the state to gather evidence as to the support or opposition to the law on the part of the Kansas business community.
At the time, I was operating a radio station in Salina, Kansas. Since retailer's weekend sales have always been a major source of advertising revenue for small town radio, I felt my ox was being gored by the Sunday closing law. I became very supportive of the Chamber's actions, hoping the law would be overturned. Finally the Chamber sponsored legislation to overturn the law.
Keith Sebelius was Chairman of the Kansas Senate's State and Foreign Affairs Committee. When the Chamber's legislation was introduced, Senator Sebelius killed it in committee. I was furious. The Chamber had expended considerable resources investigating the Sunday Closing Law and a lot of people had participated in their efforts. Now, Sebelius just blew them all off.
I wrote and broadcast a scathing editorial on radio station KLSI, ripping Sebelius for dismissing so much serious effort in such a cavalier manner. A number of broadcast and print media around Kansas picked up and repeated my editorial (which, incidentally, won the Kansas Association of Radio Broadcasters award for the most effective editorial of 1968.) and Sebelius caught a lot of heat.
Keith Sebelius was the most honest, most dedicated and most patriotic political office holder I have ever known. He neither fought me or avoided me over the editorial. He called me and wanted to talk. Today I cannot recall the reason he gave for his actions regarding the Sunday Closing Law, but I know he convinced me that he was sincere in his actions and thought that what he had done was the right thing for him, that man, in that office, to do at the time. Good enough. (The Kansas Sunday Closing Law was later overturned, but I was not a part of that action.)
In 1968, Bob Dole was Kansas' Representative from the First Congressional District. He made the decision to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sentaor Frank Carlson. Keith decided to run for Dole's seat in Congress.
We were very supportive of Keith Sebelius. He was a great Kansan, a great Republican and a great Congressman. Joanna was once part of a delegation of Kansas Young Republicans that traveled to Washington. Congressman Sebelius called her at her Washington hotel and invited her to have dinner with him. At the end of their meal, Keith took each piece of bread left in the basket on their table and tore the bread apart so it could not be served to another customer. "For our Kansas wheat farmers.", he told her.
Congressman Sebelius later presented an award to station KLSI for its efforts to inform the electorate during the 1968 election season. Part of that award included a flag which had flown over the U.S. Capitol. In this photo, we were conducting a little flag raising ceremony in front of our studios. That's Keith in the gray suit to the left, partially obscured, as I raised the flag. The little girl beside him was April. Next to her were staffers Bill Calm, Joanna, Ernie Allen, News Director George Donelly, with the microphone, and other KLSI personnel.
Now I hope future Kansans will remember Keith - not Kathleen - when they hear the name Sebelius.
Every time I hear the name Kathleen Sebelius I grieve a little bit. To hear that name associated with this liberal Democrat is a bitter pill. I was good friends with the late Keith Sebelius, one-time Kansas State Senator and later Congressman. It was Keith's son, Gary, who gave the Sebelius name to Kathleen, daughter of a Democrat Governor of Ohio.
In the 1960s, Kansas had a Sunday Closing law which forbid the retail sale of much hard goods on Sunday. Merchants who lived in the interior parts of the state loved it. They, and all their competition closed on Sunday, saving one day's operating costs with essentially no loss of business. Customers had to shop on Saturday, or wait until Monday to buy.
Merchants nearer Kansas' borders hated it, especially those in the Kansas City area. When they closed on Sunday, their customers just crossed the state line into Missouri and did their shopping.
The Kansas State Chamber Of Commerce conducted a series of hearings around the state to gather evidence as to the support or opposition to the law on the part of the Kansas business community.
At the time, I was operating a radio station in Salina, Kansas. Since retailer's weekend sales have always been a major source of advertising revenue for small town radio, I felt my ox was being gored by the Sunday closing law. I became very supportive of the Chamber's actions, hoping the law would be overturned. Finally the Chamber sponsored legislation to overturn the law.
Keith Sebelius was Chairman of the Kansas Senate's State and Foreign Affairs Committee. When the Chamber's legislation was introduced, Senator Sebelius killed it in committee. I was furious. The Chamber had expended considerable resources investigating the Sunday Closing Law and a lot of people had participated in their efforts. Now, Sebelius just blew them all off.
I wrote and broadcast a scathing editorial on radio station KLSI, ripping Sebelius for dismissing so much serious effort in such a cavalier manner. A number of broadcast and print media around Kansas picked up and repeated my editorial (which, incidentally, won the Kansas Association of Radio Broadcasters award for the most effective editorial of 1968.) and Sebelius caught a lot of heat.
Keith Sebelius was the most honest, most dedicated and most patriotic political office holder I have ever known. He neither fought me or avoided me over the editorial. He called me and wanted to talk. Today I cannot recall the reason he gave for his actions regarding the Sunday Closing Law, but I know he convinced me that he was sincere in his actions and thought that what he had done was the right thing for him, that man, in that office, to do at the time. Good enough. (The Kansas Sunday Closing Law was later overturned, but I was not a part of that action.)
In 1968, Bob Dole was Kansas' Representative from the First Congressional District. He made the decision to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sentaor Frank Carlson. Keith decided to run for Dole's seat in Congress.
We were very supportive of Keith Sebelius. He was a great Kansan, a great Republican and a great Congressman. Joanna was once part of a delegation of Kansas Young Republicans that traveled to Washington. Congressman Sebelius called her at her Washington hotel and invited her to have dinner with him. At the end of their meal, Keith took each piece of bread left in the basket on their table and tore the bread apart so it could not be served to another customer. "For our Kansas wheat farmers.", he told her.
Congressman Sebelius later presented an award to station KLSI for its efforts to inform the electorate during the 1968 election season. Part of that award included a flag which had flown over the U.S. Capitol. In this photo, we were conducting a little flag raising ceremony in front of our studios. That's Keith in the gray suit to the left, partially obscured, as I raised the flag. The little girl beside him was April. Next to her were staffers Bill Calm, Joanna, Ernie Allen, News Director George Donelly, with the microphone, and other KLSI personnel.
Now I hope future Kansans will remember Keith - not Kathleen - when they hear the name Sebelius.
UPDATE: 2/27/09
I found more pictures, this one shows Keith holding the new flag, in a box, before presenting it to me (in the white jacket).
In this last picture, with the flag near the top of the pole, Joanna is completely obscured but April is visible. And, for the first time, our call letter can be seen on the building!
I'm glad I am in all three of these pictures so no one will think I was the photographer! :-)
The transition from "old" Sebelius to "new" Sebelius is sadly reflective of the overall change in politicians in this country.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much money and influence peddling in politics these days that it has become all but impossible for "good" people to win elected office. Until we find a way to change this we stand little chance of doing much to fix anything else.