Is this the "new direction" he keeps talking about?

The Color Of His Skin Has Nothing To Do With It...

Okay, let’s see if I’ve got this right. Asking Obama about his refusal to wear an American flag on his lapel is really code for, “he’s black” and the only reason I bring it up is because I‘m a racist. You can say that I guess, but just because you do doesn’t make it so.
Maybe that issue’s important to some people, I don’t know. And I’m not going to sit here and claim that race isn’t an issue in this campaign. But just because someone questions his extreme left agenda doesn’t automatically mean they’re a racist. Do you really believe his ongoing crusade against “Big Oil” is going to result in lower gas prices? And doesn’t his plan to steal from the rich to give to the poor sound a little weird to you? He’s got everybody in a tizzy with his promise of free health care for all and thousand dollar rebates or tax cuts or whatever to pay for people’s gas. Free government handouts. Hell yeah, sign me up for some of that free stuff. Would it be considered racist to point out that none of this free stuff Obama’s promising is going to be free?
I know a lot of people consider him a hero for his unwavering and unconditional support of abortion rights. And by now, most of you know my views on abortion so I’m not even going to go there today. How about we talk about his unconditional support of the dirty little secret called “infanticide?” Are you okay with that one? Be honest here. Are you okay with allowing babies who have somehow survived an abortion and have actually been born alive to be tossed in the trash only to die a long drawn out, agonizing death a few hours later? This is progressive? Does thinking this is about as wrong as you can get make me a racist? I don’t think so.
Does it make me a racist because Obama offended the hell out of me by telling the world he’s embarrassed by American’s who don’t speak French? He offended me when he said Americans needed to quit worrying about whether or not immigrants learn to speak English. He told us we just needed to make sure our kids learn Spanish. Does Obama offending me somehow make me a racist. I’m sure some of you will say so.
How about questioning his plan to substantially weaken the American military? Would that be racist? Just wondering, because I’m going to anyway. Quick, tell me what his stand is today concerning Iraq? It keeps changing, doesn’t it? One day he’s ready to pull out “now.” Then we had the 16 month time table. That turned into “depends on the circumstances on the ground.”
I know this is going to turn into a “Bush lied, kids died” thing. But you know what, none of that really matters now, does it? It is what it is. Whether you like it or not, we are at war. That being said, does it makes sense for Obama to tell the world he’d pay for his programs first by not spending $9 billion a month in Iraq.
He said he’s save hundreds of billions by suspending the development of unproven missile defense systems. Maybe he hasn’t heard about Russia being on the move. He once told an audience that Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba were tiny countries compared to the Soviet Union and posed no real threat to America. Hmm, that’s not exactly true now, is it? This might shock some of you, but there’s a pretty good chance Iran's proceeding full speed ahead with their plans to build nukes regardless of what they’re saying. And yes, I am suggesting that even if we’re nice to them, they might actually lie to us about it. Oh yeah, hopefully it was just a slip of the tongue when he referred to the Soviet Union in the first place. You’d hope he realizes the Soviet Union hasn’t really been around for a while.
Russia and China continue to develop new missiles capable of reaching American Cities that carry multiple war-heads. Obama proposes a halt to all new work on nuclear weapon systems. China is working hard to gain a military presence in space. Obama pledges not to pursue weapons in space. This is the guy you want defending us?
I believe an Obama Presidency would leave us weakened and return us to the days of Jimmy Carter‘s America. Remember that? Remember the 444 days Iran slapped us around like the whining little school children we had become. Call me a racist if it makes you feel better. But just for the record, you’d be wrong.
Whether you agree with me or not, free to visit my online blog at www.rm235.blogspot.com to join in on the conversation. I just ask that you keep it clean. Or you can e-mail me at: www.kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net

The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Joey Baggz aka (Joey Little.)

Okay, I probably got carried away with the title. But hey, that's just me being me. This is a picture of our photographer, Joey Little.

100 Kansas Towns

You’re going to think this weird, you know, me being an old guy and all. But I’ve got a story to tell you today about meeting one of our local rock n roll DJ’s last Friday. Most of you know him as Joey Baggz, the hard charging, loud mouthed, out of control, DJ on V-100’s morning show. I’m not going to claim to listen to his show on a regular basis but I do tune in from time to time. The last time I tuned in, Joey was trash-talking A-hole bosses. Yeah, Joey Baggz cracks me up and he’s very good at what he does.
I’ve know for a long time there was more to this guy than meets the eye though. I remember a letter to the editor he wrote a couple of years ago. He wanted to know why so many Topekan’s had such a negative attitude about this place we all call home. He pointed out a long list of things Topeka has to offer and asked what else people wanted. From time to time he’d show up on the Jim Cates show to ask the same question. I don‘t remember for sure, but I don’t think he ever did get an answer to his questions. Hey, a guy can only do so much. He’s given his time to several non-profit organizations like the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Foundation, The American Cancer Society, and Toys for Tots. Yeah, his heart’s in the right place.
Oh, yeah, did you know his name’s really Joey Little and when he’s not being Joey Baggz and raising hell on the radio he becomes Joey Little , the photographer? And that my friends is where I come in. Joey Little, the photographer and I have a lot more in common then you‘d think. We’ve both done a lot of traveling around this great state. Either one of us can pull into almost any Kansas town and see the beauty it has to offer. We’re both interested in learning more about some of the history of the places we visit. And we both enjoy telling the stories of our travels. I use words to tell my story. Joey lets his camera do his talking. And he does it well.
Joey’s currently working on a project he’s calling “100 Kansas towns.” His goal is to capture unique photos from 100 different Kansas towns and so far he’s about 20% of the way to completing it. His travels have taken him to such places as Holton, Lindsborg, Marquette, Powhattan, Russell, Canton, Hoisington, Ellsworth, Great Bend, Lincolnville, and McPherson. And the list is growing all the time. I asked him why he was doing it and he told me it was just because he loves this state and he wants to give people the chance to see it the way he does. You can’t really fault a guy for that now, can you?
Joey’s built a web-site for his project at http://www.littlemanphotography.com/ and would love hearing from anyone who might be able to give him a few tips or ideas about some of the more unique little towns he might otherwise miss. I told him about the story I did a few weeks ago about my little Kansas ghost town, Hitschmann. He seemed genuinely interested and said he was planning to be in the area over the Labor Day weekend and would love to check out my little town. And because he uses only one shot per town, I’d be very interested to see exactly what he’d consider unique about a Kansas ghost town.
While I’m at it, I have one more idea for you Joey. After you leave Hitschmann, head back the way you came, when you get back to the main road, instead of going south through Odin. Head north about 5 or 6 miles, you’ll come to a really cool, old town named Dubuque. The only thing there is an old Catholic Church and a really beautiful old cemetery. Check it out, I promise you it’ll be worth the effort.
Joey, you’re a good guy and I thank you for sharing your story with me. But I do feel obligated to warn you that FM radio’s just a fad. You’d better get your own AM talk show while there’s still time. One more thing, if you ever come across a town named “Here Kansas” get a lot of pictures. I’d really like to see this place.
You can contact Kevin McGinty by going to his online blog at: http://www.rm235.blogspot.com/ or by e-mail at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net

I Too Have A plan

My daughter, Misty really gets on my nerves. She called me early last Tuesday to ask why she should vote for my guy, Eric Rucker in the Shawnee County District Attorney’s race. Sensing an attitude in her voice, I decided to play my ace in the hole. I pulled out the “dad card.” I told her she should vote the way I said because I was the dad and like always, I know best.
Well, that plan didn‘t get me very far. She said it was a nice try and it might have worked if she were still ten years old. She told me she was going to give me one last chance to convince her Eric Rucker was the guy. Otherwise, she’d probably be voting for Robert Hecht. Wow.
We spent the better part of the next half hour debating back and forth about the two candidates. I explained to her that I was convinced Eric Rucker would be more effective in getting violent criminals off the streets. She countered with Robert Hecht’s record of removing corrupt politicians from office. And what about the issue of dirty cops? She wanted to know if my guy, Eric Rucker was going to turn a blind eye to these kind of crimes. Eventually she told me she was going to do her own research and make her own decision and that there was no way she was going to vote a certain way just because I said so. Bam! So much for me being the boss.
She called late Tuesday night to tell me she had in fact considered my opinion and in the end, she decided maybe I had a point and decided to vote for Eric Rucker. On one hand, I’m glad to know she’s grown up to be an independent thinker and not willing to just follow the crowd. But dang it, things sure were a lot easier for me when she was still a little girl and had to do what I said just because I said so. Oh well, such is life.
Hey, I know this is late and I should have gotten to it sooner but I’d still like to thank Mayor Bill Bunten for using his veto power and putting a stop to the much touted Elevation Parkway project. Again, the City Council voted to spend millions of dollars on what’s probably a pretty good project but at a really bad time. Supporters like to point to the economic development the project will likely create. Come on now. What kind of economic development will it really bring to the table. How many more convenience stores or fast food joints does Topeka really need? They have a valid point when they talk about needing to do something to alleviate the traffic backups at the intersection of 21st and Fairlawn though.
This has to be one of the most poorly planned intersections I’ve ever seen. Just drive west on I-470 between 4:00 and 5:00 any weekday afternoon and more than likely, you’ll find cars lined up clear up to the top of the off ramp. You know, it’s gotta be hell in some of those cars too. Can you imagine if you’re in a hurry, you have three little kids with you. The youngest one has just peed his pants, one of them is hungry and crying, and the other one is busy tattling on the other two. To top it off, the idiot in front of you could have easily gone, but hell no, apparently he’s waiting for some kind of special invitation before he moves his sorry self. And oh no, what's that smell. Great, the baby just pooped. Why do we put ourselves in these kind of situations anyway?
Luckily, like T Boone Pickens. I have a plan. Unlike Mr. Pickens’ plan that will cost us bazillions of dollars. My plan won’t cost us a dime. Are you ready? How about taking another route. How about getting off at the Gage exit and taking 29th west to Fairlawn. How about simply traveling through town and avoiding the whole mess all together. But hey, what do I know, I’m just an old guy.
You can reach Kevin McGinty and join in on the conversation at his online blog at: http://www.rm235.blogspot.com/ or by e-mail at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net

Eric Rucker For District Attorney

The crushing heat during the dog days of a Kansas summer is brutal but it’s nothing compared to the heat coming out of the District Attorney’s race. I’m talking primarily about the fight between Eric Rucker and current District Attorney, Robert Hecht.
I’ll tell you straight up I’m backing Eric Rucker in this fight and I’ll tell you why. Before I do though, I want to make it perfectly clear that I believe both of them are good and honorable men who believe in what they are doing. I just think they have different priorities.
Robert Hecht has been in the business for about as long as I’ve been alive, so as far as experience goes, he takes a back seat to no one. He’s taken on and has brought down several corrupt politicians and dirty cops. And like he says, he operates without favor or fear.
But has all that made Topeka a safer place to live? Not really. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t read about another murder, another shooting, another beating, another rape, or another robbery. The list goes on and on. How about property crimes? How many times does someone have to get caught breaking into someone’s car or house before they face any kind of consequences? The owners of local gas stations and convenience stores have more or less been left to fend for themselves because the DA’s office says that gasoline drive offs aren’t worth prosecuting. Maybe they’re not, I don’t know. It just seems weird to me that someone can be caught red handed stealing gas and the cops won’t do anything about it because they know the DA won’t prosecute the case. No, I don’t believe it’s all Robert Hecht’s fault and I’m not saying it is. Maybe that’s just the way the system works, who knows?
The deal breaker for me though was the Harold Spencer case. Harold Spencer is the 75 year old pedophile who plead guilty to raping two little 6 and 7 year old girls. According to the sentencing guidelines this man should have faced two life sentences. Instead, judge Mathew Dowd gave him three years of low level probation. How is that justice? How does it keep him from doing it again? It doesn’t.
No, I don’t blame Robert Hecht for the actions of a miserable judge like Mathew Dowd. I do blame him for agreeing to stand silent for the sentencing in this judge’s courtroom though. Defending his decision to stand silent, Mr. Hecht said he had never seen nor was he aware of any case, anywhere, where the proscribed sentence was two life terms in prison and the court grants probation instead. That’s probably a true enough statement. But Mr. Hecht has to know that this judge has an extensive history of being lenient on child rapists. Mr. Hecht rolled the dice and bet that judge Dowd would finally do the right thing, and once again a child rapist goes free.
It’s no secret the cops don’t like Robert Hecht. The way they see it, the DA has become more of an adversary than a partner in fighting crime. That’s why they’ve decided to back Eric Rucker in this race. Mr. Rucker has a long history of creating working relationships with the K.B.I., the Kansas Highway Patrol, several county sheriffs and city police departments all across Kansas. Isn’t that the way it should be?
One more thing before I wrap this up. I know that political campaigns get ugly. But for Robert Hecht to claim that Phil Kline would have an influence in the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office and that Eric Rucker and Phil Kline would make a dangerous team would be more credible if we had at least one abortion clinic in Shawnee county. Nice try though.
I’m well aware that some of you aren’t going to like what I’ve written here today. So be it. Just keep in mind, this is my opinion and it has nothing to do with the views of the Topeka Metro News. If you’ve got something to say you need to take it up with me, not them. And you can do just that by going to my online blog at www.rm235.blogspot.com or you can e-mail me at kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net.

A Kansas Ghost Town: Hitschmann, Part Four

About a quarter mile east of Hitschmann is an old, abandoned farm house. It’s where Vernon and Jo Ann Krier lived raised their four kids, Jay, Mike, and Darrell. They also had a daughter, but once again I can’t remember her name. You couldn’t tell it by looking at the place today, but it was once full of life. I remember trying to ride the calves and sneaking into the chicken house to scare the crap out of the chickens. We thought it was fun, but Jay’s dad didn’t exactly see it that way and put a halt to it. They had a huge barn out back we used to play in and I remember when they’d put up hay. Starting at the top we used to dig out the bales and built this huge network of secret tunnels complete with secret rooms, secret passwords, and unless you knew what they were there was no way you were getting in. But once again, Jay’s dad just had to get involved. When he saw how many of the bales we had destroyed in the process of building our secret hideout he had a fit. He didn’t much care about the adventures we were having or the fact that in order to enter our hideout he needed the secret password. Now Vernon wasn’t exactly the kind of guy to beat around the bush. He told us that if we didn’t get out of there right now he was going to beat both of us till we couldn’t walk. He meant it and we knew it. So much for that bright idea. I remember Jay’s mom sending us out to pick mulberries so she could make a pie with them. Now I don’t remember if we ever actually got back with enough berries to make a pie with because we usually ate them about as fast as we picked them. Looking back, I think his mom was probably doing what she could to keep us out of trouble with Jay’s dad.
I backed out of the driveway and headed back the way I came. I still wanted to see the old house we lived in. It was about five miles north of town, nothing special, just a small, two bedroom house out in the middle of nowhere. We called it the lease house because my dad worked as a pumper in the oilfields and the old house sat on one of the oil leases he took care of. I wish I’d taken this trip earlier. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was to find out it had been torn down years ago. But I did pull into the driveway and walked around for a while. I stood in the spot where the bedroom I shared with my three brothers used to be. Yeah, those were good times. I was the oldest and my brothers pretty much had to do whatever I told them because back then I could easily beat them up and they knew it. The old garage that caught on fire was gone. The spot where my dad used to put in his garden is overgrown with weeds and the old building he used to put up the potatoes he grew is long gone too. I stood in the spot where our living room had once been. As soon as I got home from school I’d sit on the couch and watch “Major Asrto,” it was an afternoon children’s show. Most of you reading this today have probably never heard of him. But back in the day, Major Astro was about the coolest friend a kid could have. I hated it when the news came on. We were in this living room as Walter Cronkite told us the news of the day. I remember my dad getting quiet and telling us kids to either shut up or go outside when was talking. I remember seeing my mom cry one day after he had been on the air for what seemed like all day. I didn’t find out until years later that Walter Cronkite was keeping us informed as the “Cuban Missile Crisis” unfolded and that my mom had been crying because she had been watching the coverage of President Kennedy’s funeral. Like most Americans in those days they were scared and worried about the future of the country. I had no idea.
I picked up a copy of a book written by Daniel Fitzgerald titled “Faded Dreams” the other day. It was the same book the guy from the elevator in Hitschmann showed me. It’s full of stories about Kansas ghost towns and on pages 161-162 is his story about Hitschmann. He did a good job of gathering the facts about the town and talking about it’s history. But now, if I can borrow a phrase from Paul Harvey, you know the rest of the story.
Well guys, that’s about it. If there’s anyone out there with a similar story and would be interested in sharing it, I’d love to talk to you. Oh, one more thing, Misty, it’s 6:00 and almost time to rock! You ready?
You can contact Kevin McGinty by e-mail at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net or you can see more pictures of this trip and join in on the conversation by visiting his online blog at: www.rm235.blogspot.com

Vernon And Jo Ann Krier's Old House

This is where my friend Jay lived. It's funny, our stories were about the same. Our dads drank a lot. And I'm not talking about just having a few beers. I remember many 90 m.p.h. trips home from this old house. About four years after we moved away my parents ended up getting divorced and his followed the same path a few years later.

The Old Lease House

This is where we used to live. I realize there's not much to show you here but it was a good place to call home. I have so many memories about this old place I'm not even sure where to start.

One thing that's always stuck with me is the sound of a Meadow Lark singing it's song. Even today, if I hear one it takes me back to what used to our front porch.

One Of My Dads Old Wells

This well is about a quarter mile north of the lease house and I remember when they drilled it.

Another One Of His Wells

This one is probably about 100 yards south of the one I just told you about and yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. You see, my dad started taking me to work with him from almost the time I could walk and we continued that way until I was about 10 years old I guess.

Dubuque Kansas

About 3 or 4 miles north of our old house was the thriving town of Dubuque. The only thing there today is St. Catherine's Catholic Church, the Priest's house, and a community center.

Now that I think about it, that's all there ever was.

St. Catherine's Catholic Church

You can see this old church for miles around.

I never told this part of the story but I showed these pictures to my aunt a coule of weeks ago and she told me about the time when her and my mom went to school there.

Dubuque Community Center

This is the third of three buildings that make up the town of Dubuque Kansas.

Another Oil Well

No, I don't have a story about this well. I just thought it was cool.

Still Drilling

I left Dubuque and took dirt roads most of the way back to Great Bend and was so glad to come across this rig. As far back as I can remember my dad worked 2 jobs. He worked as a pumper during the day and worked "evening tower" as a roughneck. And yes, I went to work with him on the rigs too.
Tell me, do you remember seeing your first sunrise? I do and it was from from one of these rigs. I was asleep in the dog house and my dad woke me up to show it to me. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. We sat there as the sky started turning blue then the reds and pinks started coming through. I wish I would have thanked him for it while I there was still time.

Dead Tree

The old dirt road I was eventually took me through what's called Cheyenne Bottoms. And that road led back to Great Bend.