Does experience matter?
January 26th, 2011 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Kansas, Public Leaders
LONGMONT, Colo. — Representative Michele Bachmann’s “Tea Party” rebuttal of President Obama’s State of the Union speech was the most intriguing speech of Tuesday night, including the President’s and Representative Paul Ryan’s official GOP response. The Minnesota congresswoman outperformed the night’s other featured speakers regardless of the trio’s content or delivery. She won the night simply by claiming a place on the national stage alongside the President and the GOP’s official spokesman. Her actions are the latest example of American’s [...]
Read more...So long Cornhuskers
November 16th, 2010 by John Creighton in Snapshots
Tags: Atwood, Family, Kansas, Sports
Dad would have been more than satisfied with the Jayhawks performance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in their final game as Big 12 rivals. Kansas lost 20 to 3, but Dad never looked at the final score, only the Cornhuskers’ margin of victory. He considered the Jayhawks victors if they kept the spread under fifty-points. That was the requirement to collect a dollar from his long-time law partner and friend, Forest Brown. Dad is the only person I know who could [...]
Read more...Between Generations
August 23rd, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Community, Culture, Kansas
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (08/23/10) — My family had the privilege to attend our daughter’s friend’s Bat Mitzvah last week. I knew little about the ceremony. I attended a boy’s Bar Mitzvah twenty years ago. It’s the only other time I’ve been present for such a celebration. Though I struggled to follow along at times, I got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as I witnessed the passing of the Torah. The eldest of the three generations gathered [...]
Read more...All Politics Is National
August 3rd, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Atwood, Kansas, Public Leaders, Public Values
LONGMONT, Colo. — Kansas U.S. Senate candidate Todd Tiahrt is using radio advertisements highlighting the support of national celebrities Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin and Dr. James Dobson in the critical last-days push to win primary votes. He’s competing against fellow Republican congressman Jerry Moran in today’s election. Republican Senate candidates Jerry Moran, left and Todd Tiahrt, right, shook hands after their first televised debate July 6 at the Topeka, Kan., NBC affiliate KSNT-27 studio. (Photo: Associated Press) I was in western [...]
Read more...Social Networks Are an Asset Not an Activity
July 25th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Atwood, Community, Culture-Structure, Kansas
LONGMONT, Colo. — People in Atwood, Kansas understood the power of social networks long before the advent of Facebook and Twitter — long before most of us even imagined the internet. They tapped into their hometown social network to help elect favorite son Mike Hayden the 41st Governor of Kansas in 1986. Mike Hayden was a fourteen year veteran of the Kansas Legislature and a respected Speaker of the House. There was little dispute that he was well qualified to [...]
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