Since 2006, Republicans have been coming out of the closet and professing their new faith in the Kansas Democratic Party. Call them turncoats, re-born democrats or opportunists -- they all made a decision to join the minority party in Kansas. They are welcome in the KDP and part of an unusual transition in power.

Maybe even more unusual is that a nightly prayer ends like this, “Dear God, please convince Mark Parkinson to run for Governor.”

Watching a shoe being chucked at President Bush created one of the most confusing moments of my life.

Initially, I laughed.

It was not an “oh my…Sarah Palin is talking” kind of laugh -- it was more of a Family Guy moment. A few moments later, I was generally confused.

Why throw a shoe? The worst kind of insult the media says.

Like most Americans, I can only watch cable news in short intervals of time. The talking heads become predictable, numbing, and repetitive. Party leaders refer to talking points as “ideas,” but careful attention always yields the same conclusion – each party is trying to frame the debate.

The question that has been unanswered: “How are the Democrats going to shift the momentum and beat Sarah Palin?”

Against my intuition, even though I want to stay away from being a talking head, I am going to speak out. This key question needs to be answered. This is the blueprint to beat Sarah Palin.

Over the next few days, the press will spend a significant amount of time talking about the deals forged between Clinton and Obama, the roll call vote, or the perceived drama that exists between the two political giants. From my perspective, the press knows how to stir-the-pot by raising the past, but they are missing a huge opportunity to capture a major undercurrent of the convention. While some focus on the Obama-Clinton “Young and the Restless” story of the primary, I rest in the hope that America will see the culmination of Obama’s candidacy by the thousands of young faces in the crowd.

The young faces are not in Denver just to party. They are in Denver because they accepted Obama’s open invitation to change the world.

A perfect example is Clarissa Unger from Colby, Kansas. Clarissa is twenty one (21) years old, a first-time voter, and a Kansas Obama delegate.

Anyone from Hays, Kansas knows the finer things in life revolve around: (1) beer, (2) German food, (3) family, and (4) Oktoberfest. Having deep roots in this pleasant Kansas town, I have always had a strong affection for the Founding Farmers who trekked across America to lay the hay bails for future generations. Placing a yardstick in time, the challenges of the Founding Farmers could be measured in drought, family illness, poverty, and America’s progression into two world wars. The names Staab, Dreiling, Pfeifer, Urban, Leiker, and Pfannenstiel may only resonate with a few reading this post, but to Hays America, the names represent an interconnected community.

This is my first blog post ever. Thank you Everyday Citizen.

For my first post, I was torn between writing about a late-night political discussion at the local Waffle House or about how cross-dressing for Hannah Montana tickets doesn’t always pay off. (No mother, it wasn’t me)

Well, I have decided to couch some of my sarcasm for the time being and write about issues I have spent hours thinking about.

"Five Ideas to Change the World"

Over the next several weeks, I will present you five ideas to change the world. I can attest that these five ideas are unique to my frame of mind. But I disclaim the notion that the ideas are mine. Ideas are not static or isolated. Everyone has said or thought of the phrase -- “I was thinking the exact same thing.” There very may well be concept or model of my thoughts already in existence. So telling you that these five ideas are “mine” is somewhat untruthful, and it also undermines the purpose of the series.

Why am I telling you this?