Ah, Kansas, the home of hard working, god-fearing, regular average Americans. You would never know that if you read Thomas Frank’s bestselling book “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” Frank paints the picture of the plains state as a land of conservative morons who self abuse themselves by following evil Republicans, who use trickery to create a backlash effect to past liberal doctrines. As a Kansan who read Frank’s book cover to cover, and had been besmirched by the demeaning description of Kansas conservatives therein, my preliminary critique of his book was that it was of the same quality as what comes off my boots after a terrible misstep in the cattle pasture. However, I saved my final critique until I had actually watched Frank in person lecture on his “famed” book, and it was then that I could say without any doubt that “What’s The Matter With Kansas?” was, indeed, a giant pile of you-know-what.
Now, Frank’s book creation has been made into a documentary in which filmmakers Joe Winston and Laura Cohen will attempt to take his negative propaganda message about conservatives to the next level. The usual Hollywood embrace was given to the film by movie critics, such as Roger Ebert (who defended the movie as having no axe to grind), with a glowing review that starts with the obvious words of detached professionalism in Ebert saying, “As a liberal, I…” For most thinking people, it’s time to scrape your boots again.

Despite the fact that this documentary will most likely be a film more accurately depicting the image of Michael Moore than the people of Kansas, I defend its creation and dissemination as I do its inspiration in Thomas Frank’s book. Why? Because, the ultimate value in this case, beyond the necessity of free speech in a free country, is that the educated viewer has the opportunity to learn important insights into the people that create books and movies on sensitive subjects for the purposes of advancing personal agendas.

I must admit that it is hard to get beyond the frustration that a book like “What’s The Matter With Kansas?” brings to the majority of Kansans, let alone Christians, capitalists, free market lovers, and the list goes on and on. I am with those that share anger for people who would attack American values in this way; however, simply rejecting a radical propagandist will do little to understand and identify others down the road. In other words, there is much more we can learn by taking a deeper look at these individuals. First and foremost, to the beginning of this educational journey we must learn to humanize the radical propagandists. This takes away the false mystic aura we often place around those who do and believe things we can’t fathom. In the case of Frank, he tells readers that he was not always the way he is today – that is, a liberal socialist. His book tells a very common, self described, story of liberal transformation.

For Frank, he describes in various ways how he came from a conservative Republican family and, after attending one of the most liberal colleges in the state at Kansas University, discovered that Ronald Reagan was the equivalent of the ‘devil’ and that the Republican Party was the mechanism by which all bad things come. As former leftist radical David Horowitz has chronicled in so many works, this is not a novel transformation. As well, the liberal socialistic equation that Frank applies to all aspects of the state of Kansas – where liberals are considered moderates, pro-lifers are considered radicals, socialists considered mainstream, Christians considered fire-worshipers, and Kansans in general considered self flagellating sheep, while it boils the blood of the majority in this nation, is all but common place from the modern day liberal. Yes, from a topical observation, Thomas Frank is nothing more than a typical liberal of our time. The question is, should we just stop there and move on? I would say no. I believe that the extension of Frank’s attack on Kansas in the new documentary film offer additional fruitful grounds for analysis. Historical precedence of the value of such work is abundant.

Through historical study and observation, we can now see the interesting relationship between Joseph Goebbels and documentary film director Leni Riefenstahl in the Nazi propaganda film, “Triumph of the Will.” The Frank-Winston/Cohen combination may very well offer more historical observations of the usage of indirect and direct propaganda applications and their overlap from book to movie form. This is the fruitful learning not intended from the Moores, Goebbels, Franks, et al. of the world that is available to those truly hungry for knowledge. It may very well also be the spring board to understanding better why some work so diligently to frame reality in false ways.

Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society and Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A Politically Hostile World. Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 f.m. www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact ibbetson91.9@gmail.com

Have you ever had to have one of those special sit-downs with the boss? You know, the kind where you have to sit in the big office with the blinds drawn to receive one of those “this is how it is” lectures – or the “better do it better next time” lessons of the work place. That is the kind of memory that even in retrospect quickens the pulse and starts that first light sheet of sweat on the palms. The reason that happens is that, for most of us, we understand and respect the authority of the boss. As a matter of fact, any boss that is worth his or her salt makes sure that the employees understand who calls the shots and has the last say. It’s a boss thing. Now, if we step out of the work place and into this country of ours, who do we identify as the boss?

From Congress to Barack Obama (and even as far as Bruce Springsteen), the boss of this country is not found. The one in charge of the future of this nation has much more power than all the above combined. Unfortunately, the authority within this country is often forgetful of the responsibility given to it, and the ramifications of losing focus while at the helm. This forgetfulness is not without visible consequences and we see it in the slow but sure way the master of this country has handed the power and authority to the employees. Yes, you know where I am going, we the people run this country and the government is simply an employee, a humble assistant, to facilitate our will. This statement may appear more derogatory than the shout of “liar” during a presidential speech, but it rings as true as America itself, that the people are not only capable, but responsible for their own fortune or demise. To mentally come to terms with this truth is hard for some, but allow me to shine some light on this perspective.

The terms of this powerful reality require that average people remove themselves from the comfortably scripted cocoon of citizen helplessness, framed from the minds and uttered from the lips of the modern liberal, and embrace the much more challenging reality of the power of American individuality. Within this equation for action remains the unshakable truth that where the heart and mind go, the hands will follow. Simply put, if Americans have an inspiration within their hearts and minds for an endeavor, they can and will move mountains. This country has a magnificent history of proving this, time and time again. Conversely, and just as true to reality, when we fail to move mountains, it is a direct reflection of a lack of American will to invest the heart and mind to such a task.

Since 9-11, if we take a factual panoramic view of the country, we can see some truly painful deficiencies in America’s will to force its government to address the concerns of its people (“the boss”). A few examples that make many cringe include the still gaping hole at ground zero, where the Twin Towers (America’s financial center – the World Trade Center) once stood. The failures of the nation to secure its borders and drill its own oil are examples that demand answers for years of inaction. The most salient example in recent days involve an image of employees running amuck in the governmental bid to force socialized medicine upon a free nation. However, disciplinary action cannot be wielded until ‘who is in charge’ is unequivocally established. So here it is: the responsibility for the present condition of the country and its future lies squarely on the shoulders of the American people – not the government. This is both the pain and pleasure of freedom. At times of national complacency, it is both the physical and spiritual accomplishments so abundant to view in America that slap us out of temporary fits of malaise.

I think that may be happening now, I believe that we may be hearing the voice of the boss screaming from streets of Washington DC. The boss sounds mad, and rightly so, as the employees have been running out of control for far too long. A day of reckoning may be at hand, and a time for many reckless employees to seriously have one of those special sit-downs with the boss.
Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society and Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A Politically Hostile World. Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 f.m. www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact ibbetson91.9@gmail.com

Whose side are you on? When it comes to what kind of America we will have in the future, that we will hand down to our children, the battle lines are being drawn, opposing sides are marshalling their forces and counting their numbers. Yes, those that would wish to see a new America through the vision of President Barack Obama, an America washed free of the capitalistic free market and its Christian foundations, have never been closer to seeing this scarlet dream come alive. For those who would wish to hold together the constitutional representative republic brought forth by the founding fathers, the country as they have known it appears to be slipping through their fingers. Each side actively sounds their bugles and screams to the nation, “whose side are you on?”

The fact that the battle for the future of the country can be accurately described as a “war” is unsettling to many, and rightly so, as it evokes the mental pictures of harsh confrontations with an inevitable image of the final victor and also the vanquished. What the proclamation of such a conflict does not depict are the subtle ways in which wars are fought, won, and lost.

In my book Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A politically Hostile World, a book written before President Obama had been crowned, before the creation of his jack-booted czars, or Whitehouse “flag e-mail” accounts, or any of the others woes we now associate with “hope and change,” I indentified what kind of battle would be fought for this country and who would be the combatants. I will share a portion of this simple, but powerful, truth with you now.

The battle for the heart and soul of this country has always been, and will always be an ideological contest. Every physical action, whether it is the commercials that emerge on your television to the swishing sound of the President’s pen as he strikes a new law into motion, these actions are set forth by an ideological belief system that is engrained within the individual. With that said, the two contending ideologies are that of the modern liberal and the modern conservative. If we care to cut through the fluff and get to the heart of the matter, the building blocks of what make up the modern conservative; that is, the values of God, Family, and Country, are in direct opposition to the philosophy of the modern liberal, with their atheistic Marxian quest for utopia. To quip over the accuracies of this truth is to toll in needless frivolities.

The road to victory for either side goes beyond money, flyers, and infomercials. Victory is found on the side that articulates a viable ideological way forward for this country that resonates with the largest amount of people. This is the part I always enjoy because of the obvious evidence that the majority of the nation adheres to conservative values. However, a belief system that is not inspired and invigorated will remain dormant and ineffective.

To this point, the Republican Party deserves a strong critique. The Republican Party, the most viable place where conservative values can be victorious, has failed to take the battle to the Democrat Party and Barack Obama. This is most tedious to watch as Obama has worked so hard to destroy himself with an assembly line of catastrophic plans for the country. It has been the American people, not the Republican Party, who have stepped up to the front lines to defend the nation against a totalitarian, free-market killing, White House. This herculean effort by the American people to oppose the socialistic whip to their backs is not indefinitely sustainable, nor should it be. A responsible Republican Party must take charge now to supplement the American effort taking place with clearly articulated alternatives to the Obama initiatives that first and foremost reflect conservative values.

If it is true that there can never be another Ronald Reagan, then let us at least grasp and apply the Reagan format for victory. It was by placing the conservative ideology first, in clear articulation and practice, that Reagan showed the world that where the heart and mind goes, all else will follow. It is time for the Republican Party to reach deep within themselves and grab hold of the conservative values by which all their political victories have been rooted upon and to place that banner at the front of the battle lines in this time of war. It is with this clarity of vision, this purity of heart, that the rolls will overflow with the names of Americans ready to fight on any and every battlefield required to protect the greatest nation on the earth.

Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society and Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A Politically Hostile World. Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 f.m. www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact ibbetson91.9@gmail.com