Playing you like a fiddle

By: Steve Rose, Publisher

Whenever I write a column critical of Phill Kline, inevitably I receive nasty responses from readers who dismiss me as an abortionist. They don’t care about what I wrote. They just assume I am a two-dimensional cartoon character who attacks their hero as a villain.

I have never written about my views on abortion, and I do not intend to start now. But suffice it to say, I have personally endorsed many candidates who are anti-abortion, some whom you would even call hardcore anti-abortion.

But I wish the letter writers could get past it, because abortion is completely irrelevant to my feelings about Phill Kline.

Phill Kline is a scam artist. If you idolize Phill Kline, you are a sucker.

I knew Phill Kline when, as a key state legislator, he never mentioned abortion. He only mentioned property taxes, and he catapulted himself to a leadership position on the crazy, irresponsible and wildly destructive notion that we could eliminate all property taxes in Kansas and increase revenues at the same time.

State Rep. Kline did not win everything he wanted, but he won enough to virtually, on his own, dismantle school funding in Kansas. Only the Kansas Supreme Court recently overruled Kline’s damage by ultimately concluding the obvious, that the state was not funding its schools adequately. Of course it wasn’t. There was no money, because Kline had maneuvered massive reductions in the very taxes that funded schools.

But Kline knew that becoming the anti-tax champion would not take him to the top. No, to become the full-fledged darling of the right wing, he would need to champion the cause of abortion. And so, with a calculated eye on the governor’s seat, Phill Kline set about to remake himself into the leading anti-abortion crusader of Kansas. I will never forget how, when there were anti-abortion marches around Kansas, Kline pushed his way to the front of the pack, to make sure he was seen by the marchers and the media.

Kline rode that horse until he went too far. He overplayed his hand when, as Kansas attorney general, he showed himself to be, not a chief law enforcement official of the state, but a grandstander, whose efforts at obtaining private medical records sealed his fate. The governor’s seat was to be forever out of reach.

Now, back in Johnson County, Kline cannot let go of his notoriety. He connived his way into his precinct-elected role as district attorney on the promise that he would prosecute Planned Parenthood. Pro-lifers, take a deep breath. You can hate Planned Parenthood all you want, but there was not one shred of evidence that anything illegal was going on there. Kline simply bought his job for the promise of a witch hunt. This, itself, borders on criminal behavior, because abuse of power by a prosecutor undermines everything the American judicial system stands for, whether you believe abortion is all right or evil.

Kline also promised at that time he would not run for re-election. This past week, however, he said he would not rule it out. That, of course, undermines the fundraising activity of Republican candidate Steve Howe and could, ultimately, help elect Democrat Rick Guinn. But, never mind. Kline gets to be in the spotlight, and that is all that matters to him. His chances of winning the seat, by the way, are about the same as Elvis singing again.

And while this flimflam man makes national headlines, he has earned himself untold sums on the speaking circuit, all while he is prosecuting. That has been called a breach of ethics. No, that is too nice. It is a prostitution ring.

Abortion has nothing to do with Phill Kline. All that matters to Phill Kline is Phill Kline. And those who worship him are worshipping a false idol. This man is playing his followers like a fiddle. And while they are mesmerized, he is busy thinking up his next tune.