No one expects the Republican Inquisition

Kansas State GOP Chairman Kris Kobach is a busy man. He's running around the country, trying to keep children some who've graduated from public high schools in a given state from getting in-state tuition at public universities. He's also been working hard to make sure the state Party spends more than it takes in, doesn't pay its staff, and, in his spare time, created a Loyalty Committee, dedicated to rooting out sedition within the state Party. This committee is charged with carrying out Chairman Kobach's fatwa against any Republican officeholder helping any Democrat getting elected. This, of course, a response to the fact that several former members of the GOP recently ran and won election as Democrats, a feat impossible without the help of a fair number of Republican voters, campaign donors, and, in fact, officials.

Kobach's plan drew historical comparisons from other Republicans which ranged from Orwell to Stalin, and Senator Pat "Memory Pills" Roberts suggested it was a sign that the Kansas Republican Party has become "a party of exclusion." He apparently forgot that Kobach made his name attempting to keep brown-skinned kids from being able to afford college, and that the Party's last great success was writing discrimination into the state constitution.

Not everyone loves seeing elephants screwing each other. If you have read this far, you clearly do, and the photo above is for you.

Photo from Glickman, Stephen E., Roger V. Short and Marilyn Renfree (2005) "Sexual differentiation in three unconventional mammals: Spotted hyenas, elephants and tammar wallabies." Hormones and Behavior, 48(4):403–417.