Don't Go KOBACHward

Whites are now the numerical minority in a half dozen states, and they will be the nation’s numerical minority in a little more than 25 years. And now, for the first time ever, there are fewer white than nonwhite children under 10 years of age.

(Baltimore Sun newspaper, 8/8/17)

Gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach provided Donald Trump with his final solution for the Caucasian-threatening demographic inevitability of whites becoming a plurality in the U.S.: reduce the U.S. Hispanic population by whatever means. If you can’t get rid of them, remove them from the voter rolls. That has been his goal in Kansas as Secretary of State and that will be his goal as governor.

Obviously, white political, financial, and social superiority in the U.S. is not really threatened. The promise of America, “ … All men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights …” is coming closer to reality as the United States becomes more pluralistic and we reap the benefits of the best, brightest and most courageous seeking residency in our country.

But the metaphorical door to Kris Kobach’s America is covered by a sign, “Power Reserved for White Men.”

Your ancestors immigrated from south of the border? Kris Kobach’s exclusionary policies threaten you and your family.

You fear Nazi sympathizers, Holocaust Deniers and White Supremacists? Kobach welcomes those who hate you.

You a property owner in Johnson County and recognize that your property values and increased high wage employment are tied to good schools? Kobach’s tax reductions will reduce the quality of your schools and threaten your children’s future and your own property values.

Are you among the millions of Americans who believe elections don’t matter?

Kobach supports the separation of Hispanic children from thousands of families. How is family separation, inflicting life-long psychological trauma, consistent with your Judeo-Christian ethics and welfare when our economy is so dependent on cheap immigrant labor and we are a nation of immigrants?

Kobach supports removing health insurance and health care from millions of Americans like you and your neighbors. Explain to me why making your health care unaffordable, even if you’re middle class, doesn’t matter.

Explain to me why incessant lying by the President of the U.S. and the alienation of America’s best allies, doesn’t matter; and why it’s a good idea to have a governor who consistently lies about fraudulent voting in the U.S. Remember, Kris Kobach was the author of the fake news that millions of illegal votes were cast in New England for the democratic candidate for President. He provided no evidence and no proof. Truthfulness does not matter to Kris Kobach, and he wants to be your governor, setting the tone for our entire state.

Our children are learning that truth telling is not the goal of the governing class, like our Kansas Secretary of State and our President.

Our children are learning that honesty is not a virtue but a poor person’s self-delusion: that stealing from the government is virtuous and normal while obeying laws and paying taxes is for saps.

Our President claims that grabbing women’s privates is a privilege of rich white men because they are rich white men. These are the ideals of Trump’s America, and Kris Kobach walks lockstep with the President.

Why does it matter that Kris Kobach allies himself with White Nationalists and Holocaust Deniers, like Peter Gemma? Because they serve Kobach and Trump’s vision of an America where power is reserved for the descendants of white European men, like themselves, and not Hispanics, African-Americans or Jews. These groups are the “other,” okay as minorities. But white men must rule.

Your vote will determine whether the Kansas will pursue the American ideal of equality for all dependent upon their hard work and willingness to contribute to our mutual prosperity, or whether lies and hate of Hispanics and other minorities will crowd out decency and achievement.

The future resides in your hands and your vote. As for me, I believe in the American motto engraved our money, “E Pluribus Unum,” “Out of the many, One.”