corrente

Lee's Summit is a Kansas City suburb on the Missouri side of the line. It's the next city down from Independence MO--you know, where Harry Truman was from?

(via KansasCityStar)

Some Lee's Summit residents upset that Republicans were allowed to hold a Bush campaign rally at a public high school will take their objections up with the school board tonight.

The meeting was requested in a letter sent to the school district Wednesday.

President Bush and several other Republican politicians spoke at Lee's Summit High School on Tuesday morning. The by-ticket-only event was attended by 15,000 people; 2,000 were students and school staff. Only students with parental permission could opt out of attending. Nine chose not to go.

In the letter, residents complained that a partisan rally “should not have been held in a facility that was paid for and is maintained by taxpayers' dollars during student instruction time.”

Jane Gibler, author of the letter, said hundreds of residents have signed the letter objecting to the rally for a variety of reasons.

Board president Patti Buie and Superintendent Tony Stansberry defended the district, saying they felt that having a president speak at the high school posed a once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunity.

Residents want the board to apologize for the partisan nature of the event and for any offense it caused. The letter also asks “that in the nature of fairness,” the board invite the Democratic Party and John Kerry to use the high school for a similar event, and to consider a policy against holding any other political campaign events during the school day in the future.

Since the KCStar requires registration, this is pretty much the whole story. Note the questions neither answered nor asked: did the RNC pay the school district for the use of this building? How about covering costs for security?

And damn but I hope the DNC is on the phone even as we speak, arranging an appearance for JFK in this hall.

UPDATE: I just realized after looking at the Washington Chestnut below, that this is one of the stories on that page! Look at "Bush Weighs Opt-Out Options in Missouri" down in the lower right.

I'm still looking for the "attentive hens" piece, I bet that's a blockbuster. And we know we can count on Lambert for more on the Goat of Alabama. I'm sure all that talk about possible involvement in Satanic rituals is just vile rumor of a partisan nature. The fact that the goat bears a scary resemblance to Zell Miller is a clue. Troubling....very troubling.