Extremely troubling circumstances require extreme solutions, at least according to R.J. Dickens. The Wichita television personality posted to the White House's website on March 14 a petition that seeks to have Kansas’ statehood revoked.
The petition was borne out of Dickens' growing frustration at politics in the state.
"I think for me it was the whole idea of impeaching judges for usurping the power of the legislature," Dickens says of a plan put forward in February by state legislators.
His frustration is compounded by the conduct of Kansas House Speaker Ray Merrick — who Dickens says "operates the house of representatives as if it's his personal fiefdom" — and moves by the state judiciary to block a Wichita mathematician's access to paper voting machine tapes.
"You have to wonder if we've got free and fair elections in Kansas," Dickens says.
The petition's success is a long shot to say the least, Dickens admits, but "if we can just state our indignation if nothing else, at least we've done that."
To force a response from the White House, the petition needs to gather 100,000 signatures by mid-April. The petition has more than 1,000 signatures at the time of publication.
This is not Dickens' first brush with statewide infamy. Last year, the name of his political action committee, It's Time To Fix Stupid - Kansas, came under fire. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission claimed that the name did not adequately reflect who was involved in the PAC and what its causes were.
Ultimately, Dickens worries about the well-being of Kansas' system of checks and balances. "If this bill passes," he says, "do we have three coequal branches of government?"
Luke X. Martin is a freelance contributor and assistant producer at KCUR 89.3. He can be reached at martinlx@umkc.edu.
