Today's buzzes

One of the Internet's greatest glories is to see the exotic places in which people find their way into print. Take, for example, Sen. Sam Brownback. Today Kansas's senior senator made The India Times, relaying a Wall Street Journal Article about contributions from the US India Political Action Committee. Brownback's one of the top GOP recipients from the PAC, which probably either has to do with his committee assignments or that burgeoning Indian community in Salina.

Brownback's also in BuzzFlash, a lefty blog/essay site that refers to him as a "conservative figurehead" added to the speaker lineup of the Republican National Convention to appease the party's conservative base, even as the party tries to make its convention moderate-friendly. Closer to the homeland, Brownback's in today's Kansas City Star, lobbying to get the Big Red One army division back at Fort Riley -- a move that might have more legs than a skeptic might normally think, though retired military leaders linked to John Kerry are criticizing the entire redeployment plan that could lead to the division's reassignment.

(Time out. My father served in the Big Red One. That has nothing to do with anything, though. Time in.)

Sen. Pat Roberts is holding his own hearing on intelligence reform today, while the GOP drums louder for John Kerry's intelligence committee attendance records, which isn't getting much attention in mainstream press. And finally, in our continuing observation of the cultural resonance of Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter With Kansas?" (now down to #10 on the NY Times best-seller list), we see a sure mark of authorial success -- references to the book that are completely superfluous to an author's argument. Check out this essay in the Gadflyer on the wars between liberal and conservative groups on college campuses. WTMWK just kind of gets pulled in, then pulled out. Oh well -- still an interesting read.