Wheat and freedom

Being the Wheat Wonder of the World, Kansans had reaction to Ann Veneman's Ag secretary resignation, which can be found here. My contributions got trimmed by the copy editors, but in an Ozblog exclusive, here it is:

Sen. Pat Roberts thanked Veneman for her service. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, said the new secretary should be someone who connects with Midwest farmers.

"I think someone who knows the nuts and bolts of farm programs heading into the next farm bill would be helpful," said Moran, who chairs the commodity crop subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee.

Moran has himself been mentioned as a possible Veneman replacement. Last fall World Perspectives Inc., a Washington D.C. firm that does global agricultural research, said Moran "has the skill to shepherd a farm bill through Congress."

But Moran said "the phone hasn’t been ringing.

"It would be hard to deny the president," he said, adding that "I don’t think anyone seeks out the job of Secretary of Agriculture."

Take that, copy desk!

That was one small part of my yesterday, which mainly was spent in an Alexandria courtroom following the latest development of the 767 tanker scandal. This story is far from over, but the most visceral Kansas impact -- the jobs -- is an abstraction at this point. Still, the saga has potentially huge Boeing implications, and it's worth watching.

Also worth watching is the continued Ohio-vote-count process. The conspiracy talk is dying down, but uncomfortable points keep being raised, like these from the Moderate Independent:

And the reality is that: the voting technology used was fixable; the man in charge of the company who made and programmed most of the e-voting machines was one campaign’s operative; and – again, this actually occurred – the exit polls said something entirely opposite of what the election tally said.

Could someone please tell me what's wrong with leaving a paper trail?

Today Congress is back in session, and I see from my mail that Kansas is first in the U.S. Economic Freedom Index, according to Forbes and the Pacific Research Institute. Undoubtedly ink will be used on this topic as well.