In today's Lawrence Journal-World, Carl Leubsdorf of the Dallas Daily News claims that prior to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, "Republicans were using opposition to civil rights to woo the South from its century-long Democratic home." In doing so, Leubsdorf suggests that it was the Democrat Party that helped Lyndon Johnson pass that bill, while the GOP opposed the bill. That was not the case.
In the Senate, only 69 percent of Democrats (46 for, 21 against) voted for the Civil Rights Act as compared to 82 percent of Republicans (27 for, 6 against). All southern Democrat senators voted against the act. This includes the current senator from West Virginia, Robert Byrd (a former KKK member), and Al Gore, Sr. (which exposes the lie that southern Democrats switched to the GOP after the passage of the Civil Rights Act). The act's primary opposition came from the southern Democrats' 74-day filibuster.
In the House of Representatives, 61 percent of Democrats (152 for, 96 against) voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Ninety-two of the 103 southern Democrats voted against it. Among House Republicans, 80 percent (138 for, 34 against) voted for it.
Republicans also showed a high level of support for LBJ's nomination of Thurgood Marshall as the first black Supreme Court justice in 1967. A large percentage of Senate Democrats either voted against the nomination of Marshall or did not vote at all.
Leubsdorf either deliberately lied in his column or he is woefully ignorant of the facts. In either case, the column should not have been published.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
World Company creates "void" in Eudora
During the 1990s, I worked for TeleGraphics, Inc., which published the Baldwin Ledger and the Lawrence Business Ledger. In 1995, we moved the main office for the company from Baldwin City, Kan., to Lawrence. However, we maintained an office in Baldwin City for the Baldwin Ledger.
During the latter part of the decade, The World Company, the parent company of the Lawrence Journal-World, began buying weekly newspapers in the area. They approached the owners of the Baldwin Ledger about buying that newspaper during the summer of 1998. Since the owners had already committed to selling the newspaper to their general manager, they declined The World Company's offer. Undeterred, The World Company started the Baldwin City Signal in March 1999. According to a Jeff Myrick article in the Lawrence Journal-World, "Baldwin City once again has a newspaper that the community can call its own." Of course, that statement ignored the fact that the Baldwin Ledger had been the community's newspaper since 1883.
Dan Simons of The World Company also suggested that there was no other newspaper in Baldwin City. In the first issue of the Baldwin Signal, Simons was quoted as saying the Signal would fill the void that was created when the Ledger left town. Of course, the Ledger never left town. As noted above, the Ledger had an office in Baldwin, reporters continued to cover politics and sports in Baldwin, and I continued to sell advertising in Baldwin.
Given that Simons apparently believed that a void was created in Baldwin after TeleGraphics moved its main office to Lawrence, The World Company's latest move in Eudora a bit puzzling. According to the web site of the Eudora News, a World Company newspaper, "The Eudora News will be closing its Eudora office Nov. 14 and moving its newsroom operations to The World Company’s news center in Lawrence."
Has The World Company created a void in Eudora? Does the company plan to create similar voids in Baldwin City, Tonganoxie, and other communities in the future?
During the latter part of the decade, The World Company, the parent company of the Lawrence Journal-World, began buying weekly newspapers in the area. They approached the owners of the Baldwin Ledger about buying that newspaper during the summer of 1998. Since the owners had already committed to selling the newspaper to their general manager, they declined The World Company's offer. Undeterred, The World Company started the Baldwin City Signal in March 1999. According to a Jeff Myrick article in the Lawrence Journal-World, "Baldwin City once again has a newspaper that the community can call its own." Of course, that statement ignored the fact that the Baldwin Ledger had been the community's newspaper since 1883.
Dan Simons of The World Company also suggested that there was no other newspaper in Baldwin City. In the first issue of the Baldwin Signal, Simons was quoted as saying the Signal would fill the void that was created when the Ledger left town. Of course, the Ledger never left town. As noted above, the Ledger had an office in Baldwin, reporters continued to cover politics and sports in Baldwin, and I continued to sell advertising in Baldwin.
Given that Simons apparently believed that a void was created in Baldwin after TeleGraphics moved its main office to Lawrence, The World Company's latest move in Eudora a bit puzzling. According to the web site of the Eudora News, a World Company newspaper, "The Eudora News will be closing its Eudora office Nov. 14 and moving its newsroom operations to The World Company’s news center in Lawrence."
Has The World Company created a void in Eudora? Does the company plan to create similar voids in Baldwin City, Tonganoxie, and other communities in the future?
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