By Martin Hawver

We folk who inhabit the Statehouse even when there’s not much going on are wondering what we’ll see in the post-Christmas holiday hallways of the newly refurbished State Capitol.

We’re figuring that lobbyists—who are Statehouse regulars—already are aware that they didn’t get the gift they’ve been wanting: The privilege of scooching past the security gates to save time when they whistle into the building to do their lobbying duties. They’ll stand in line like nearly everyone else to get their packages and brief cases inspected and walk through the metal detectors to go about their business.

The Legislative Coordinating Council, which manages about everything that goes on in the Statehouse, didn’t last week go for a proposal for some special ID tag for registered lobbyists so they don’t have to stand behind the visiting third-grade class as its members are put through the security check or the delegates from the American Association of Retired Persons as they are checked.

We’re figuring, though, that many of the in-a-hurry lobbyists—the boys at least—will not grouse about delays if they are in line behind the visiting college cheerleaders as they are inspected for security breaches.

So, that’s a group that didn’t get what it wanted for Christmas…and probably won’t until House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, takes over as Coordinating Council chairman in 2014.

We don’t know what will happen if lobbyists don’t get an express lane for clearing security in a hurry. They might not have time to take legislators to lunch…

***

But the Christmas surprise that most of us are waiting to observe will be the red sport coats that ultra-conservative Tea Party members are likely to get for Christmas and wear to the Statehouse.

The concept is fairly simple, as expressed at a Tea Party meeting last month: If political conservatives wear red sport coats, legislators will be looking out at the audience in committee rooms and see that if they don’t vote conservative…those red blazer wearers are going to notice and report them back to their home districts.

The ultra-conservatives have a relatively novel idea: Make legislators know that they are being watched. We’re guessing those who get red sport coats under the holiday tree know the Christmas song: “We know when you’ve been sleeping, we know when you’re awake, we know if you’ve been bad or good, so vote conservative, for goodness sake!”

Us Statehouse folk—whose coats tend to be camel or blue or even a few wayward plaids—will be watching Christmas-fresh red sport coats to show up here when the Legislature convenes and to see which legislators tend to vote more conservatively when the room is awash with those eye-catching coats.

What we don’t know for sure and are anxious to see is whether those folks who get red sport coats for Christmas will get the red slacks to go with them…

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com

By John Schlageck, Kansas Farm Bureau

Some people forget about the true meaning of Christmas – celebrating the birth of Christ, love, friendship and spending time with the family. As a youngster I have fond memories of Mom inside fixing turkey and dressing while my brothers and I would be playing outside throwing snowballs, playing “fox and geese” and just being kids.

One thing I’ll never forget about this period of my life are some of my dad and his friend’s favorite sayings. It seems like we always visited more during the holiday season and as children we had the opportunity to hear some of these words of wisdom more often during this time of year.

These sayings came from neighbors, brothers and cousins – folks he’d lived with for years, some as many as 70 years. A few were rare buddies, with special nicknames like, Cactus, Drawers, Baldy, Short Legs, Fuzzy – you get the picture.

Here are just a few – the gems – the ones I’ll remember always:

* Your friends are the measure of your real worth.

* The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.
* Why do you think the good Lord gave you two ears and one mouth? So you could listen twice as much as you talk.

* Wait until you get a little older, then you’ll understand.

* If you’re going to train your dog, you have to be smarter than the dog.

* Never be too quick to criticize yourself. It ain’t fair to your friends and relatives who are itchin’ to do it for you.

* If all of your friends climbed up the elevator and jumped off, would you have to too?

* If you haven’t been bucked off a horse, then you’ve never ridden one.

* You can’t listen too much when a friend needs someone to talk to.

* Some things aren’t funny even to your best friend.

* If we have to love our enemies, we have to treat our friends even better.

* A friend is someone who dislikes the same people you do.

* The only way to have a friend is to be one.

* The best three friends a man can have are his wife, an old dog and ready money.

* A real pal will at least pretend to believe your lies.

* At the end of your life if you have two or three true friends, you’ve lived a good life.

* A true friend is someone who knows that when you’ve made a fool of yourself it generally isn’t permanent.

*When a friend drops by about dinnertime and you ask, “What brings you by here at this time?” You still have to ask him to stay for a bite to eat.

* Good friends are hard to find and harder to lose.

Most of us have a few good friends. Be thankful for them. Remember them during this magical time of year. If you can’t stop by to see them, call them on the phone or drop them an e-mail message.

Remember during this holiday season that joy springs from the heart of those dedicated to caring and helping others. The Christmas spirit dwells inside each of us.

Merry Christmas.

John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.