The Scott Roeder trial, which looked to become a media circus as a proxy for the state of the abortion debate in America, wasn't at all the train wreck it looked ready to become.

Instead, a jury stuck to the concept of a murder trial, deliberated for the very short period of time such an open-and-shut case required, and made the right decision. I'd like to thank that jury for showing that common sense can prevail.

But not always. I remember the halcyon days of my youth, when you wanted to party with the Democrats, but you wanted a Republican accountant.

Apparently you don't want a state GOP official doing your taxes in Kansas, though. During the 2007-2008 cycle, the state GOP was in such a bad financial state that they had a negative net income (shocking, when the party is the majority in this state) that caused them to miss payroll tax and rent payments.

'The records were such a mess that a federal investigation has followed. For a dominant Republican state, the state GOP seems to act like they're the forgotten minority that gave up fighting a long time ago.

Not smart at all

Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama's chief of staff, has a well-earned reputation for letting his mouth get him in trouble. Emanuel works blue like George Carlin, but he's not as funny as the late great Carlin was.

We're all occasionally guilty of speaking before we think, but there are some things that are out of line.

When Emanuel described a liberal group's plan to run ads against Democrats who were thinking of voting against the president's health plan as "retarded" he crossed that line.

The parent of a developmentally disabled child herself, Sarah Palin is calling for Emanuel's head.

I thought I'd have a snowball's chance in Miami of agreeing with Palin, but this time she might be very right.

Chapman Rackaway is an associate professor of political science at Fort Hays State University.