What's the Matter with Kansas?

Gov. Sam Brownback signed an executive order on Tuesday reversing a 2007 measure that barred employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender state workers.

“This Executive Order ensures that state employees enjoy the same civil rights as all Kansans without creating additional ‘protected classes’ as the previous order did,” the governor said in a statement. “Any such expansion of ‘protected classes’ should be done by the legislature and not through unilateral action.” State employees now join the rest of Kansas’ workforce — none of whom have no workplace protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. (MSNBC)

"Democracy ....is not worth a damn if it is not partnered with liberalism.  Democracy and liberalism are a squabbling pair; they each locate power in a different place—democracy in the people, liberalism in the law—and they aim for different goods." John McGowan, The Republican Assault on Democracy