“In Kansas, we are not in culture war-fearing territory anymore, Toto.” That’s how U.S. News and World Report kicks off an interesting new piece about the importance of social issues in the heartland – and how embracing the moral and social issues could be the deciding factor for candidates like Gov. Sam Brownback ®. For the mainstream media, it’s a head-scratcher. While moderates treat life and marriage like radioactive material, the press seems surprised that real conservatives refuse to retreat. Unlike the Scott Walkers of the GOP, neither Sen. Pat Roberts nor Gov. Brownback are following the Establishment’s retreat from fundamental values issues, rather they have the courage to stand up for what is right.

For example, earlier this month, Sen. Roberts grabbed plenty of headlines for his debate with independent candidate Greg Orman, who said America needs to “move past abortion.” The stunned senator fired back, “Get past the rights of the unborn? Get past the guarantee of life for those at the end of life? … I don’t think you can say that with any degree of conscience.” Like us, he doesn’t understand why or how Americans should “move past” a debate that’s cost our country more than 55 million innocent lives.

[Thursday] morning, before speaking to a gathering of pastors, Sen. Roberts had a chance to talk about life and other issues at a special event with the Duggars in Overland Park, as part of the FRC Action “Faith, Family, Freedom Bus Tour.” Together, they energized the crowd and challenged Kansans to stand for the American family on Election Day. (To continue following the bus, please visit our website at FRCAction.org/bustour. Also, help spread the word on social media using our hashtag #FFFTOUR14.)

Gov. Brownback had a similar message encouraging pastors to make their ministries a testament to the world in a different way when he joined me and our Church Ministries team at FRC’s regional pastors briefing in Overland Park. Well over 100 area church leaders from various denominations were informed, encouraged and will no doubt become more engaged as a result of messages from Vision America’s Dr. Rick Scarborough, Dr. Kenyn Cureton, David and Jason Benham and myself.

More bad news for Houston’s Parker

If Houston Mayor Annise Parker was looking to Washington for help in her battle against pastors, she won’t find much. Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, let the Texas leader know where he stood in a personal letter to the mayoral bully. A Bush appointee, Kirsanow urged Parker to rescind the subpoena and leave local pastors to talk about moral issues as they see fit. While the city claims it relaxed its demands on pastors, the reality is that at least five churches have been ordered to surrender 17 forms of communication to the mayor – despite never being party to the original lawsuit!

In Kirsanow’s mind, this is a shocking “abuse of government power” and a “blatant attempt to punish these pastors for expressing their religiously-based political views.” It subjects them, he writes, “to the stress of a subpoena (though they are not parties to the litigation), impairing their right to petition the government, forcing them to comply with a patently overbroad discovery request, and singling them out for opprobrium – thus chilling future religiously informed speech.” Even under his own name, Kirsanow’s letter is a significant moment in the debate, which has now drawn the ire of Washington officials too.

Locally, the hot seat is only getting hotter. Tuesday, the Dallas Morning News joined the Houston Chronicle in calling out the Mayor in a scathing editorial that accuses Houston of “going too far.” “The city’s new subpoenas might be worded more softly, but it isn’t clear Houston City Hall is getting the message it should.”

On November 2nd, FRC will join with others in doing our best to help the Mayor get that message in a special Houston simulcast, I Stand Sunday, at Grace Community Church. Together with Phil and Alan Robertson, Governor Mike Huckabee, David and Jason Benham, Fox News’s Todd Starnes, and area pastors, we’ll remind Houston of the freedom this nation was founded on. Tune in at 6 p.m. (CT)! For more, check out IStandSunday.com.

Opening More Borders

When Newsweek called Barack Obama “the first gay President,” they were half-right. He is also, as the last two years of headlines prove, the first transgender President. Not satisfied with its radical gains for the homosexual community, the White House is quietly turning its attention to a more extreme agenda: advancing transgenderism. Administration officials tipped off the military to this possibility months ago, but today, in a surprising move, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) may have set the wheels in motion.

In what reporters are calling a “landmark” case, “Tamara” Lusardi, an Army veteran who now works as a civilian in the Defense Department, sued the government for “discrimination” after a sex change operation from male-to-female. Four years ago, when his transition was complete, the veteran formerly known as Todd said his supervisors made him feel “inferior” by asking him to use a gender-neutral bathroom so that female employees weren’t uncomfortable.

Despite the special accommodations made for him, Lusardi insists that it “had the effect of isolating and segregating” him from other coworkers, “serving as a constant reminder that she was deprived of equal status, respect, and dignity in the workplace.” Arguing that his employers “reinforced negative stereotypes,” the OSC ruled this week that Lusardi’s employers must allow him to use all of the offices’ female facilities.

It’s an outrageous decision – one that many conservatives fear could put more pressure on the military to change its position on cross-dressing and transgendered troops. Regardless, the administration is putting everyone on notice that these last two years may be groundbreaking for the sexually confused.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Given ObamaCare’s failure to deliver what the President and his party promised, Americans need something to improve their healthcare. Until it’s repealed, maybe laughter might make them feel a little better, so FRC Action’s Faith Family Freedom Fund is trying to help. Check out our funny new ad that gives Democrats a check-up on their voting records.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.