Sam Graves hopes to help out spelling bee contestant

Good for Mr. Graves!

Can't Paige Kimball see that if Morgan and the other affected children are not allowed to compete, the "winner" of this year's spelling bee will forever have an "asterisk" beside their name in the record books? Winning such an event would be like taking the gold in an Olympics that was boycotted by some nations; the "winner" will not have won against a field of all worthy competitors.

If she doesn't reverse her horrible decision, Kimball will be plowing through the playing field, not leveling it.

Thanks, Rep. Graves!

I hope Paige Kimball's doctor misreads her next mammogram --- due to an "error in paperwork." I hope her veterinarian accidentally euthanizes her dog --- due to an "error in paperwork." I hope the IRS garnishes her wages --- due to an "error in paperwork."

Doesn't she realize that her heartless, illogical actions are casting a horrible light on the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

Doesn't she realize the wonderful, positive publicity she could instantly garner for her organization if the headline "Scripps has a heart; Students to compete in spelling bee" were to hit the AP wire in place of the press it's currently getting?

If professional educators at "a couple of hundred" schools failed to understand the instructions on the spelling bee's form, can't she concede that MAYBE the form was ill-designed?

I hope that every single rotten thing that happens to her for the rest of her life causes her to think, "THIS is what Morgan Brown and the other children I victimized felt like. That's why this is happening to me. This is what I deserve."

Email Cruella Kimball and her colleagues at:

Paige dot Kimble at Scripps.com
Bee at Scripps dot com
Carolyn dot Andrews at Scripps dot com
Cybelle dot Weeks at Scripps dot com
Corrie dot Loeffler at Scripps dot com, and
Janice dot Liebenberg at Scripps dot com

Tell them do what is RIGHT. NOW. Before it's too late.

What really could be more pressing than a little girl missing her chance to go to a spelling bee?

Oh, right ... there's the Iraq war and the economy and oil prices and a human rights crisis in Tibet ...

On second thought, Sam had a hand in creating all of those messes, so maybe he ought to stick with the spelling bee.

Rep. Sam Graves could change his vote against the SCHIP bill and help bring affordable health insurance coverage for millions of U.S. children. The injustice to young Morgan Brown by the National Spelling Bee Organization merits a remedy, but so does the injustice to countless Missourian children that need health care so that they have a chance to succeed and be part of the economic mainstream.

William Volker

If Kay Barnes loved children she would send her hatchet man Steve Glory Hole Oso out and do something about this.

Political Moderate?
Can't bring yourself to say something nice about Sam?

Sam Graves has never missed a chance to shamelessly pander.

Is that nice enough?

You are a partisan hack. I can expect that from you. But I would think Political Moderate would actually be able to bring a reasonable insight into this.
BTW, your comments this weekend about McCain making propaganda films was the most asinine post you have made, and probably in the top ten of most asinine things I have seen on this blog. If I wanted to respond to crap like that I would go over to Daily KO's with the rest of the wacko's. Maybe that is where you need to start posting, you twit.

Say what you want you twirp. Any lowlife that would lack the intestinal fortitude to bring that up isn't worth me debating with. There is no excuse for those comments and if you try to justify them that makes you a weak person. It isn't about partisan politics, it is about common decency, which you apparently lack. You have shown your true colors as a dirtbag. Enough said. You no longer merit my attention.

paybacks are hell, craig. You nutjob.

now let's move on!

Here's a link to video footage of this special young lady telling her story:

####www.kmbc.com/education/15690683/detail.html?rss=kc1&psp=news

What a wonderful girl. What an entirely fixable mess.

Please do email Paige Kimball (whose unaffected voice can also be heard on the video clip), and ask her to reconsider her truly unfair decision:

Paige dot Kimble at Scripps.com
Bee at Scripps dot com
Carolyn dot Andrews at Scripps dot com
Cybelle dot Weeks at Scripps dot com
Corrie dot Loeffler at Scripps dot com, and
Janice dot Liebenberg at Scripps dot com

You know, people seldom get the chance to make something right after they've gotten it so wrong --- so many times it's too late before we realize and admit our mistakes.

Paige Kimball and the Scripps National Spelling Bee are being given that golden opportunity.

I hope they take it.

As an update to the 2006 numbers that were posted on a KC Star message board last night when this wonderful news initially broke, according to the latest 2008 numbers:

Mr. Kenneth W. Lowe, 57, Chief Executive Officer, President, Director, and Member of the Executive Committee of E.W. Scripps Co. is now personally compensated $9.92 million per year, including his salary and "all other" compensation. (No, that's not a typo.)

Second banana Mr. Richard A. Boehne, 52, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, now receives $2.67 million/year. Take a look at the amounts being paid to the rest of the key executives. I can't type them; it's just too nauseating:

####finance.aol.com/company/the-e-w-scripps-company/ssp/nys/key-executives

And this self-proclaimed "not-for-profit" spelling bee claims to have no choice but to charge schools $99.00 to participate in this event?

"Not-for profit," huh? They aren't paying these clowns with "losses"...

I realize that Scripps is the parent organization of the spelling bee, but it is undeniably in Scripps' best interest to keep the Bee as accessible and positively-publicized as possible.

Good Lord, the CEO ALONE could pay for this entire event, (without a cent from the schools or anyone else), and STILL clear over $7,000.000.00 a year!

After the publicity that Scripps has gotten lately, I bet he wishes he had.