President Donald Trump’s Oval Office address last week was a total bust. His visit to the border fared no better. Trump predicted that his words and actions wouldn’t “change a damn thing” when he spoke to news anchors before the speech. He’s right — but not for the reasons he ...
Haven’t we seen this movie before? Certainly, there is a sense of deja vu all over again as one watches the right wing hyperventilate over a certain freshman congresswoman from New York. The attacks on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been frequent and furious, but also petty, silly and (in the ...
It’s hard to argue with the priorities shared with and by Lawrence’s legislative delegation heading into the 2019 session. It’s also fair to wonder how achievable those priorities are, especially the ones that require increased spending. The issues were identified during the Legislative ...
“In my country the people can do as they like, although it often happens that they don’t like what they have done.” — Winston Churchill, 1946 London — During the Second World War, as U.S. power was eclipsing Britain’s, Harold Macmillan, a future prime minister, reportedly said, ...
To the editor: The unpaid government workers are not responsible for the budget stalemate created by Trump’s childish demand to have his way. The border wall is not a national crisis or an emergency security situation. That “fake news” exists only in Trump’s racially prejudiced mind. ...
Washington — So far: President Trump has announced a crisis that isn’t actually a crisis, requiring a wall that is not really a wall, funded by Mexican pesos that are really American tax dollars, to keep out murderous migrants who are (as a whole) less violent than native-born Americans, ...
To the editor: As a foster parent, I have seen how our criminal justice system fails those who have contact with it, often with consequences so devastating that they are unable to bounce back. I have seen this with one of my foster kids. His first contact with law enforcement officers came ...
After a whirlwind transition, Gov.-elect Laura Kelly will be sworn in as the 48th governor of Kansas this coming Monday, and Kansans will have their first glimpse of how she grasps the key levers of governance. Having assisted former Gov. Mike Hayden in his transition of 1986-87, I experienced ...
To the editor: With the passing of Alice Cavender, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 71, one of the unheralded heroes of the Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park is gone, and her passing cannot go unnoted. Alice was the owner of the 40 acres that is now the park, and in 2003 sold the land to ...
Yes, there is a crisis in America, but it is not on our southern border. There is a financial crisis for the many good people who work for us in the federal government and who are being held hostage in this tragic episode of callous mismanagement. They continue answering the call of duty ...
To the editor: More and more people are talking about impeaching President Trump. Assuming he deserves it legally, there is also the political question of whether it should be done. Let me examine his leadership style with two examples. He said we needed a wall on our southern border and ...
Washington — One hundred days after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pressing ahead with anti-dissident campaigns and remains in regular contact with Saud al-Qahtani, the media adviser who the CIA believes helped organize Khashoggi’s killing, ...
As a general rule, I don’t curse a lot. I’ve found that I can usually express myself effectively enough without it. And it’s always seemed to me that foul language, used ubiquitously, loses its primary value, i.e., its ability to shock or to state a thing with force. How seriously should ...
Berlin — Armin-Paulus Hampel, a former journalist and commentator who now is a member of the Bundestag, is ebullient, affable, opinionated, voluble and excellent company at lunch. But because his party is Alternative for Germany, one wonders whether he is representative of it, and whether he ...
Editor’s Note: Views from Kansas is a regular feature that highlights editorials and other viewpoints from across the state. Politicians hoping to win over voters make promises on the campaign trail. Some go even further by signing pledges pursued by special-interest groups determined to ...
Editor’s Note: Views from Kansas is a regular feature that highlights editorials and other viewpoints from across the state. This is why voters elected incoming Gov. Laura Kelly: because we need to do so much better for Kansas children, because we badly need transparency in state government ...
To the editor: Where do bedbugs come from? People with bedbugs carry them into your house. Who has bedbugs? Anybody, with a lapse of luck, can have bedbugs. Who still has bedbugs? People too poor to pay for the heat treatments. If you see a bedbug running across the floor there are lots of ...
To the editor: Before we accept any expansion of the jail we need to make sure we are filling it with people who need to be incarcerated. Unless someone is dangerous there is no reason to hold them in jail. One hundred and eighty-six beds means 186 people behind bars. Remember, a jail is no ...
Washington — At home and abroad, people are now asking a question they’ve dreaded for nearly two years: How will the erratic presidency of Donald Trump function without the steadying hand of Jim Mattis as defense secretary? Life without Mattis is the scary reality of this new year. The ...
To the editor: Maybe Mr. Trump could hold his breath until he gets his way. That used to work with my 4-year-old nephew. Nancy Pike Hause, Lawrence