Local Columns

Opinion: On Democratic Christians’ priorities

Two months ago, I wrote a column on how Kansas Christians (which over two-thirds of the population identify as) have changed how they make use of their influence as citizens. At one time, many Christians aimed to lift up Kansas society to the moral level they held to be scripturally mandated; ...

Opinion: Keep the court above politics

On the August primary ballot, Kansans are being asked to decide whether to fundamentally change how we choose justices for our state Supreme Court. The proposed shift from merit selection to popular elections may sound like an expansion of democratic participation. But beneath that appealing ...

Opinion: Power leads to shortsightedness

Once in power, party members often develop an affliction called myopic fog. The condition presents as a compulsion to rewrite institutional rules. Common symptoms include electoral law manipulation, fixation on short-term advantage, and habitual overreaching. Consider election ...

Opinion: Resilience becomes resistance

Sometimes life lets us set the record straight. It happens in big and small ways and reminds us to stay true to who we are, to believe in our talents, pursue our interests and develop our skill sets. The world is filled with people who will tell you “no,” and it feels like we are hearing ...

Opinion: The illusions in Kansas politics

In 1983, a young, well-coiffed David Copperfield conjured up a magic trick so bombastic and implausible in an analog world that 50 million viewers stayed home on a Friday night to watch the Statue of Liberty disappear before a live TV audience. Why could something so clearly unreal captivate ...

Opinion: Political debate still matters here

Kansas was born arguing. Before it became a state, before there was a Capitol dome in Topeka, the Kansas Territory was consumed by a defining question: whether it would enter the Union free or slave. That struggle played out through elections, conventions, newspapers, and public meetings, ...