In today’s fiercely partisan environment, elected officials struggle to balance their party loyalties with their responsibilities as representatives of the public they serve.    Most falter, unable to rise above their tribal instincts:  Witness Kris…

The Newsmax TV network agreed last week to pay a financial settlement rather than endure a highly anticipated four-week trial in its defense against the election technology company Smartmatic USA.  The lawsuit revolves around the…

According to Sen. Roger “Doc” Marshall, nothing says “I love Kansas” like scheduling seven taxpayer-funded flights to Florida to “visit his children and grandchildren.” While Marshall is soaking in those Sunshine State sunsets and perhaps…

The prospect of a second Trump administration has rekindled a debate from four years ago about the proper role of the military in our democracy. During the tumultuous period before and after the 2020 presidential…

We recently read in The Washington Post that men in Afghanistan are regretting that they did not stand up sooner for the rights of their wives and daughters, now that the Taliban is imposing severe…

There is a great deal of rhetoric surrounding in vitro fertilization on the campaign trail this election season. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is against it, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has proposed coverage…

Recycling in Iola, or in Allen County for that matter, should not depend solely on volunteers. As proven, it’s not reliable (no offense, you amazing people.) Enthusiasm wanes, schedules get busy, new hands need to…

Dear President Carter, I was in my second quarter of college when you returned to Plains, Ga., in January 1981. Ronald Reagan had just been inaugurated, and you came back to your hometown soundly defeated.…

This is one of those days when something happens and you don’t know exactly what it means, but you know it means something.  I woke up Friday to find that Nancy Kassebaum, one of the…

Most of those who watch politics focus on various national and state political contests, and that’s reasonable. Yet how many of us regularly interact with agents of the national or state governments, enforcing those state…