Retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens discusses some changes he would make to the U.S. Constitution in his recent book, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution . There are chapters on political gerrymandering, campaign finance, the death penalty, and gun control, among others. On guns, Justice Stevens notes the Second Amendment was adopted to protect the states from federal interference with their power to ensure that their militias were “well regulated.” As a

Recent reports indicate some Kansas legislators are considering a measure that would require all high school students to pass a civics examination to graduate. This exam is said to be comparable to what is required of those who want to become naturalized United States citizens.

After Mitt Romney was defeated with a stinging 332-206 loss in the electoral college in 2012, the Republican National Committee commissioned a report suggesting what the party needed to do to be a majority party. The release of the report four months after the election was clear in its conclusion that the Republican Party was out of touch with the broader electorate. The report noted the party’s problems with minorities, women, and young people. It said Republicans should be trying to bring more

After reading the book, “A Warning,” by a senior Trump administration official who discusses many facets of Donald Trump’s behavior as president, I agree with the author’s conclusion that Trump deserves to be fired.

National security is the most important responsibility of the president as commander-in-chief. The president’s role is to protect the American people against external threats and to provide for the safety and security of the country. This requires attention to foreign policy and working with allies to keep dangerous foes at bay. Sadly, President Donald Trump does not appear to see the world this way. According to the anonymous Trump administration official who authored the book A Warning , Trump

An anonymous senior official of the Trump administration writes in a recent book titled A Warning that a psychological phenomenon is affecting a large portion of the country that some call “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” As the author says, if this were a clinical diagnosis, it would best be described as the disturbance in normal cognitive function resulting in irrational animus toward the president of the United States. The term is not exactly new, with Republicans previously accusing others of

On September 5, 2018, the New York Times took an unusual step in publishing an essay anonymously by a senior Trump administration official. The writer provided insights into White House chaos and President Donald Trump’s impulsive behavior. This official has now published a book, also anonymously, with the title, A Warning .

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, we should be mindful of the possibility of Supreme Court vacancies during the next several years. We should remember that presidents work to appoint individuals who represent their political philosophy. Also, we need to remember that the Constitution is what the United States Supreme Court says it is. Therefore, it is important to know how a newly appointed court justice views how the Constitution should be interpreted. One widely popular view is

In a discussion this past week about Wichita’s recent mayoral election , a state legislator commented that Wichita’s municipal elections are supposed to be non-partisan. Indeed, they are. Candidates for municipal offices in Wichita, and in many other cities across the country, do not run under a party label. Despite this, there is the question of whether or not non-partisan elections really are non-partisan.

We are now in an election cycle with elections next week for municipal officeholders and school board members, and next year for president and Congress. How well are citizens prepared to play the role democracy assigns to them in making considered judgments when casting a vote? Walter Lippman, a long-time columnist and author of books on public opinion and governing, worried most citizens are unprepared. His view was that people live in the real world, but think in an imagined one. People are