Opinion

Merry Christmas! It’s that very special time of year where we get together with loved ones and celebrate our long-time family traditions. Christmas is a joyous time, but it can also be stressful — whether it’s driving long hours to visit family, running to the grocery store to pick up a missing ingredient for Grandma’s cookie recipe, or making sure everyone leaves the house on time to get a front row seat in church. ...

In the last several days, the country has been making difficult history. In the past year, its government has been warping history. The forced removal of Japanese Americans during World War II has disappeared. The support of the Equal Rights Amendment by first lady Betty Ford has vanished. The invention of the birth-control pill has passed from sight. The work of Martin Luther King Jr. is played down...

Two words dominated the presidential campaign from the beginning to the end: gas and groceries. For all the twists and turns — Joe Biden dropping out, Kamala Harris jumping in, Donald Trump getting shot — the race remained remarkably static. Inflation is always the most damaging issue because it directly affects every family every day, and the rising price of goods during the Biden administration was the single biggest reason Trump won a second term...

The Biden-Harris administration’s response to Hurricane Helene was a complete and utter disaster in its own right. When the storm made landfall on Sept. 26, communities across the Southeast, especially in the Appalachian areas of Tennessee and North Carolina, were hit hard. As they faced severe flooding and power outages, the lack of an organized federal response left many without the support they desperately needed.

My father had many sayings which have stuck with me throughout my life. He always had advice for me — even when it was unwanted — and he was a regular source of counsel.

For those trying to come to terms with a particularly tumultuous election year full of deep divisions, ideological invective and personal insults, guidance can come from a historical figure whose insights into American politics still prove useful. As I chronicle in my new book, “Citizen Cowboy: Will Rogers And The American People,” Will Rogers stood as perhaps the most influential commentator on public affairs in the United States a century ago. ...

I want to share my thoughts on two important amendments that will soon appear on your ballot—Amendment 3 and Amendment 7. Your vote on these amendments will have a significant impact on the future of our state. I strongly urge you to oppose Amendment 3 and to support Amendment 7, as they touch on issues critical to Missouri’s values, the protection of our children, and the integrity of our elections...