U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran speaks at an April 4, 2024, cybersecurity conference at the University of Kansas. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Dear Jerry:

We go back decades, to law school days when we were figuring out where to head with our careers. After graduation, I was glad to join you at the Stinson law firm in Kansas City, where we learned about law practice and you met your wonderful wife, Robba.

We have remained friends, though not always in touch after I moved into a nonpartisan career as a judge, and you — obviously — were not in a similar mode. (Reader: I left the bench in 2020, so I am now free to comment on public events.) So much about what you have done in your career is admirable. As the congressman from the Big First, you made sure that you visited every county, even ones with only 2,000 residents, for a town-hall-style meeting every year. Even now, you don’t hide, and you have committed to continuing your public presence.

We disagree about lots of things, and that’s fine. I’m a Democrat; you’re a Republican. On many issues, I don’t expect we’ll agree. But I think we’ve always agreed on many of the big-picture things: The United States should be the leader of the free world, and it should keep its word when commitments are made. Just as Kansans do locally, the United States should help others when they are in need and we can help. We should follow the rule of law, and everyone should be treated equally in our justice system.

You’ve often spoken about things like this. Last week, you’ve spoken in support of Ukraine and free trade.

But this is a time when more than words are needed from our leaders.

While you spoke about support for Ukraine, the Trump administration voted against a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; we voted with Russia, not Ukraine and our European allies. The Trump administration canceled a U.S. Agency for International Development grant to fix the Ukrainian electrical grid, which is under constant Russian attack, then “paused” military support for Ukraine, and now has stopped sharing vital intelligence information.

While you spoke about free trade, the Trump administration instituted large tariffs against two of our closest allies, Canada and Mexico, making a mockery of free trade in North America — something that you have said is clearly in the interest of Kansans (and the national interest too).

There’s much more going on. Let’s take two recent decisions:

• Originally listing 443 federal properties for sale, including the headquarters for the FBI, the Justice Department, the Labor Department, and the Red Cross — plus one of the buildings occupied by the Agriculture Department.
• Canceling leases on buildings for other key governmental services, such as the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction headquarters in Maryland. Presumably, the administration plans to move various offices around the country.

That’s not about good management. No good manager, within two months of taking over a business, would do something like that unless the business was in bankruptcy. Nor does it make sense to sell buildings when the administration just ordered federal employees to return to work in person.

Consider the treatment of federal workers. Like you and me, they chose to work in the public sector because they wanted to do something good for their country. They deserve our thanks, not indiscriminate firings and requests to move all over the country as the buildings they work in are sold out from under them. And if there are more government workers than we need, they deserve a decent exit, not an email to clear out their desks in 30 minutes (or less).

But there’s more here that’s worth fighting for — our justice system, our national security and our place in the world.

President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people for Jan. 6, 2021, offenses, including those who entered with a weapon and assaulted police officers. One could imagine pardoning some of the nonviolent offenders, even though they committed federal offenses. But pardoning violent offenders who attacked police officers? That was a betrayal of justice and the rule of law. Nor was the rule of law involved when the Department of Justice argued in recent court pleadings that the Jan. 6 pardons covered unrelated offenses, like unlawful possession of guns and classified documents at defendants’ homes in California and Florida.

Someone interested in running the military in the national interest does not come in and fire the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top naval officer, and the second in command of the Air Force unless there has been some malfeasance or refusal to follow lawful orders. Nor do you fire the top legal officers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force if you want to uphold military discipline and order.

You and I both know the type of people who reach positions like that. Our law school classmate, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Clyde J. “Butch” Tate II, a Leavenworth native, was the No. 2 person in Army JAG before he retired. He’s a perfect example of the type of person who gets to that level: honest, highly capable, patriotic and a leader. I have not talked with Butch about any of this. I mention him only to say that we both know the type of people who were fired here. And it wasn’t about their job performance.

Nor was the cancellation of nearly all USAID foreign assistance about performance or efficiency. Despite Congressional appropriations of funding vital to people throughout the world, that aid was simply turned off. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov now says that President Trump’s foreign policy closely aligns with Russia’s. That’s not the America that you and I want. That’s not the America most Kansans want. And it’s not the America that most people voted for, whether they voted for Trump or for Kamala Harris.

You have held elected public office since 1989, and you have been a United States senator since 2011. You were the campaign chair for Republicans in 2014 and led the party back to the majority with a gain of nine seats. You have earned political capital throughout your career.

Now is the time to use it.

As a United States senator in a 53-47 majority, you have power. Please use it. Fight for justice, for the rule of law, for honoring our international commitments and real interests, and against chaos.

Stand against the erosion of justice. Defend the rule of law. Demand accountability for those who attack our democracy. Push back against reckless foreign policy decisions that weaken our national security and embolden our adversaries. Fight for Kansas farmers and businesses by rejecting damaging tariffs on our closest trading partners. Speak out against the politicization of our military leadership and federal agencies.

Our nation needs principled leadership. You have spent your career building trust across the state and in Washington. Now is the moment to prove that principle still matters more than partisanship.

If not now, when?

Steve Leben is a law professor and a former Kansas state appellate judge. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

milf–adjacent:

gothhabiba:

gothhabiba:

gothhabiba:

diet talk is so inexpressibly nonsensical the instant you know anything about “the human body” or “nutrition” or if you think about it for three seconds

“this is a great, low-calorie meal for meal prep!”

okay how do I explain this to you. “calories” is the part of food that makes it food. you actually need calories to stay alive. so “low-calorie” is the opposite of a selling point. kind of makes it sound like I’m going to be putting in a lot of time and effort just to not be nourished

“I then immediately ruined the nutrition of the broccoli by pouring cheese all over it, but, hey, I tried”

okay hang on tight because this is a tough one. I’m going to try to explain the concept of “addition” to you. so the broccoli has a certain amount of calories, vitamins, and other nutrients in it, right? and the cheese has a certain amount of calories, vitamins, and other nutrients in it. and when you add the cheese to the broccoli, well… the nutrition of the resulting food can be found by adding the contents of both of its components to each other. I hope this helps

People who actually know about nutrition tell you to eat cheese and butter with your vegetables, because each has unique vitamins and minerals and other nutrients that your body struggles or straight up cannot absorb without something the other has. When you eat only raw veg because it’s “healthy,” you’re missing out on half its nutritive value because some of those nutrients require additional lipids or specific vitamins like vitamin A or D or E to be readily absorbed by your digestive tract and again to be used in different parts of your body. Dieting makes it so instead of just dumping out all your pieces in a pile and following the instructions you can build your flatpack shelf, it’s like placing each component in a different place in your house, and the shelf never gets built because you got tired of waking every time you needed something, so there it sits until one day you decide it’s garbage and throw it out. A little butter or olive oil and a quick stir fry turns your vegetables from expensive fiber supplements to bioavaliable nutrients. Have your berries with some cream or full-fat yogurt: it’s literally healthier and more complete nutrition. Put plenty of dressing on your salad. Have a steak: you need the iron. Stop starving yourself in the name of health because that’s not how that works.

Welcome to Costco, I love you.

Kansas Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, second from left, said the suggestion from billionaire Elon Musk, a budget adviser to President Donald Trump, to cancel Verizon's $2.4 billion, 15-year contract with FAA and hand that work to his own company Starlink created a conflict of interest. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas the administration of President Donald Trump shouldn’t cancel a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon and transfer work on the Federal Aviation Administration’s traffic control system to presidential adviser Elon Musk’s own company.

Davids, the 3rd District Democrat who serves on the aviation subcommittee of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the potential deal with Musk raised conflict-of-interest issues.

Starlink is part of Musk’s SpaceX satellite and rocket company — a business rival of Verizon. Musk also was hired by Trump to lead an effort to reduce federal government spending, including at the FAA.

“Elon Musk’s reported interference in a competitively awarded FAA contract is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about conflicts of interest,” Davids said. “Aviation safety — not private gain — must be the priority in our air traffic control system.”

Verizon was issued a 15-year contract in 2023 to integrate fiber-optic cables into the network allowing FAA facilities to communicate. The current federal air traffic control system is the responsibility of L3Harris, not Verizon, but Musk has repeatedly blamed Verizon for technology shortcomings.

“The administration must ensure federal contracts are awarded through a fair and transparent process, not at the whim of a billionaire with political ties to those in power,” Davids said.

In the past week, The New York Times, CNN and other news outlets reported Musk was interested in deploying his own company, Starlink, to operate the federal air traffic control system. The Trump administration has allowed Starlink equipment to be tested at at least two airports.

The issue of aviation safety was brought into focus for the Kansas congressional delegation Jan. 29 when American Airlines Flight 5342 originating from Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita collided mid-air with a U.S. Army helicopter while over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

All 67 people aboard the aircraft, including Kansans, were killed in the first major U.S. commercial passenger flight crash in more than 15 years.

In aftermath of the accident, members of the Kansas congressional delegation shared empathy for victims and their families and vowed to make certain the crash was thoroughly investigated. Five of the six members of the delegation took part in a moment of silence on the U.S. House chamber.

“Together, we commit to finding answers, and to working to ensure another tragedy like this doesn’t happen again,” said U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, a Republican serving the 4th District centered on Wichita.