WICHITA, Kan. - For over a century, some in American politics have attempted to keep certain groups of people from voting. Traditionally, going back to ancient Rome, the only people who could vote were those who owned property and the people who owned the property were men. But over the years, the United States passed laws and constitutional amendments to expand voting rights to other groups of people. In spite of Jim Crow laws and other similar means of disenfranchisement, we are generally quite proud of our efforts in suffrage, though the reality is we have a very long way to go.

Last week, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a new measure to "crack down" on undocumented workers. It requires, among other things, for immigrants to carry their papers on them at all time that prove they are in the country legally. As these papers are important legal papers, it is dangerous to carry them around all the time. Kansas Secretary of State candidate Kris Kobach says this will apply only to immigrants and not US citizens as it is a federal crime to say one is a citizen when they are not. This is a curious statement.

WICHITA, Kan. - For eight months, many parts of America waited for the decision of a jury of twelve: did Scott Roeder plan out the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in a church on May 31, 2009? And many Americans feared the jury - and, often times, the judge - would not side with justice, no matter their beliefs on abortion. The trial is now over with sentencing and appeals to come. Roeder very likely will spend the rest of his life in jail. It seemed a foregone conclusion that this would be the result of the trial. So why did so many people fear Roeder wouldn't?

Some of the fear I saw floating around the internet was that Kansans, living in a red state, would let Roeder walk because they are anti-abortion and wanted Dr. Tiller to stop providing them. Dead is as good as in jail. After all, we did elect Phill Kline. The jury would surely nullify and set him free. There are a few problems with this line of thought. Kline, for one, won in 2002 with only 50.3% of the vote against a candidate who barely campaigned. Hardly a referendum on abortion and Dr. Tiller.

WICHITA, Kan. - Last week, the Senate approved their version of health care reform, quite different from the House version. Among progressives, a cry is going out: either include public option or kill the bill. A public option, it is reasoned, is the only way to control costs, and since both bills include a mandate, not including a public option forces the American people to buy into an industry that has proven itself as little more than a money-making machine allowing access to little in the way of true health care. But many Democrats are pushing back: at least it's reform, and we can change it later if we need to. Health care reform died under the Nixon Administration because Ted Kennedy would not accept the public option compromise and fought only for single-payer. When reform was brought up again under the Clinton Administration, it died a painful death. We need something, the argument goes. Both arguments are completely valid, and both are still quite short-sighted.

WICHITA, Kan. - Since Dr. George Tiller's assassination in May, many Kansans' lives were dramatically changed. One important change has been the media attention given to extreme anti-abortion militants - the ones who advocate murdering abortion providers and those who have tried. Initially, questions were raised as to how the Wichita-based anti-choice organization Operation Rescue was related to the suspect, Scott Roeder. But after a while, the connection between "legitimate" anti-choice organizations and violence against abortion providers faded way to militant, "fringe" groups such as the Army of God. Their latest foray into considerable media attention grew this last week as Dave Leach of Des Moines, Iowa, and Regina Dinwiddie of Kansas City, Missouri, announced their intention to auction off anti-choice violence-related materials on eBay to raise money for a new defense team for Roeder.

Scott Roeder booking photo Soon after they announced the auction in the Kansas City Star, eBay said they would not allow the auction as it promoted and glorified violence. Dinwiddie said she would sue eBay for religious discrimination and that they planned on continuing with their efforts. Sunday evening, they began putting items on eBay, often using intentional misspellings to hide the items, making it more difficult for pro-choice advocates to find and report them. By late Monday afternoon, at least 12 items that had been posted were removed. While both claim the items listed did not promote violence (though the description of the "prolife Bible" said it included highlighted passages that advocated violence), both Leach and Dinwiddie are fierce advocates of assassinating abortion providers.