HAYS, Kan. - Aside from the conservative and liberal talking-head pundits and their familiar yelling matches so prevalent on cable news channels, millions of everyday Americans believe that our elected officials, our economic leaders, and especially our newspapers and television news channels are out-of-sync with American values. Who are these millions of everyday citizens?

Many are compassionate Americans whose values are in the so-called middle and/or leaning to the near left or far left. Many of these passionate, active and optimistic citizens describe themselves as progressive thinkers, progressive doers, progressive writers or progressive voters.

Are moderates and progressives the same then? Often times yes, but not necessarily. Are liberals and progressives the same? Maybe, frequently, and probably, but still not quite the same.

The Kansas Free Press is honored to occasionally publish illustrations created by our friend, Angelo Lopez, a regular contributor to KFP's sister publication, Everyday Citizen. Turn this page if you'd like to read Angelo's very interesting essay about his inspiration for drawing this cartoon.

The Kansas Free Press is honored to occasionally publish illustrations created by our friend, Angelo Lopez. He is a consummate artist, political cartoonist and muralist. Angelo also writes and is a regular contributor to KFP's sister publication, Everyday Citizen.

Turn this page if you'd like to read Angelo's very interesting essay about his inspiration for drawing this cartoon.

HAYS, Kan. - China has a national economic strategy designed to create more and better jobs. We have global corporations designed to make money for shareholders, regardless of where they reside.

Robert Reich, author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, recently explained that the United States "doesn't have a national economic strategy. Instead, we have global corporations that happen to be headquartered here."

As many others have pointed out for at least a decade, the U.S. now has two distinct economies. We have the economy of "Main Street" and the economy of "Wall Street."

The two don't move in lock-step anymore; when one is profitable (Wall Street and global corporations), the other economy (made up of American small businesses not located in China or India and including most American citizens) is often unaffected or worsened.

That's why multinational corporations (such as ExxonMobil or Microsoft) are doing really well while many of our neighbors and friends are stressed and hurting.

Imagine -- imagine for a moment, here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that some day she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council. She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it.

TUSCON, Ariz. - President Barack Obama flew to Tucson Wednesday to meet with the injured and families of the slain. He hoped to soothe the nation in the address he delivered at the University of Arizona.

One of the most encouraging and unexpected moments of Obama's address was the revelation that critically injured congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, had opened her eyes and that she "knows we are here, she knows we love her, and she knows that we are rooting for her."

Here and on the continuation page, we've published the full transcript of his address entitled "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America." (Click "read more" to see the video and transcript from his speech.)

HAYS, Kan. - Many thousands of raucous Americans roared, clapped, and sang, holding placards high above their heads - signs with simple but powerful messages. Hope. Change. I could see the hunger for hope and change in the eyes of the people that day.

I was in Invesco Field in Denver in 2008 as Barack Obama accepted the nomination of his party for President of the United States. With my much coveted 'floor access' press pass, I stood right on the field with fabulous freedom to move around and view the stands filled to the brim with enthusiastic people.

Through my camera lens, I witnessed the sparkling eyes, the tear-drenched cheeks, the exuberant hugging. Even members of the press corps danced and swayed. Those were the heady, hopeful days of 2008.

These are different times.

HAYS, Kan. - "My name is Wendell Potter and for 20 years I worked as a senior executive at health insurance companies, and I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick -- all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors." This is how he introduced himself to a Senate committee.

As a senior vice president of CIGNA, Potter had access to the inner workings of major insurance companies.

He had walked away from a six-figure salary and two decades as an insurance executive because he could no longer abide the routine practices of an industry where the needs of sick and suffering Americans take a backseat to the bottom line. The last straw: when he visited a rural health clinic and saw hundreds of Americans standing in line in the rain to receive treatment in stalls built for livestock.

Truth tellers, like Potter, are becoming the insurance industry's worst nightmares.

TOPEKA, Kan. - With all precincts now reporting, we have vote totals for the November 2nd general election, supplied to the Kansas Free Press by the Secretary of State. 

These tallies are exactly the same as those collected from county election officers on election night. Although these numbers are considered 'unofficial' and will not be 'official' until the state canvass later this week, the results are not likely to change.

To review the details of individual races, see our full page of election results here.

HAYS, Kan. - Will Rogers was quoted as saying once, "We have plenty of confidence in this country, but we are a little short of good men to place our confidence in." Well, not so, this year, Mr. Rogers. We have plenty of good men in Kansas.