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As we wrap up Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, and as the VA health care problems linger on, it has become tragically apparent that more and more veterans are feeling like they have nowhere to go and can't get the help they need. So, they choose to end their lives. In some cases, those suicides can be attributed to veterans being ignored by the VA. There have been many accounts of veterans committing suicide outside of VA clinics, not only to end the pain and suffering that seemed endles

Never let it be said that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) doesn’t know how to make an entrance — or exit. The onetime Republican presidential candidate arrived late to a homeland security committee hearing on cybersecurity threats in the Dirksen Senate office building slated to begin 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The Arizona senior senator slipped in from behind the dais as senior intelligence officials read their testimony to lawmakers and took his seat near Chairman Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.) What McCa

Meanwhile, here in Kansas. . . . Just a week ago, it was a forgone conclusion that incumbent Senator Pat Roberts would win an easy plurality in a three-person race with Democrat Chad Taylor and well-funded Independent Greg Orman. Roberts, who recently fought off a strong primary challenge, is unpopular in Kansas, but being the only Republican on the ballot here is usually enough to win.But last week Taylor announced his withdrawal from the race, leaving the unpopular Roberts in a two-person ra

George Washington cheerfully using a waterboard to "baptize the terrorists." It almost seems ludicrous invoking such imagery, but there seems to be a real psychological need to tie all of our current events and practices back to the Founding Fathers.Whether or not United States personnel should use torture against foreign terrorists and insurgents is a question that has sharply divided American opinion -- with a makeup that is not exactly following the predictable, traditional party lines. Even

1. Independents and major parties are responding to primary system in Arizona now that independents are the largest voting bloc. "They long ago surpassed Democrats and this year they passed Republicans. But even then, longtime political strategists pooh-poohed their influence, correctly noting that the indys haven't chosen to flex their considerable muscle." Now that independents are the majority in Arizona, major party leaders -- specifically Republican leaders -- want to close the primaries

1. On Monday, August 11, Lawrence Lessig's Mayday Super PAC announced its support for 3 more congressional candidates. "In addition, today Mayday PAC announces three more of the eight total candidates it will support: Walter Jones (R, NC-3), Carol Shea-Porter (D, NH-1) and Ruben Gallego, Democratic candidate in Arizona’s seventh congressional district to replace retiring Congressman Ed Pastor." The PAC is endorsing candidates committed to campaign finance reform. 2. Roll Call's Beltway Insid

1. Democratic legislators in New Mexico say they support opening primaries up to independent voters. "The effort is being taken up by two Democratic state legislators from Albuquerque. Sen. Bill O’Neill and Rep. Emily Kane planned to announce today that they will introduce legislation in January that would end the exclusion of independent voters or voters who decline to state a party affiliation when they register." Republicans mostly object to the idea, saying that party principles would be d

1. Terry Goddard, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state in Arizona, describes how independent voters and candidates are disenfranchised by the current election system. "Arizona encourages partisan voters to turn out, while our state treats Independent voters like second-class citizens. Our election system should empower every voter equally, but the treatment of Independents has been shoddy at best, malicious at worst and just wrong. Every registered Arizona voter whether Democrat, Rep

Three states -- Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state -- have all-mail voting systems in place, but if recent history is any guide, they will soon be joined by other states like California, Arizona, Montana, Hawaii, Utah, and New Jersey. The all-mail system is relatively new; Oregon was the first state to institute it after a referendum in 1998. Washington followed in 2011 and Colorado soon after in 2013. All three states introduced all-mail locally and its popularity led to its widespread use

The Roberts Court, which began in 2005 and has been altered by two replacements — Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan in 2010 — has been asked to clarify the precise nature of the church-state relationship on several matters. One topic the court addressed is whether religious symbols may be displayed on public property: * In 2009, the court handed down a 9-0 decision in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum allowing a town in Utah to keep its display of the Ten Commandments in a public park. The