In our increasingly secular age, being on the side of science is similar to being on the side of God — a way to settle an argument by not actually making an argument. Just enlist an unassailable authority and move on. That’s how Joe Biden campaigned for president, vowing to “follow the science” on the COVID-19 pandemic wherever it led him. Only now it seems like he’s leading the science as much as the science is leading him. And that was inevitable...

FRIEDENS, Pa. — Imagine if you had a job. A good job, one that required skill and critical thinking and had a broad impact in the community where you lived. A job you didn’t just show up to do. It was a job you were good at, and because of it, you were able to provide a roof over your family’s head, put your children through college or help pay for their wedding, and once a year, it gave you the ability to carve out a week or two to take the family on vacation. ...

"From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe: Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest, and Sofia ..."...

Donald Trump showed up at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, and reminded everyone why, with all his provocations, so many are still on board with him. Our country IS in trouble -- big trouble. No parent reading this would not be up in arms if his or her children were threatened...

Six weeks ago, Americans were assured that Donald Trump had left the presidency disgraced and forever ruined politically. Trump was the first president to be impeached twice, and first to be tried as a private citizen when out of office. He was the first to be impeached without the chief justice of the United States presiding over his trial...

A crisis is a terrible thing to create. This, nonetheless, is what President Joe Biden has done at the southern border. His rhetoric during the campaign suggesting an openhanded approach to migrants coming to the U.S., and his early moves to undo Donald Trump's border policies are creating a migrant surge that risks running out of control...

Let's be clear: right to work is wrong. The PRO Act will wipe it off the map. Nearly 60 million people say they would join a union today if they could. The problem? Union-busters, Big Business and woefully outdated laws continue undermining the right to collectively bargain...

It has come to my attention that a group of citizens are forming a petitioners committee to begin the referendum process to overturn the recently passed urban deer hunting ordinance. That is well within their right if they disagree with the intent of the ordinance. As these petitions begin to circulate within our city, as mayor, I think it's appropriate that our citizens know the true facts about the differences in the deer hunting resolution passed in 2012 and the one just recently passed...

The only Neanderthal thinking going on in this country is coming out of the White House. It is time for you to come out of your cave and address the nation President Biden or President Harris, whoever is supposed to be in charge. At this point in time, nobody knows for sure. We knew who was in charge when Trump was occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. ...

It's not uncommon for the Southeast Missouri State University football team to hit the field each spring. But until this year, doing so was for intrasquad scrimmages only and not regular season competition. Due to COVID-19, the fall schedule, other than one game SEMO lost to SIU, was postponed until spring. And the schedule is entirely made up of Ohio Valley Conference opponents...

A fight is brewing over bringing back earmarks -- provisions that are inserted into spending bills by individual members of Congress to send money to politically favored entities in their districts. There has been a moratorium on earmarks since 2011...

After a disastrous 2020, I think we are all ready for this new year. We need to continue to be patient as coronavirus cases continue to decline and vaccinations increase. Our world will eventually return to some sense of normalcy. We will persevere as our society creates a "new normal." I would think in the near future that our county health department will amend the mask order from "mandatory" to "strongly recommended."...

Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri is raising money to develop a residential transitional housing facility in downtown Cape Girardeau for homeless pregnant women. Referred to as LifeHouse-Cape Girardeau, the project is based on a similar $4 million facility in Springfield, Missouri. ...

Greater Orlando, Florida, hosts several of the most visited theme parks in the world. At the Magic Kingdom you can dress up like a princess, pretend you're a pirate or just act like you're a kid again. Universal's Islands of Adventure lets die-hard Harry Potter fans pretend they're students at Hogwarts. ...

There are a hundred things I could tell you about my late mother that are more important than the disease that caught her in its grip the last few years of her life. I could tell you about her relationship with my older brother, who has autism, and her deep, lifelong friendship with him...

I can't understand why my student had to wear a mask at Cape Central when the Penguin Party school fundraiser was a maskless event. Why do Jackson students have to wear masks at school with their peers but they play basketball at other schools in front of maskless crowds?...

"What any religious tradition ascribes as God's will is no concern of this Congress." New York Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, said this on the House floor during debate over the euphemistically named Equality Act...

In the Bible, the parable of the good Samaritan tells the story of a traveler (a resident of Samaria) who stopped to help a man who had been beaten, robbed and left on the side of the road, while others passed him by. The term “good Samaritan” has come to be defined as a compassionate person who unselfishly helps others, especially strangers, in times of distress. ...

Alanna Smith’s dedication to her sport is profound. Just listening to the elite high school track star explain her training schedule is exhausting. Yet no matter how hard she trains, if she has to compete against biological males, she stands no chance of winning...

"Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumaudi." Rush Limbaugh created modern national talk radio as we now know it. For over three decades he kept at rapt attention -- live from noon to 3 p.m. on weekdays -- the largest conservative audience in broadcast history. More than 15 million tuned in each week...

The issue of reparations to Black Americans as payment for damage done as a result of years of legal slavery and subsequent discrimination is back on the table. The House Judiciary Committee just held hearings on H.R. 40, which would establish a commission to look into ways in which African Americans could be compensated, including possible payments of trillions of dollars to individuals...

The Democratic Party is often called the party of government. Ideologically, this is so obviously true it's not worth belaboring. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. We have a federal government for a reason, and there are things it should do. Reasonable people can debate what those things are...

Leadership for Cape Girardeau's behavioral health hospital, joined by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and 100 community members, gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony this week to celebrate the opening of the new $33-million facility. The 102-bed Southeast Behavioral Hospital is expected to admit its first patients the week of March 8...

In his autobiography, "Up From the Projects," the late economist Walter Williams explained his move away from the belief that minimum wages help the poor. His change of heart on the topic began when one of his UCLA professors asked him whether he cared more about the intentions behind the minimum wage or its effects...

It's time to work on infrastructure. Bridges, roads and electrical grid! Thank you, Mr. Biden, for giving us higher gas prices and for letting 25,000 illegal immigrants come across our border without being tested for virus and being properly vetted for MS-13 gang membership and drug cartel members and human traffickers and shutting down the oil pipeline, costing thousands of good paying union jobs...

If flames are shooting up from a house, and the owner says, "The house is not on fire," then he is clearly delusional. The extent of denial we see in Trumpist lawmakers about their 'house on fire' is of psychotic proportion. They keep calling for unity, but are unwilling to shed the "Stop the Steal" delusion they share with Trump. They resemble a deluded diabetic patient who looks at his gangrenous legs and says, "That is no big deal, doctor. When can I go home?"...

Remember a few years ago when Texas politicians were taking "victory" tours in Missouri, Kansas and elsewhere to try and convince other states to deregulate, cut taxes for the wealthy and do things their way because it was so amazing? At least our electricity is on today, unlike most of Texas. ...

There have been many moving parts as medical partners, state and local public health officials work to get Missourians vaccinated. But some of the unsung heroes have been volunteers. The Southeast Missourian recently reported that local efforts have been supported by volunteers -- some with medical backgrounds and others not -- who have helped streamline the process for those seeking COVID-19 vaccinations. ...

Throughout the pandemic, the press has been excoriatingly harsh on a governor who was slow to act, unnecessarily endangered the lives of the elderly, alienated experts and cooked the numbers. It just thought the governor in question was Florida's Ron DeSantis rather than New York's Andrew Cuomo...

Joe Biden ran for president on a "return to normalcy." His challenge is that there are three competing definitions of normalcy for him to contend with. Biden didn't actually use the slogan "return to normalcy." But as numerous political observers (including yours truly) noted during the campaign, that was both Biden's implicit appeal and his best shot at victory. ...

Mommas are still the best teachers most of us have ever had, and the lessons they taught us back in the day probably remain some of the best advice we ever received. Let's take a look at this one in light of the sad passing of radio icon Rush Limbaugh: "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."...

When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, the "wait and see" crowd will be the biggest obstacle to if it will work or not. They are not part of the solution, but they are part of the problem. Just roll up your sleeves and get your shots. Today as I learned of Rush Limbaugh's passing I thought of his family's great loss. ...

Compliments to the Stately Seven who courageously displayed their true colors -- red, white, blue -- American colors, not tribal allegiance. Bona fide statesmen. They honored their senatorial oath, the Constitution, America first over political careers. Integrity will be their legacy, profiles in courage...

Southeast Missouri turned into a winter wonderland as Old Man Winter swept through the region last week. Although it was beautiful to watch snowflakes drift to the ground from inside a warm home, the rapid snowfall made it problematic for those needing to be out and about...

Washington, D.C., is not, counter to what you might think, a war zone. The city isn’t divided down the middle between the forces of the United States government on one hand and secessionist rebels on the other. Insurgents aren’t mortaring Reagan National Airport. Neither Virginia nor Maryland is about to declare war on the district...

Former President Donald Trump captured the core of the problem in his official statement following his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial: “It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree.” ...

The guitar riff from "My City Was Gone" by The Pretenders will forever hold a special memory for me -- not because of the band or song, but because for many years this anthem kicked off The Rush Limbaugh Show. This week we lost the conservative talker and Cape Girardeau native after his valiant, yearlong battle with stage IV lung cancer. ...

The Republican Party is broken. If Mitch McConnell were just another Republican senator, I'd say he was the eighth bravest. The seven bravest are the ones who voted to convict Donald Trump. For weeks I've been saying that if you honestly believe the Constitution forbids the Senate from convicting a former president (who was impeached while in office), you're free to do so. ...

I would like to thank the man and his children for coming to our street (Diana Drive in Jackson) and cleaning some of the driveways. It was a big help to me and I am sure to other neighbors. Also to the children who collected money for the Humane Society on such a cold day. It reminds us that there are GOOD people who do good deeds because it is the right thing...