11-03-2025
Kansas politicians say an awful lot. But look beyond those words to catch what they actually do.
A bright shine rises behind the Kansas Statehouse dome on March 5, 2025. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Humans regularly confuse words and actions.
I understand why. We communicate mostly through words, written and spoken. Language describes what we believe and what we plan to do. We pay close attention to what others say.
Yet words themselves do not act. We can tell our spouse that we love them. But that doesn't buy them chicken soup when they get sick, or take them out for dinner on their birthday, or hold them close through a long winter's night.
Voters claim to understand this. We know the politicians use eloquent verbiage but don't always follow through on their promises.
When it comes time to judge lawmakers whose beliefs or party membership aligns with ours, though, such wariness breaks down. We begin to think of words as actions, to disassociate the choices people make from what they say about them. Words become tools of manipulation and distraction, while actions whir away under the surface, undermining our state and nation.
This is exceptionally dangerous. Indeed, it puts all of government at risk in profound ways.
Take the anti-trans legislation that the House and Senate passed first thing this session. Leaders called it the Help Not Harm Act, perhaps the most innocuous name one could imagine for a piece of legislation. They might as well have named it the Sunshine and Puppies Act. However, the actual law they passed means that trans kids will not be able to receive proven health care that their parents and doctors agree upon. The state has stepped in to harm these children.
Or take how lawmakers running in 2024 acknowledged that voters had made their stance clear on abortion and claimed they respected that decision. That is, until the time came to vote for a new constitutional amendment clearing the way for a conservative takeover of the state Supreme Court. The only reason Republicans want to do that is to allow themselves to ban abortion. Well, that and enfeebling public education.
Finally, you've heard rhetoric from Republicans about how they treasure free speech. The most notable example came from Senate President Ty Masterson after his chamber passed Senate Bill 29, a kneejerk reaction to COVID-19 closings. His press release blared: 'Senate protects First Amendment Right to Assemble.' However, it must be noted that both Masterson and his counterpart, House Speaker Dan Hawkins, have both barred journalists from press boxes in their chambers. Neither House nor Senate passed any sort of resolution decrying the unconstitutional police raid on the Marion County Record.
In each one of these cases, what lawmakers say means next to nothing.
What they do matters. And what they do harms Kansans — particularly the young, women and those in need.
This works in a different way when it comes to the news media. Politicians understand that reporters look for coherence — if nothing else — when covering politics. A cause creates an effect. Reporters want to understand why bills pass or fail, and they want to tell compelling stories. It can be exhausting to write repeatedly that big money gets everything, while everyone else gets bupkis.
So in private conversations, in text messages, in emails, in phone calls, legislators tell journalists little white lies. They say they didn't want to vote one way or the other, but leadership insisted upon it. They say they sympathize with the concerns brought up by advocates and during committee hearings, but they really had to toe the line.
That might be true. But what does it matter? These people still made the choices they did and voted the way they voted. It doesn't matter whether they thought the vote was wrong. They still took the action.
Nationally, we've received regular reports that Republicans in Washington, D.C., don't actually support Donald Trump and Elon Musk's authoritarian revamp of the federal government. We've heard they don't actually want to approve his hilariously unqualified nominees. But, they've repeatedly told reporters off the record, they have to take these votes. They're scared of what Trump or Musk might say about them online. They're afraid for their safety and that of their families.
So they vote the way Trump and Musk and the MAGA faithful want.
I ask you then, who cares what these gutless wonders say? Who cares if they really want to do the right thing but cannot summon the courage to do so?
I don't want to suggest that speaking out doesn't have value. It absolutely does, when on the record and unapologetic. But there's a difference between an everyday person or community activist or policy advocate raising their voice and a politician covering their ample hindquarters. Of all these individuals, the politician actually can cast votes to change people's lives right away.
Even at the grass roots, speech only goes so far. Imagine the good that could be done if everyone posting about various shortcomings in Kansas government or the Trump administration decide to volunteer for the homeless or donate to a women's shelter.
Action matters. Cash matters. Community matters.
As a longtime writer and editor, I understand the value of language. But over the past two decades I have become aware of its profound limitations. I have watched sterling reporting and gripping commentary fill newspapers and websites, but fail to sway the general public. Why? Because those articles haven't been followed up with actions. The words have been left to fend for themselves, and the words only go so far.
That pains me. But it has left my eyes open wide and left me acutely aware of the difference between words and actions. The more that everyone builds that understanding and applies it to their mental models of the world, the healthier government in Kansas and the U.S. will become.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. 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.
