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Crowson: Our New Political Landscape

A fresh covering of snow is something I find invigorating every time. Snow has a way of converting a drab, overly familiar landscape into an exciting blanket of new potential. It covers all, smoothing out irregularities.

I’m not too old to still see the promise of fun in a snowfall, even if it does have a flip side of icy treachery that one my age can’t afford to ignore.

This early snow, less than a week after the election, reminds of the surprising new landscape we awakened to last Wednesday morning. That’s when our bleak, Brownbackian Kansas landscape was blanketed by a sparkling new beginning. Gone was the foreboding threat of yet four more years of regressive policies, as personified by Kris Kobach. Across our state, instead, is a bright potential for a return to sanity.

It won’t be easy, though. The way will be slippery. The possibility of a damaging spill will always be there. Snowballs will be lobbed and sometimes hit their targets. Wheels will spin without traction. Hitting the brakes will sometimes cause dangerous slides.

But we have a new landscape for a while. Let’s see if Kansas can shed its image of being a self-destructive throwback state. I for one, am admiring the way our world has a new glow to it. Our future so’s bright, we have to wear shades. And maybe some noise-cancelling ear phones to block out the naysayers’ babble.

Good luck to our new Governor Kelly. I hope she has some cleats on her boots.

Richard Crowson is not only a editorial commentator for KMUW. He's also a cartoonist, an artist and a banjo player.