Submit columns for consideration to wisopinion@wispolitics.com

Scott Walker: Charlie Kirk died as he lived: Free
We must preserve our liberties in his honor.

Dave Cieslewicz: Jimmy Kimmel and free speech
There’s no question that Trump is trying to chill if not kill speech that is critical of him or which he just doesn’t like. And if this were 1975 what he’s done to Colbert and Kimmel would be far worse because there were so few outlets.

Jamie Stiehm: Kirk assassination overshadowed remembrance of 9/11 heroes
Kirk’s death is being used as a cudgel by Trump, when he could have invited the nation to grieve and come to a clearing of reconciliation in our violent and angry public square.

Scott Fitzgerald: Charlie Kirk’s assassination should shake us to the core
Now more than ever, we must defend free speech as it is the lifeblood of our republic. Disagreement is healthy. But when rhetoric devolves into dehumanization, it paves the way for violence.

Bill Barth: Do your part: Unplug from the hate machine
Now the hideous messages are everywhere. For a lot of it — not all, but a lot — I blame the cesspool of social media which encourages irresponsible rhetoric and isolation.

Tsela Barr et al.: We oppose antisemitism, but state proposal isn’t the answer
As Jews, we unequivocally condemn antisemitism in all its forms. We recognize the urgent and ongoing need to combat hatred, bigotry and discrimination. However, we strongly oppose the proposed codification of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism, including its examples, into Wisconsin state law.

Juan Carlos Garcia Martinez: Defending immigrant rights in the fight against fascism
Local activists deploy a renewed emphasis on legal strategy and grassroots organizing.

Bruce Murphy: Diane Hendricks now richer than Menard!
Time to marvel at the incredible wealth of Wisconsin’s richest people.

Robert Granader: I’m a Washington Commanders fan. I was heartened at Green Bay Packers game.
It wasn’t just one incident, from the cab driver to hotel check-in desk, the fans in line at pre-game concessions, to the endless sea of tailgaters, they wore their host obligations on their jerseys.

Steven Walters: Wisconsin depends on immigration
Immigrants are 7% of state’s workforce, 11% of business owners, 16% of physicians, HRSC report finds.

Melissa Ratcliff: Investing in Wisconsin’s workforce, building our future
We need bold, forward-looking policies as in the past that support workers, strengthen businesses, and make sure our state remains a place where families want to live and work.

Greg Keenan, Jeanine Burmania and Katie Rice: Beyond the breakthrough: Transforming university inventions into everyday innovations
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has spent a century partnering with UW-Madison to address one of higher education’s most significant challenges: translating university discoveries into real-world impact.

John Nichols: Francesca Hong thinks Wisconsin’s ready for bolder politics
Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong, a Madison Democrat who, like New York’s Zohran Mamdani, has made a name for herself as an outspoken legislator who is aligned with the Assembly’s multi-member socialist caucus, thinks there is room for an insurgent politics in this state.

Mark Belling: Wisconsin judge who danced on Kirk’s grave needs to resign
Charlie Kirk was hated because he was so decent and so effective.

Bruce Murphy: The rage of Derrick Van Orden
Congressman’s attacks on liberals spread exactly the kind of wrath he claims to oppose.

Gregory Humphrey: Once again, America is at the crossroads
If we are to survive as a democracy we simply must push back and stem the erosion of shared truth. When facts become negotiable and institutions become stage props, democracy becomes a performative national joke. The stuff that writes itself for a late-night comedian to use.

Dave Zweifel: Power drunk, in charge of the military. What could go wrong?
Aside from wasting taxpayers’ money, this whole business of sending active military soldiers trained to fight wars and kill the enemy to confront their own citizenry is dangerous — and illegal.

Richard Moore: Livestock producers in the bureaucratic crosshairs
DATCP is proposing fee increases on livestock producers, dealers, truckers, and others. Some of the proposed fees would rise by as much as almost 1,700 percent.

Mike McCabe: Reverse engineering
There’s a reason it’s called doomscrolling and not hopescrolling. Social media algorithms favor doom over hope, lies over truth, hate over love.

Christina Lieffring: Finding a refuge for the unhoused
With regressing attitudes towards unhoused people and winter looming, Madison and Dane County need to embrace imperfect solutions.

WisOpinion: ‘The Insiders’ take up Johnson’s reconciliation fight
The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, take up U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s demand for deeper cuts in the House version of the federal reconciliation bill. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Rewind: Your Week in Review for July 11
On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya van Wagtendonk discuss the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturning the Legislature’s power to suspend administrative rules, the Wisconsin Elections Commission report on the former Madison clerk’s actions after discovering uncounted absentee ballots, a new lawsuit challenging the state’s congressional lines, the state budget and more.