Wearing two hats can be uncomfortable – no matter how big your head is.

This is how I feel sometimes being editor of a news site and an outspoken pundit. It is a constant tug ‘o war as I strive to uphold the high standards of fairness we have established at The Indy while also holding politicians and special interests to account.

I bring this up now – and this discussion actually is overdue – because my commentary on  the recall efforts against three state senators has been so strong.

This is a perfect case to show how my occasionally acidic remarks have nothing to do with The Indy’s reporting, and how the targets of my criticism may attempt to use my opinions to impugn the organization’s integrity -- or not talk to my reporters out of spite. I will defend to the death my right to my opinions and even more so the right of my reporters to do their jobs unsullied by their editor’s snark or bombast.

There is not a scintilla of evidence that The Nevada Independent's news stories have been tainted by my opinions. And there is plenty of evidence to show their reporting has informed my opinions.

Most reporters want to kill their editor at least once a week; I’m not sure where The Indy average is. I’m sure I have made life difficult for my superb staff because of comments I have made on Twitter or in opinion columns.

But it has not affected their reporting, and no one can say they have not been evenhanded, nor would they tell you that I have ever tried to steer their coverage. (Indeed, the culture at The Indy has made them feel free to tell me when they think I have gone too far. And trust me: They have.)

I also have a nonpareil No. 2 in Elizabeth Thompson, who not only reads every story and every column but has a reputation for rectitude second to no one I know. She also does not hesitate to tell me when she thinks I need to tone it down. Let Jon be Jon, she believes – up to a point.

I am happy to take incoming fire from pols who think I am unfair, which often is in the eye of the pummeled and often a reflection of being exposed. But what I will not brook is politicians and others who try to use my commentary to open the door to criticism of the solid work done by my reporters. They all work incredibly hard, have developed their own sources, and strive for accuracy and fairness in every story.

We have set the bar high at The Indy, but that does not insulate us from criticism. We will make mistakes – I will make mistakes. We welcome criticism, so long as it is not ad hominem – from our readers. And we always – always – invite people, in the public eye or not, to write op-eds responding to something they have read on the site.

I’m a big boy. I’ve been around enough to have experienced plenty of messenger-killers, especially campaign apparatchiks and hyper-partisans on both sides who don’t like what I say. I can handle it.

But what I won’t abide are those who think they can punish me by impugning the integrity of this organization or the wonderful, hard-working staff I hired. Politicians who decline to speak to The Indy will still find us as fair to them as we are to the ones who return our calls and emails.

I still find instructive what happened in the 1990s when then-Sen. Harry Reid refused to talk to me for a couple of years because he didn’t like a column I had written. Finally, he had me summoned to his office and told me he was ready to talk to me again.

I had written about him many times in the interim despite his silence, so I asked him who he thought had been hurt by cutting me off. He had no answer, even though it was obvious. (Reid cut me off again in 2011. I doubt he cares much now….)

So the petulance of politicians is not new to me. They can choose to visit what they see as the sins of the editor on the reporters. But I will not be silenced, nor will they.

I believe the recalls are an abuse of process, undertaken not because of some deeply held principle, but to un-level the campaign playing field. My reporters will still cover the story fairly.

I believe that Attorney General Adam Laxalt clearly was acting to help his primary campaign benefactor, Sheldon Adelson, when he set up a private meeting with the state’s top gaming regulator, who secretly recorded the meeting he was so worried about the Las Vegas Sands chairman’s influence on the state's top law enforcement officer. My reporters covered that story fairly, just as they will cover Laxalt’s gubernatorial bid fairly.

I believe it was a failure of leadership by the two Democratic leaders of the Legislature that the governor vetoed 41 of their bills. But my reporters will still cover Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford’s attorney general campaign fairly, just as they will Speaker Jason Frierson’s bid to hold onto the Assembly.

I could go on. But there is no need. The examples are legion.

I developed a reputation during three decades of covering politics of being tough but fair, outspoken and acerbic. Some people think I can be a real jerk. (They are not all wrong.) So be it.

It would be disingenuous for me to pretend that I have suddenly changed, that I don’t have strong opinions. Yes, my itchy Twitter finger still gets the best of me once in awhile. And, yes, I have tried to moderate my tone at times – Elizabeth and my reporters would probably say, not enough.

I understand this is an unusual situation -- an editor of a publication who also is a political pundit. But to forfeit the latter would be to throw out 30 years of experience at a time when it is needed. What I try to do is bring clarity and background amid all of today's cacophony, putting what is happening in context and exposing those who do not fight fairly.

I’m a little like Popeye at this point, and the sound of my voice is even more grating. But when I am acting in the role of the editor of The Indy, I am dedicated to putting out the best and fairest news product every day with a fantastic, dedicated team of reporters who deserve every benefit of the doubt that some may not afford me.

So here is my promise, and hold me to it: No matter how large my head is, I’ll never wear both hats at the same time.