Some took our advice last weekend. Many enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. Christmas decorations came out and began to be displayed. Oklahoma University fans were pleased and Oklahoma State University fans dismayed by a regional football game.
On Sunday, as the weather turned cold, fireplaces were stoked and good books were enjoyed. Another great overtime football game was available nationwide on Sunday night. All in all, for some, a great weekend with a few timeouts sprinkled in.
But not for all. We saw several homeless folks huddled under blankets in Spiva Park as the temperature dropped. We heard of huge crowds scrambling for bargains on Black Friday and of overwhelmed store clerks. At a few gatherings, we heard some intense political debate over a variety of things, most of which are out of our individual control. Afghanistan, health care and Sarah Palin (pro and con) seemed to top the list of those topics.
Certainly the world will continue to move, forward or backward depending on our politics, during the next 25 days until Christmas. People will continue to be cold, hungry, get sick without sufficient health insurance, some will die, and some will be born. Life on life’s terms will continue unabated. The alarm clock will also continue to sound as we begin another day.
We wonder if it is possible or even a good thing to try during these next 25 days to take the focus off of politics.
Today, we will hear the pros and cons related to the president’s speech on Afghanistan. Later in the week there will be yet more shrill cries related to health care reform. These are important issues and deserve our thoughts and attention.
It would also, however, maybe warm our own hearts if we took some hot soup to those folks huddled under blankets in Spiva Park and elsewhere or dropped more than loose change in the Salvation Army buckets around town. As individuals we can make a much bigger difference in doing so than more arguments about which party or individual is doing the next right thing for all Americans.
At least during the next 25 days.
Opinion
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Discussion
In our view: The next 25 days
- Opinion
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Our View: Santorum's Achilles' ear
Rick Santorum knocked everyone for a loop this week, not just with his victory in Missouri but with the landslide size of the thing.
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Our View: Are school loans next 'debt bomb'?
The late American middle class struggled for decades to keep pace with an American dream slipping from its grasp.
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Our View: A better way of limit terms
A Missouri House committee on Tuesday endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow lawmakers to serve 16 years in the state Legislature, either the House or the Senate.
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Your View: Is it our fault?
When did coveting things and money take over character? What happened?
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Your View: No way to run a school
All throughout the state of Missouri, you’ll hear much discussion about teacher tenure and the indefinite contracts that go along with that. Most — if not nearly all — jobs in the private and public sectors have no such career protection.
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Your View: Prime suspects
If it’s too cool in the house, you can turn up the heat if you think you can afford it.
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Our View: Worldwide concern
There is growing concern worldwide that Israel might launch an attack on Iranian nuclear plants.
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Other Views: FAA deal up in air five years
The Federal Aviation Administration bill was delayed 23 times, but the agency finally has a law giving it $63 billion and full operating authority for the next four years.
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Don Ray, columnist: Obama's pipeline excuse an election-year cop-out
On Jan. 18, President Barack Obama announced he was rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline project — a project that had its beginnings some 40 months ago (September 2008).
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James Whitford, guest columnist: Broken people or broken system?
Are the people broken or is the system broken? If you walk into Watered Gardens, our rescue mission, it may seem the people are broken. But it’s a rescue mission. It just feels that way. And sometimes, it just looks that way.
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