Opinion

Rather than have a nationwide popular vote, the United States chooses its president through the Electoral College with the outcome tied to multiple state-level elections.

This system ensures voters in smaller states like Oklahoma are still prized by presidential candidates. But it has also ensured minority groups of all types can wield greater influence even as consensus-building is incentivized.

The Electoral College’s benefit has accrued not only to those interested in specific issues — such as pro-life voters or environmentalists — but to racial minorities as well.

Constitution Day, Sept. 17, the day Americans celebrate the signing of the Constitution which was then sent to the states for ratification, is almost here.

The numerous attacks on it, its founders, and the anarchy in our big cities today should give us cause to reflect upon what a gift it was/is to mankind.  

Since my dad’s passing, I have carried his dog tag on my key chain. I wanted a daily reminder of my dad and his sacrificial service to our nation in World War II.

My dad was the classic WWII vet who did not often speak of his time in the war. I regret not asking him more questions.

Personally, I missed the mandatory draft by a few years, turning 18 in 1976. But I had two older friends, the Harris brothers in my neighborhood, who went to Vietnam and never came back.

For 20 years we have lived in our current home in humble Grove City, Pa. It came with a nice flagpole mounted on the front. We change the flag a lot. Sometimes we display flags with various types of art celebrating the seasons — for fall, winter and spring.

There are three bodies of law that Oklahomans live with on a daily basis: Constitutional Law, laws that are voted on by the people; Statutory Law, laws approved by legislators and the governor; and the subject of this article, Administrative Law, rules created not by the people or legislators but unelected bureaucrats who run state agencies.

To the Editor:

The City of El Reno has sprayed the city with the chemical permethrin to kill mosquitoes out of a “concern for our health.” 

This chemical has been deemed safe for humans and pets. However, it is still an insecticide that will kill any invertebrates that come in contact with the spray. In addition, the U.S. EPA decided it was “likely to be carcinogenic to humans if eaten.”

The chemical may stay on the leaves for between one to three weeks.

Oklahoma’s government owns a lot of property. This includes land and buildings, but it also includes valuable assets like the state-owned electric power company, the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). GRDA reports nearly $1.8 billion in assets on its most recent balance sheet, with a “net position” of more than $622 million. Or the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), which has a $1.2 billion endowment producing roughly $50 million annual investment income.

Did you see the video of the frontline medical doctors explaining why they believe hydroxychloroquine is effective in treating COVID-19?

About a dozen doctors stood on the steps of the nation’s Capitol last week and praised the drug as being a safe and inexpensive treatment for the disease that has paralyzed the U.S.A. and much of the world for the past five months.

The event did not draw much of a media response.

The Oklahoma Education Association’s national parent, the National Education Association, is known for bizarre actions like working to give boys access to girls bathrooms and endorsing Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. Recently the OEA added to the bizarre by trying to give the impression that public schools are receiving only half of Oklahoma’s education-related federal COVID funding. Any suggestion to that effect is patently false. 

Last weekend I overheard two recent grads (both musicians) discussing America’s greatest composers. The usual names were raised: Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, Sousa … Foster.

“Who?” said one.

“Stephen Foster,” replied the other.