Nearly a third of a million Americans are dead from the virus attack. Fortunately, we have not seen death to be the result of a political impasse.
Few, thank God, have died in this political war but there have been deaths.
Much of our spirit has died.
My childhood, many decades ago, always began at school with the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
It was to the flag that we knew represented our country, the best country in the world. There were no doubts, only faith in ideals and the founding fathers, and leaders we only knew as names in books.
What do you think? What will a political truce take? Do we need one? Send a letter to the editor to edletter@Coxinc.com. Include a daytime phone number, your full name and the city in which you reside.
Now, doubt is the metier of our time. We doubt our leaders, we doubt the very basis on which we, and our parents and their parents lived.
We learned about the World War and stood respectfully on November 11th at 11:00 a.m. What would we, or our children, stand for today? That is not a good question. It is a bad question to those of us who had unquestioning loyalty.
Now, we have a vaccine that can reduce the viral invasion. We need a vaccine against being dispirited, disillusioned and even disgusted.
I propose, wish for, long for, a truce.
The war being raged in what should be the hallowed halls of our Congress can be mitigated, diluted, even stopped by a vaccine of spirit.
If in this best of all possible worlds, I could see our law makers ― senators and representatives ― gather together randomly and as one recite, again, their oath of office pledge for all to hear and see. The effect would not be a ripple. It would be a wave of spirit and spirituality.
It could be more than a truce, it could be a new beginning.
We, the citizens, not invested with the powers of that oath, would rejoice and we would all prosper.
Dr. Burton Saidel, a retired dentist and downtown resident, is a fixture in Dayton’s art scene. Community contributors are people who frequently submit fact-based guest columns.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Credit: Submitted Photo
Credit: Submitted Photo
Note from Community Impact Editor Amelia Robinson: In a Newsmax interview, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, said he plans to participate on Jan. 6 in an effort on the House of Representative floor to question the propriety of Democrat Joe Biden’s election as president.
“We had four years of the Democrats attacking this president, trying to throw President Trump out of office, but we can’t follow the process for a few weeks, we can’t follow the Constitution, we can’t follow the law,” Jordan said. An article about the interview appeared in this newspaper Dec. 19. This news organization has requested a guest column on the matter from Jordan’s office and is awaiting a response.
JIM JORDAN PROVING MARK TWAIN RIGHT
Congressman Jim Jordan plans to support objections to the electoral vote on Jan. 6 and continues to support President Trump’s unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud. Is this not the very same Jim Jordan who rather implausibly pleads see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil when confronted by OSU wrestlers who state he was aware of the sexual predation which took place there and did nothing? Unable to see corruption where it existed, his blindness is now lifted and he suddenly sees corruption in the presidential election, where none exists? In Jordan’s case, I find myself in complete agreement with commentary attributed to Mark Twain: “Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
TIMOTHY A BENNETT, SPRINGFIELD
What do you think about Jordan’s efforts? Submit your own Letters to the Editor of 200 words or less. Letters to the editor should be sent to edletter@Coxinc.com. Include a daytime phone number, your full name and the city in which you reside.
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