EDMOND — Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, seems to have fallen down the proverbial rabbit hole, but unlike Alice, she hasn’t found a Wonderland. Instead, Kern’s world seems populated by negativity, concerns of depravity and fear.
Kern unleashed a proclamation for morality at the state Capitol last week. According to the Associated Press, her proclamation says the nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse “and many other forms of debauchery.”
Perhaps Kern could find her way into seeing the world’s glass as half full instead of half empty. Her proclamation focuses solely on the negative while ignoring all of the wonderful things and people that can be found in both our great state and nation.
It’s no secret that Oklahoma’s social statistics are not the greatest, particularly in the areas of child abuse and neglect, drug use, divorce and our health habits. These are problems that our state and its residents still must address collectively. But Kern’s ham-fisted approach gets her nor the state anywhere.
She fails to find hope in the facts that Oklahoma is a leader in early childhood education, that Oklahoma is being applauded for new health insurance coverage plans like Insure Oklahoma, that we’re known for our charitable nature and that Oklahomans know how to respond and pull through tragedy unlike any other state in the nation, creating what’s now known as the “Oklahoma standard” in emergency management.
Our residents are thirsty for real solutions to our state’s problems, not grandstanding. A little bit of honey always has proven to lure followers more than the bitter pill of hatred and fear-mongering. We urge Kern to keep her proclamations to herself and instead put her time and effort into working with other legislators to be a true servant leader in our great state.
Our View
Kern needs leadership lesson
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OUR VIEW: Fundraisers make an impression
Edmond students in both public and private schools showed their community spirit in February and March by raising $1.18 million total for charity.
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OUR VIEW: Taking care of some old business
Earlier this month, the City Council filled an unexpected vacancy when Ward 4 Councilman David Miller took an out-of-state job opportunity.
Filling the position until the 2013 election is financial adviser Nick Massey. He’s a familiar face to Edmond Sun readers, having contributed a regular financial column for almost five years. We would like to congratulate Massey on attaining the Ward 4 council seat and we wish him the best as he learns the ropes at city hall.
But Massey’s appointment caps an almost unprecedented amount of change within the City Council structure. -
OUR VIEW: Public safety needs support
Oklahoma politicians talk often and loudly about how much they support public safety. It’s often cited as a core function of government supported by conservatives and liberals alike.
But do we really support public safety? -
OUR VIEW: Super campaigns need a revamp
Super Tuesday offers Oklahomans the chance to give their input in the presidential primaries, but the question is how much input do we really have these days?
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Our View — Voter turnout remains tepid
On Feb. 14, 809 voters decided between two candidates for the Edmond Public Schools District 2 seat on the Board of Education. That number of voters would not sound so bad all by itself, but when you stand it up next to the number of registered voters in the district, the story changes quite a bit. According to the Oklahoma County Election Board, there are 17,475 voters in that school board district in northwest Edmond.
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OUR VIEW: Teacher certification payment causes concern
Educators have become pitted against legislators once again over a program that should have brought nothing but good things to our schools and students. However, teachers and lawmakers alike have soured over the National Board Certified Teachers program due to insufficient state funds to keep up promised annual payments to those teachers who earned the designation.
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OUR VIEW: Gov. Fallin scores big with speech
Gov. Mary Fallin defined her governorship on Feb. 6 and cemented her legacy as a leader. In her State of the State address, Fallin laid out her vision for how Oklahoma can grow or lead in several important areas.
Nowhere in that speech did she throw down the “my way or the highway” gauntlet to legislators or the people of Oklahoma. No, she truly offered a multi-point plan that offers opportunity for discussion that could bear rich fruit for our state. -
OUR VIEW: Feb. 14 vote about ideas
If you read any of the letters to the editor in the past two weeks regarding Tuesday’s District 2 Edmond school board race, then you already know that this election is not about the individual candidates so much as it’s about what type of school board do Edmond residents really want governing their school district?
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OUR VIEW: Bright spots highlight 2011
Last year was mostly marked with grim economic news and continued worries for the future by most individuals and businesses. However, there were several bright spots that highlighted 2011 and they are good examples why Edmond continues to weather the nation’s economic storms better than most.
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City still needs a business navigator
At the outset of her first term in office, then-Mayor Patrice Douglas appointed a task force dedicated to helping the City of Edmond better understand the needs of small businesses in our city. This task force met for several months and released a number of recommendations for how the city could better serve this huge sector of its economy.
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OUR VIEW: Fundraisers make an impression
