Perspectives: Sam’s Perspective -Vote
Hello I’m Sam Jones. Election day is almost here. We’ve had others but this one is so important. There is so much anger out there that for the most part serious issues have fallen to one side. But all of us have to give serious thought to our vote. Otherwise, it’s going to be business as usual. You have to know the truth about everything before you step into that voting booth. You also have to know exactly what truth is. If I say to you Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th., or some Americans saw the sun shining today, you’d have to agree, because I told the truth. If I were to say, the United States has never been this divided, that’s not true! And if you think about it, you know I’m right. Remember the Civil War? We took up arms and turned on one another and the death toll ran very high.
And don’t forget the 60’s, Vietnam. Violence in the streets. Talk about division. The New York Times, which isn’t failing, and the Washington Post got their hands on a Top Secret, Department of Defense study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. This study, quoting now, revealed the hypocrisy of several administrations and the Presidents who realized the war could not be won but told the country a different story. In other words, they lied. The Times and the Post started printing that study known as the Pentagon Papers in segments and the Nixon administration took the Post to court.
It went quickly all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The high court’s verdict? The Justices stood behind the newspaper, and their ruling started the healing process. Writing for the 6-3 majority, Justice Hugo Black said, “The founding fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.”
Take a look around this great state of ours. Like what you see? Major budget problems, schools and educators that need help and aren’t getting it, our tax dollars flowing out of state, A state divided and in need of healing help. Out future depends on it. So I ask you,… do you know the truth about who is running? Do you know who is telling you the truth about fixing out problems?
Be careful my friend, be very careful. Don’t waste the one thing you have that could make a difference in Oklahoma’s future, your vote. Also when someone screams “fake news” remember what the late Phil Graham of the Washington Post said about the news,… “The news is the first rough draft of history”. And, I might add, the history of Oklahoma is at stake.
And that’s my perspective.