Bipartisan kudos, soaring temperatures and a letter on Bibles in public schools | Your Views
Bipartisan credit ― but only where it's due
I sincerely appreciated Mayor David Holt’s recent guest column regarding the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. His remarks were honest, appreciative and forward-looking. When someone — in this case, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — has accomplished something remarkable, you show appreciation. He did. Too often in today’s toxic political environment, contributing to or even acknowledging bipartisan success on “the other side” is considered treasonous by some. Sen. James Lankford recently learned that lesson for daring to address the immigrant problem while former President Donald Trump is still using it for his campaign!
I cannot criticize the content of Mayor Holt’s column in any way. But I feel compelled to note one significant omission. Although he noted that this accomplishment was remarkable as truly bipartisan legislation, he understandably omitted some important context. In the Senate, all 48 Democratic senators and 19 Republican senators voted to pass the bill. The 19 Republicans did not include our senators.
In the House, 215 Democrats and 13 Republicans voted to pass the bill. Again, none of our delegation was among those 13 Republicans. It is important to bear this in mind as we watch projects around the state that result from this legislation. It would be the height of hypocrisy for anyone in Oklahoma’s delegation to try to garner credit for any of these investments in Oklahoma. The only thing more hypocritical would be former President Trump claiming that even one his 208 fruitless “Infrastructure Weeks” had anything to do with these accomplishments anywhere in the country.
― Scott McLaughlin, Midwest City
A heated perspective
108 degrees in Phoenix.
105 degrees in Las Vegas.
CO2 emissions still rising.
Dems say, “Climate action Now.”
Repubs say, “Drill, baby, Drill.”
— Nathaniel Batchelder, Oklahoma City
More: Oklahoma pushes forward on climate change plan despite missing out on federal grant
'State was here, and church was over there'
Our state schools superintendent has decreed the Bible will be taught in every Oklahoma classroom. Apparently, I was deprived of a proper upbringing. In 20 years of formal education, I don’t recall ever having a Bible-based classroom lesson … not one. (Our third-grade class sang “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem,” but that’s as close as I came.) For Bible study I went to Sunday School and to church. State was here, and church was over there. Just about everyone I knew lived easily in both worlds. It seemed to work pretty well.
That gap in my education limits my ability to imagine exactly what Superintendent Ryan Walters has in mind. Perhaps some classroom teachers have the same problem. I would ask him to provide examples of what he is demanding. Exactly what should be said to use the Bible as a basis for a daily, classroom lesson in … oh, say, trigonometry? Exactly what words should the teacher say? How much time should be allocated to Bible study in a chemistry class? Just give us detailed direction.
Also, I’d think the schools may need Mr. Walter’s guidance on exactly which Bibles qualify … King James? New Living? The Qur’an? Book of Morman? Are they all equal? Perhaps the best person I know uses a Bible that does not include the New Testament. Would her Bible count? Would she be allowed to attend only half of her classes?
More: Walters' directive to use the Bible in public schools prompts letters to editor | Opinion
Certainly, Superintendent Walters is very busy … I mean just posing for his publicity pictures must take several hours every day. If he feels he does not have time to create the examples, he might ask his personal, out-of-state — but tax paid ― publicity firm to provide example lesson plans. That firm seems to excel at creative writing and he can just tell us that he wrote them himself. His publicity firm won’t mind him taking credit just as long as the state checks clear.
Obviously, it is easy and fun to make these smart-aleck remarks. The sincere question is, “How much longer must we abide Mr. Walter’s behavior?”
― John H. Waller, Norman
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Praise for OKC Mayor Holt; questions for Ryan Walters | Letters
