November Column Winner

Now is the time to take a stand for our very core values as Americans

By Cindy Allen, Enid News & Eagle

President Joe Biden gave what I consider to be one of the best speeches of his presidency on Wednesday, Nov. 2, to the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. The speech was broadcast on a few cable stations, but not on regular networks. However, it has been the talk in the media and political circles on Thursday as reactions are coming in.

To me, it would have been a very good State of the Union speech, but because it came just a week before the Nov. 8 mid-term election, many will characterize the speech as political and divisive.

Certainly, the timing was definitely political. And the topic — the threat to democracy blamed mostly on MAGA Republicans — has become the go-to political platform for the Democrats who are facing some long odds in being able to maintain their majority in the House and the Senate.

However, the president said some other things that needed to be said out loud, and they need to be said out loud again and again by the rest of us. He said the moment has come for our nation to confront this defining moment in our his-tory in which we continue our peaceful election and peaceful transition of power.

The president took former President Donald Trump to task for continuing to fuel the notion that the 2020 election was stolen.

It was not. Every legal challenge and concern about the outcome of the election was brought and investigated. Every recount that was taken confirmed the results. Yet, extremists, and even some candidates, are continuing to question the election of 2020, and they are even trying to suggest that the 2022 election could be tainted.

The president is correct that extreme rhetoric and vitriol against both Republicans 
and Democrats by both Democrats and Republicans has helped fuel political violence most of us wouldn’t have dreamed could happen just a decade ago. Right now, the focus is on what extreme Republicans are saying; however, extreme Democrats also are on the hook for their rhetoric and calls for violence and intimidation previous to the 2020 election.

We can all go back and find instances in which both parties have engaged in despicable rhetoric and actions. We can go back and look at election denials, including many Democrats’ refusal to accept the results of the 2000 and 2016 elections. We can go back and look at the riots and damages done by Antifa takeovers of prominent cities, such as Seattle.

We can go through all the “whataboutisms” we can conceive of, but that doesn’t change this defining moment, right here, right now.

This is the time when all patriotic Americans must say “no more.” We won’t tolerate violence in the name of politics. We won’t tolerate vitriolic rhetoric and lies from any candidate or special interest that aims to manipulate an election. This is a time for us to check our gut for our core values.

This is the time that we must demand that candidates commit to accepting the results of the elections they’re running in and accepting the legitimate will of the people. If there are questions or concerns about an election, let the legal process play out as it did in 2020; however, accept those results and move on to the next election, the next candidates and the next set of issues — just like we used to do.

This election and how the public reacts will be a driving force in determining the very future of what makes America the country it is. As Biden said, this is about more than sustaining a form of government, it’s about how we, as Americans, will continue to see the world and see who we are and what we believe.

I believe the vast majority of Americans love their country and want what’s best for our country. I know we have different views about how to get there, and that is why we take our values and belief differences to the ballot box instead of taking to violence in the streets. We must ALL make it clear that violence has no place in our political discourse or our United States elections.

May God Bless America as we, hopefully, turn this corner and set our sights once again on being a nation committed to the values of our founding principles of freedom and individual responsibility, as well as our fundamental values of truth, fairness and good will.