Silent majority
Recent headlines have brought news about radicals to Oklahoma City, and standard rebuttals are about peaceful religion. The problem is the silence of the majority is drowned out by the actions of the few.On scales from international to local, radicals take action and justify their actions in the name of religion.
Those who remain silent and take no action to eliminate radicals from their religions are accepting and supporting those same radicals as representatives.
By staying a silent majority, it no longer has control of its religion. Radicals hijack beliefs for their efforts, changing the doctrines and public opinion.
Silence is not peaceful; it is agreement. The faithful majority needs to take responsibility for its religions. In short, because action defends peace, not silence.
— Vern Kaiser Oklahoma City
Where did the love go?
I just wanted to express my dislike for the changes in the Oklahoma Gazette’s Best of OKC campaign. As a local business owner who is helping bring jobs to OKC and improve the health of our city, it is very sad to see you remove the category for Best Shoe Store or Best Sports Store.I mean, come on. You have a category for Best Place to Spot a Hipster. Where is the love? Hopefully some things can change for next year and we can all work to promote the positive in OKC!
— Jon Beck Oklahoma City
Citizens United case
On Sept. 11, Sen. Jim Inhofe voted to continue Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that said it’s OK for corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on ads calling for the election or defeat of individual candidates.In other words, to open the floodgates for money in politics. That means that billionaires like casino magnate Sheldon Adelson or the big-oil Koch brothers can “buy” candidates and elections, thus destroying our democracy.
Specifically, Inhofe voted with other Republicans to filibuster an amendment to overturn Citizens United. A filibuster, in this case, means that 60 votes would be needed to overturn Citizens United. The vote was 54 (52 Democrats plus two Independents) in favor and 42 (Republicans) against, falling short of the 60 votes needed to defeat the filibuster and proceed to a final vote in the Senate to overturn Citizens United. Sen. Tom Coburn did not vote.
Without the filibuster, the amendment would have passed with 54 votes.
It will be our turn on Nov. 4 to vote for or against Sen. Jim Inhofe, who will be on our ballot.
— Wanda Jo Stapleton Former State Representative Oklahoma City
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