Columnist bemoans lack of press coverage

The double standard in politics is astounding.

Do you think Trump would have gotten the same pass Biden got if he insulted a reporter? Biden was extremely rude to a reporter. But it was Steve Gust no big deal for Biden.

And does anyone remember when the press corps questioned Trump and his “cognitive,” abilities. There was a lot of talk of invoking the 25th amendment and removing Trump that way.

Biden may need that cognitive test.

That was ridiculous also. It’s not just Trump. It’s anyone or concept or person on the right.

The U.S. Congress has ignored hundreds of liberal riots during 2020. The liberals say those were “mostly peaceful.” That wasn’t true. Instead they concentrate on an alleged Jan. 6 “insurrection.” Up until a few weeks ago none of the hundreds of people involved in that incident were charged with sedition. And as people kept pointing that out, the liberals finally put enough heat on Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge a few extremists.

I know of no Republican who condoned violence or lawbreaking. What about when the liberals attacked the White House in the summer of 2020 and hurt Secret Service agents? Which liberal politician condemned that?

And what’s with Ukraine now? The liberals want to protect their borders and don’t care about our southern border. Can anyone explain that to me? Don’t get me wrong. I don't want anyone to be hurt by Russian aggression but why is that more important than people being hurt by some criminals let in illegally by our government?

We don’t have a national press that will accurately report on these matters. It’s tragic. (Steve Gust may be e-mailed at news@edmondpaper.com)

State senator’s bills would help youth

By Senator

Jake Merrick When I first sought the opportunity to represent my friends, neighbors and fellow citizens from Senate District 22 at the state Capitol, one of my top priorities was to promote legislation and public policy that would help strengthen Oklahoma families. You may recall that during the interim I held a study examining how to improve our court system and processes as they pertain to children in the foster care system.

As an adoptive parent, I know firsthand that there are many factors and individuals involved in court cases involving the placement and custody of children. There are custodial and noncustodial parents, foster parents, social workers, the courts, and then of course, there are the children. I believe the needs of those children, their safety and well-being, and providing the best environment possible, should always be the main consideration.

Along those lines, I wanted to share information with you about two bills I’ve filed for the 2022 legislative session, which convenes on Feb. 7, to bet-

ter prioritize the needs of Oklahoma children and increase accountability in the judicial system. Senate Bill 1761 will also be known as the Children First Family Court Reform Act. This bill pertains to any family court action concerning custody or visitation in which an allegation of child abuse or domestic violence is made. SB 1761 would require the court to do a thorough investigation of the accusations. Often this doesn’t occur and the children either remain in that situation or are given to the parent who is actually the abuser. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen. Under my legislation, if there is substantial evidence confirming that abuse or domestic violence against the party making the allegation or a family or household member of either party, then the abuser would not only lose custody of the child or children, but they would also be responsible for the cost of the investigation. A second bill I’ve filed dealing with our courts is Senate Bill 1825, Kavita’s Law, concerning special judges. While district judges are elected by voters, special judges are appointed by district judges. In order to ensure greater accountability, my legislation would ensure that after their first term as an appointed special judge, they would have to be placed on a retention ballot for the citizens to decide whether they should be given another term. Lankford presses Biden on open borders

Senator James Lankford (R-OK) offered the following statement after US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released its report on illegal crossings and counterfeit drugs and materials smuggled across or southern border as of December 2021:

“CBP encountered over two million migrants at the southwest border in 2021. That is a staggering number,” said Lankford. “The Lankford daily and monthly numbers remain overwhelming for our border law enforcement whose hands they’ve told me ‘are tied’ by this Administration. I exposed the Biden Administration’s billions in waste not finishing the wall, and after months of alarmingly high border crossings, they finally decided maybe it’s a good idea to close the gaps in the wall. We must reinstate President Trump’s ‘remain in Mexico’ policy immediately, finish the wall, and enforce our laws if we ever hope to effectively manage illegal activity at our southern border.”

The report highlighted that a staggering $3.31 billion in counterfeit goods were seized last fiscal year, up 153 percent from the previous year. Heroin seizures were up 113 percent in December as the cartels continue to send drugs across our southern border. CBP encountered 178,840 individuals along the southern border in December 2021 and over two million individuals total during 2021. Almost 12,000 unaccompanied minors were encountered at the southern border in December, and CBP encountered more than 51,000 family units.

Lankford traveled to the Arizona border last year to see first-hand the unfinished construction of border wall. He was the first to expose the crisis at the border through Facebook so Oklahomans could see firsthand the crisis at the southern border in Texas.

After months of holding the Biden Administration accountable for its failures to enforce the law and preserve national security at the southern border, Lankford announced right before Christmas that the Department of Homeland Security would close multiple gaps in the border wall located in San Diego, El Centro, Yuma, Tucson, El Paso, and Del Rio. This announcement came after Lankford released a report that exposed billions in waste to pay contractors to babysit the border wall materials at these sites while the Biden Administration “studied” it, even though Congress already allocated the money to build the wall.

Lankford grilled DHS Secretary Mayorkas on his ongoing delay to finish the wall and participated in a press conference in November to discuss the ongoing crisis at the southern border that Biden continues to ignore. Lankford successfully blocked President Biden’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office from opening a “surge overflow temporary facility” at the Great Plains Correctional Institution in Hinton, Oklahoma, that would have been used to process migrants who crossed the border illegally and release them into Western Oklahoma.

Letters to the Editor policy

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Also, Lankford weighed in on the upcoming opening on the Supreme Court.

Senator James Lankford (R-OK) last week issued a statement following Supreme Court Justice Breyer’s official announcement that he plans to retire later this year: “President Biden has demonstrated for months that he is intent on pushing his progressive agenda on our nation. Supreme Court Justices should not push an agenda; they should follow the original meaning of the Constitution and the clear intent of the law. Selecting justices should focus on who is going to honor the law from the bench, not who is going to write law while on the bench.”

Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, has filed legislation to require medical entities to allow visitation to COVID-19 patients, even when the patient is in isolation from the public and other patients.

House Bill 3313 allows a patient with COVID-19 to designate an individual with full visitation rights. The individual may be required by the hospital to comply with certain requirements, including signing an acknowledgment-of-risks document, receiving a health screening from staff or wearing personal protective equipment.

“Many Oklahomans have had to endure the horrible heartbreak of not being with a loved one while they were hospitalized with COVID-19,” Roe said. “This adds stress and trauma onto an already fraught situation.”

Roe said she has heard from constituents who were either not allowed to visit a loved one or were not allowed to receive a guest while hospitalized for COVID-19.

“Hospitalized Oklahomans have the right to visitation regardless of their health issues,” Roe said. “Not seeing anybody besides their nurses and doctors takes a severe toll on a patient’s mental health.”

Roe added, "I firmly believe that human touch is essential to the healing process."

Roe has been a registered nurse for 39 years and a nurse practitioner for 22 years. She currently chairs the House Public Health Committee.

The hospital may revoke visitation rights to individuals if they fail to follow safety protocols or visitation policies.

If an individual’s right is revoked, the patient may designate a new individual. Individuals who have been suspended from visitation shall be reviewed every 30 days for reinstatement.

Last year, the Legislature approved the No Patient Left Alone Act to allow patients to designate a visitor to have unrestricted visitation, but Roe said facilities have not been complying. The legislation, House Bill 2687, did not include any kind of enforcement mechanism.

HB3313 also allows any person to bring a civil action against anybody who isolates a COVID-19 patient without visitation rights, knowingly aids in the isolation of a patient or intends to isolate or aid in the isolation.

The bill has an emergency clause allowing it to take effect immediately upon becoming law.

HB3313 is available for consideration in the upcoming legislative session, which begins Monday, Feb. 7.

Engagement, Wedding notices

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