Editor’s Letter – 11/1/17

When we posted last issue’s cover story (“Welcome to Hazard,” about Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA) to Facebook, a man commented: “Do your writers get political fatigue as easily as your readers?”

I laughed because—like any decent joke—if it’s funny, there’s truth in it.

Yes, I have political fatigue. I am tired of politics and I fight the urge to politicize everything, even when so much seems like low-hanging fruit. I wonder when I became like this. Was it a slow process? Did it happen overnight, perhaps during the 2016 presidential election? And besides making me (and people around me; bless y’all) tired, what else is it affecting?

As I talked with our writers and edited this issue, particularly the pieces “Rethinking the Republican Resistance” and the vignettes in “Stories from the Resistance,” I noticed a strong theme emerging: conversation. A theme of discourse as both a virtue and something we’re collectively struggling with. People desire to be heard and understood, not in an echo chamber, but by people who don’t necessarily agree with them.

For some—myself included—that’s never been tougher to do.

Since November 9, 2016, many Americans have been crying “Resist!” And others have been decrying it. I wondered what that means and what it looks like in practical application here in Tulsa. My hope is that this issue paints a portrait of the resistance—both nationally (see Barry Friedman’s piece) and locally by those who consider themselves part of it, and those who don’t. Even though we’re all tired, I think we ought to linger a bit on this significant time in which we live—and talk about it.

In a recent speech, former President George W. Bush said, “The great democracies face new and serious threats yet seem to be losing confidence in their own calling and competence. Economic, political, and national security challenges proliferate, and they are made worse by the tendency to turn inward. The health of the democratic spirit itself is at issue. And the renewal of that spirit is the urgent task at hand.”

Weariness can transform into apathy, but our country can’t afford that. Tulsa can’t afford that. A shut-down, turned-inward citizen body is dangerous. So, let’s converse, and, in doing so, move forward.