Both the president’s new mandate and Ken Cuccinelli’s “send us your wealthy white people” revision of Lazarus’ sonnet are a betrayal not only of the poem and its long-standing homage to the Statue of Liberty, but of the labors and history of all whose forbears were not exclusively Native American.

We hear Bernie Sanders decry the cost of prescriptions in the U.S. compared to Canada, but he fails to mention beyond prescriptions and hospital stays that not much else is covered. He also ignores a significant part of the cost of drugs in the U.S. lies within liability created by lawsuit-happy attorneys.

The past eight years have been the pinnacle of my public service career. Nothing has been more important to me than serving the Cherokee people. I had the privilege of working side by side with a man of great moral integrity, Deputy Principal Chief S. Joe Crittenden. It has been the blessing of a lifetime, and I am so proud of the monumental things we achieved. They are not only making life better for Cherokees today, but will be empowering our tribe generations from now.

It’s the fruit of our heart that matters. If that fruit yields fear, hate, avarice and a dull spirit, then we have defiled ourselves, and our actions will follow suit. If our hearts bear courage of faith, love, selflessness and a fire for Christ, then our actions and our words likewise will follow.

I know a great many of us disagree quite passionately on politics. Fine. This has nothing to do with politics or party. Just take some self-inventory ...

Congress has the opportunity to renew important funding for helping solve a critical issue in the U.S. — the number of untested rape kits languishing on shelves of police departments, hospitals and state crime labs.

“Hamilton,” the biggest smash hit in American musical theater history finally has made its way to our state.

Ever had trouble with the meaning of certain words in the English vocabulary?

One of the greatest rock concerts ever occurred on Aug. 1, 1971, when George Harrison held his Concert for Bangladesh in New York City — and two Oklahomans were at the center of it.

All republics eventually fall to this point — the crucial divergence in their cycle of generation, decline and regeneration, in which the people must choose to either re-establish control over their government or else passively accept tyranny masquerading as a representative government. We are at that point.

"Any ambitious plans to increase spending or cut taxes must account for the fact that our nation’s budget is on an unsustainable path."

In a recent op-ed, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt called for a renegotiation of the highly successful tribal gaming compacts, government-to-government agreements that have fueled our home state, public education and job creation for more than 15 years. He argued that new compacts should reflect “market conditions for the gaming industry,” which he implied would set tribes’ payments to the state at a much higher percentage of revenues.

The administration’s outright assault on environmental protections is an inexcusable crime against all creation. But, what’s perhaps more damning in the long-run is the administration’s war on science itself.

We’re reminded of Christ’s presence during troubling times. But, we’re also called to venture from the safety of inaction into the troubling, even dangerous, waters of our Christian mission: To love and reflect Christ to all we encounter.

Oklahoma's increased reliance on emergency certification to fill its classrooms with teachers is a troubling trend that must be reversed sooner rather than later. 

I for one am ready to take the president’s suggestion and go back, back to a time before social media, which has the power to mislead, misdirect and divide, not to mention to keep the president’s loyal opposition chasing, and gnawing on, its own collective tail.

Saw Brad Pitt doing an interview on the Monday morning Today Show and he had his typical kind of tousled dishwater-blonde hair — his just-a-skosh scraggly look that just says cool. How does he do that? No really, that ain’t fair. His hair can kind of stick out funny on the sides and it still says ... damn!

We — regardless of party — should demand change, and work toward it. But, we don’t have any right to be surprised.

Being a strong-willed person isn’t a bad thing, as I might have previously perceived. Nowadays, I see it as a reflection of God in my life.