This is perhaps the best week of the year to stop, take a deep breath and reflect, and take stock of all our many blessings.
Yes, dear readers, this column began this exact way years before, but please read on.
In 2017, at least since last Thanksgiving Day, lots of things have changed. And, this week, we'll celebrate an important American holiday, Thanksgiving. While it may have become a second-tier holiday for many, the day should have a deeper and more personal meaning this year than ever before. Like I said, a lot has happened during the past year.
We need some time out of our daily grind to meet with friends and family over a big meal, enjoying some downtime and quiet, ample time for reflection. And, in the past few months, since the old wall-hanging calendar's pages flipped over into 2017, there are even more reasons to be thankful -- I mean to be truly thankful.
We have a resurgence in the absolute resolve of the American people. After such events as mass shootings, hurricanes and other tragic events have been hurled at them, Americans emerged as leaders, volunteers and, may we say, heroes.
We do have a president who, according to recent Arkansas poll results, owns only 47 percent of Arkansans in favor of his actions. Conversely, 53 percent of Arkansans apparently do not agree with him. Politics is just not as much fun these days.
There seems to still be a lingering uneasiness about Arkansas' delegation to Washington, D.C., despite those spots once held by men and women of very high esteem. U.S. Senator John Boozman, a quiet, unassuming Republican, still does not have a 50 percent approval rate in our state. And the younger firebrand, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, who seems more in line with the GOP president, holds more in-state sway than Boozman. Our four Congressmen, do, however, rank a little higher in their own zones, as they should.
Our Governor, Asa Hutchinson, seems to have a high approval rating. And why not? He is surrounded, for the most part, by a GOP majority in the State Senate and State House of Representatives which support his "progressive and moderate" programs. There are those on either end of the political spectrum, I am sure, who are not so thankful for our governor in these waning days of 2017.
Locally, there seems to be a quiet period before the early 2018 political filings. And I am thankful for that brief respite.
Yes, there are many areas of personal thankfulness we need to consider as the remainder of 2017 quickly evaporates away.
First and foremost, we need to be thankful to be living in the United States of America. Where else on this planet would we have as many freedoms, including the right to complain, not only in speech but in the written word, to criticize this great nation of ours without the threat of retribution or being jailed?
And we can be thankful to be living in Arkansas.
I always find it surprising to hear from people who really don't want to be living here; the roads out to other states are always open.
But I find -- more times than not -- the exact opposite to be true. More and more people are thankful to be moving to northwest Arkansas every day.
Be thankful for a free press, especially one without the trappings of hidden agendas, unfairness and government control. I feel extremely thankful to come to you each week in this award-winning, community-driven and well-read and regarded publication. The full-time staff is small in number -- and getting smaller each passing season -- but these folks are among the most committed community journalists I have ever known.
And I am thankful to know so many great men and women who have made a difference in our area. Some, sadly, have passed away this past year. But others, I am thankful for in our midst, are stepping up to honor these fallen volunteers.
Be thankful everyone! The transition year of 2018 is just around the corner.
MAYLON RICE IS A FORMER JOURNALIST WHO WORKED FOR SEVERAL NORTHWEST ARKANSAS PUBLICATIONS. HE CAN BE REACHED VIA EMAIL AT [email protected]. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.
Editorial on 11/22/2017