We hear a lot about being safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

We hear about colleges having safe places for students who don’t want their “widdle feelings hurted” by listening to something they don’t agree with.

We can understand the need for a safe place for a child or spouse in an abusive home or a cellar with a tornado approaching.

However, history indicates America wasn’t built by people looking for a safe place. It was far from safe for immigrants coming to America

It was far from safe for immigrants coming to America in earlier times. Days or more likely weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean in packet ships to reach the Land of Opportunity certainly wasn’t safe and couldn’t have been hugely pleasant, sailing along in a tiny ship (somewhat equivalent to a leaf on a pond) with extremely cramped quarters.

Then, when they got here, trying to find a way to make a living – often without knowing the language – doesn’t sound safe.

There were no government programs to safeguard children who became orphaned.

There are likely people in our area today who were descendants of children who came west on orphan trains years ago to find homes with pioneer families.

How afraid (not safe at all) must those children have felt

Ċertainly, the stories must be true about the many people who came to America to avoid being conscripted into European armies that were in almost constant warfare.

The Americans whose service we recognized Monday, Memorial Day, didn’t seek safety when they joined American military services to safeguard our way of life and possibly provide freedom for others.

Rather than looking for a safe place, they sought service. Many didn’t return.

How could we not honor them –both those who returned after offering their safety and lives for the folks back home and those who never came home?

Nearly every family has relatives who didn’t come home after serving.

Memorial Day Great at Cemetery

Although Kingfisher’s annual Memorial Day service was curtailed by coronavirus, many residents attended for the annual laying of the wreath at the veterans’ memorial by American Legion Commander Sam McPherson and Past Adjutant Larry Talbott and the accompanying playing of taps by the lone bugler, Ken Tollison.

The sad, spine-tingling notes are a reminder of the service of so many who have gone on before, serving in many cases people they never got to know.

The setting – including the backdrop of the stunning Kingfisher County Military Service Memorial, the beautifully maintained cemetery and floral arrangements brought in by the trailer-loads by local florist Dennis Mueggenborg and staff – made even the abbreviated ceremony as moving as ever.

Many towns much larger don’t have near the facilities or show the respect for others’ service that Kingfisher does.

A new kind of candidate?

The Libertarian Party nominated a presidential candidate last week, Dr. Jo Jorgensen, a psychology lecturer at Clemson University.

She correctly points out that America’s government has become too big, too bossy and too nosy.

Of course, that’s what all politicians say when they’re running for president.

President Trump said the same thing, as we recall – and increased spending.

He just didn’t increase it as much as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and fellow leftists in the House of Representatives.

This election is reminiscent of the 1992 election when Democrat Bill “Slick Willie” Clinton, aided by a third party candidate, Independent Ross Perot, unseated a sitting Republican president, George H.W. Bush, ushering in the era of Bill-Hillary connivance in which our government was used to fill their bank accounts with untold amounts of dollars. Their exploits sank our government into previously unknown “swamp” stink.

In 1992 , the internet details, Clinton won the electoral vote, won a plurality of the popular vote, 43 percent, while Bush received 37.4 percent of the popular vote.

Perot received 18.9 percent of the vote, undoubtedlymost of it came at the expense of Bush.

Bush had alienated much of the conservative electorate when he went back on his promise of “no new taxes.”

He played right into the hands of his opponents.

This reminds us of the advice of conservative author, publisher and television show host, William F. Buckley, to Republicans: nominate the most conservative candidate who can be elected.

The nation made striking progress under President Trump until the Chinese virus struck – economically and in repealing the onerous red tape enacted by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama.

Probably, Jorgenson would make a good president – as Perot would have – but she, also, is unelectable. Like Perot, she could play the role of spoiler.

President Trump’s re-electiion is not a sure thing. The elite is pouring millions upon millions of dollars into the Democrat campaign in an attempt to unseat the man who spoiled their dream of a socialist America in 2016.