The criminals who tried to shut things down actually accomplished the opposite of their goal because our family - like a lot of families I know - sat down together to watch what would in any other election cycle be a mundane procedural duty carried out by the Senate. What we saw instead was bipartisan condemnation of the lawless behavior that occurred and bipartisan acknowledgment that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election, with sound logic from both Democrats and Republicans. After a day of our kids seeing mob rule attempt to gain control of their government, I was so thankful they could see the elected representatives of their fellow Americans from both parties speak with sincerity and passion and reason before the day ended.

In the end, the system designed by our Founding Fathers over two centuries ago worked. Congress proved itself an independent branch of government - not beholden to any president.

Among those last night speeches was one by Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), whose books I have previously praised on this page. As we find ourselves in such a divided time, I found great resolve and optimism in his comments on the ability for us right here in our hometown to help heal our country if we are willing to work together. Let’s continue to make Tulsa that kind of place.

From Senator Sasse’s remarks:

“The center of America is not Washington, DC. The center of America is the neighborhoods where 330 million Americans are raising their kids and trying to put food on the table and trying to love their neighbor. That's the center of America. We're not supposed to be the most important people in America, we're supposed to be servant leaders who try to maintain a framework for ordered liberty so that there's a structure that back home where they live, they can get from the silver frame of structure and order to the golden apple at the center, as Washington would have said it, which is the things that they build together. The places where they coach little league, the places where they invite people to synagogue or church.

“Sometimes the big things we do together are governmental, like kicking Hitler's ass or like going to the moon. Sometimes there is governmental stuff, but the heart of America is about places where moms and dads are raising kids, and we're supposed to serve them by maintaining order and by rejecting violence."

“You can't do big things like that if you hate your neighbors. You can't do big things together as Americans if you think other Americans are the enemy.”

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