Opinion

FOR ANYONE WORN-OUT from the election and disillusioned by the state of our politics (and that probably covers most of us), we now have the perfect antidote–Veterans Day. It is a day to honor those who have served, who had a purpose bigger than themselves, who protected what is most important, and whose service helped make our country stronger and better. Veterans Day is intended to honor them, but this year the rest of us may need it even more than they do.

THIS IS THE 200 HALL at Hemphill County Hospital. The entryway is draped in plastic, marked with signs warning visitors not to enter. The hall—which has been converted to serve as the hospital’s COVID Unit—is restricted now to medical personnel and the acute care patients who are hospitalized there.

TEXAS IS NOT BLUE, but after this latest election, its Democrats are. The party’s latest effort to turn Texas its way fell short on Tuesday.

AS A LIFELONG lover/friend/relative of conservative Republicans, I’m at a loss about how to communicate with them this week. Do I smile, nod and commiserate about the crazy weather? Should I surreptitiously slip them contact info for the best mental health professionals I can find? Begin stock-piling baked goods for carb-numbing? I dunno…it’s just exhausting.

Amazon goes big in Texas Amazon delivered good economic news, announcing plans for a 700,000-square-foot distribution center and warehouse in Waco. Gov.

THE PANDEMIC HAS introduced several unusual challenges—from remote learning and NBA “bubbles” to virtual graduations and socially-distanced Real Housewives reunions. More importantly, COVID-19 has highlighted our vulnerabilities as a nation and the many things we take for granted.

As an Air Force veteran, a physician, a Latina, a Texan, and a mother, I have shaped my life around overcoming obstacles and inequities wherever I saw or felt them: in education; in the military; in entrepreneurship; and, over the last 10 years, in access to healthcare.

HOW HARD IS IT TO REGISTER to vote and then to vote in Texas? It’s harder than in 49 other states, according to a “costof-voting index” compiled by political scientists at Northern Illinois University, Jacksonville University, and Wuhan University in China.

First time I saw Rankin Proffitt was in a video, made at the Shawnee Horse Sale a couple of weeks ago. The 10-year-old cowboy from Canadian is alone in the sales arena, showing a beautiful sorrel pony with a bald face and four white socks. He is wearing jeans, a white long-sleeve shirt, a straw hat…dressed for the show ring.

WITH TEXANS ALREADY CASTING absentee ballots, Gov. Greg Abbott is making it more difficult to vote by closing ballot drop-off locations. His adversaries are calling that vote suppression—and they’re right.