The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK   October 18, 2013  Will we
long endure?  Some 150 years ago, as we continue on our
sesquicentennial quest to cast eyes backward to the Civil War,
that national blood-letting Americans had to endure should give
everyone pause for reflection.  Today, the Congress of the
United States, by its own admission, is dysfunctional. We
avoided a government default by hours at mid-week, and a more-
than-two-week partial federal government shutdown.  Every
American — particularly those in Congress — should go back and
study all the mistakes, all the rancor, all the animosity that
sent this country to the precipice of disunion and destruction.
Today, I would venture to say by the many polls taken of the
public mood, most Americans are disgusted with our politicians’
inability to get along.  So, to all our political leaders
governing this vast land from the banks of the Potomac, it’s
time to take a long look into the mirror of history, and see the
reflections.  Leading up to the Civil War