Opinion

OPINION – Luke 2:8-20 - ‘Good News’ proclaimed to the shepherds

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

This article continues a series on finding Jesus in the gospels. The scripture reading today is from Luke chapter 2, and begins, "There were shepherds staying [living] out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night" (verse 8). This night was no different from any night in more than a thousand years, on the same high pastureland outside Bethlehem where David as a boy had kept his father's sheep. Centuries before that, God had chosen shepherds such as Abraham and Moses to lead His people.

By the time of Jesus, the position of shepherd was dirty, demanding and demeaning. Jewish shepherds didn’t have time to keep all the cleanliness regulations demanded by Pharisees. Therefore, being unclean, they couldn’t go into the temple to worship, and they became marginalized by society.

OPINION – Big health insurers declare war on doctors, patients

GUEST COLUMN, Dr. David Eagle, American Independent Medical Practice Association

Two large health insurers are trying their hand at a different profession -- the practice of medicine.

Aetna and Cigna have announced that they may unilaterally "downcode" some types of care -- and pay physicians less than what patients' conditions would ordinarily warrant.

The two insurers are effectively overruling physicians' clinical judgment and lining their pockets in the process. Patients will pay a steep price. By squeezing independent physicians' finances -- and forcing them to go through arduous appeals processes to claim just reimbursement -- Aetna and Cigna could soon make it more difficult for Americans to find timely, affordable care.

OPINION – MAGA Miser and his icy minions wage war on Christmas

GUEST COLUMN, J. Basil Dannebohm

Previous presidents traditionally spent Thanksgiving serving a meal to our deployed troops who are away from their loved ones during the holidays. Mr. Trump was at his palatial Mar-a-Lardo resort, playing golf, hobnobbing with the elite, and spewing hatred on social media.

His unhinged diatribe read in part:

“A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being ‘Politically Correct,’ and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration.”

OPINION – Winter connections

GUEST COLUMN, Kim Baldwin, Kansas Farm Bureau

There have been clear signs we have transitioned into another season on the farm. The temperatures have dropped, the geese are flying and the kids are counting down the days until their winter break begins.

Fall harvest kept us busy for an extra month this year. We were extra thankful to wrap up that work during a season that presented many challenges.

There are still some farms in the area that didn’t finish before the last round of rain and still have some sorghum left to harvest. But more often than not, the grain is out of the fields and the cattle have begun to arrive to graze those stalks for the next few months.

OPINION – Especially at the holidays, there’s no place like home

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

When it comes to the holidays, I’m still a kid at heart. Eating the Thanksgiving Day meal, the excitement of presents under the tree and the celebration of the New Year always spark the joy of my inner child.

There are many other get-togethers around the holiday season that are meaningful including Saturday’s Downtown Christmas Parade. We just celebrated 25 years of sponsoring the downtown event, and the size of the crowd coupled with the increasing quality of the floats are signs that Liberal loves the parade.

If it weren’t for the local businesses, families and organizations who participate, there wouldn’t be a parade.

But each year the floats get better and better, and this year there were several standouts.

For one, the Lanning family continues to set a higher bar year after year, and this year, that was literal. From the Polar Express train a few years ago to the take-off of Santa’s sleigh this year, the Lanning Family Float has become one to see each and every year.