OPINION

Holiday potpourri

Gun criminals hold nothing sacred and take no holidays, as evidenced by the news stories generated by shootings on blessed Christmas Day, including a particularly harrowing homegrown tale from Scott.

Midnight carols had barely subsided when two suspects shot and killed Arlin Nugent and seriously injured another man in a home invasion early Christmas morning.

The armed pair then abducted a woman who witnessed the shooting, fled the scene, and later threw her off the Interstate 430 bridge.

She miraculously survived the fall into the Arkansas River, and swam to shore in the frigid water. The suspects are both in custody.

About the same time up in Chicago--which reported 20 shootings over the holiday weekend--two males walked up to a man standing on a sidewalk and fatally shot him in the head and chest.

On Christmas Eve in the Windy City, a gunman attempted to rob a concealed-carry permit holder. After handing over his money, the victim pulled his own gun and fatally shot the robber.

In Phoenix, Ariz., on the first Christmas following her divorce, Iris Moss was shot and killed when she went to pick up the couple's two kids at her ex-husband's apartment.

The ex-husband was arrested in her murder after a standoff with police, and is also charged with shooting and killing his 11-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter.

Across town later that night, a woman was found in an alley, dead from gunshot wounds.

Two people died in unrelated shooting incidents in Ferguson, Mo., on Christmas Day: a teenage boy's body was found lying in a street in the pre-dawn hours, and a late-night fight left another man fatally wounded.

A woman at a stoplight in Staten Island, N.Y., opened fire on a vehicle in front of her, wounding another woman and her son as they sat in their car at the intersection.

Across the country, from Monroe, La., to Cleveland, Ohio, to Florence, S.C., and beyond, gunfire shattered the holiday celebrating peace on earth.

Maybe 2018 will be the year when psychological and medical research on violent crime and criminals is notched up. People capable of wanton, murderous violence on a day like Christmas aren't normal in any sense of the word.

Cuss words on holiday

I can't remember the last time I went to the theater and saw back-to-back movies that were both not only very good films, but also completely devoid of any utterance of foul language.

Wonder is the uplifting story of a young boy with a disfigured face (resulting from deformities and surgeries stemming from Treacher Collins syndrome) who struggles to adapt in a new elementary school after being taught at home by his mother.

Blockbuster stars Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson shine in their roles as parents, but the show is stolen by 11-year-old actor Jacob Tremblay, whose filmography already includes a dozen movies.

In one scene, to which men married to good women everywhere can relate, the mother (Roberts) is talking encouragingly to her son about some of the other children at school.

When she walks away, the father (Wilson) leans in to say, in a hushed voice, that one of the classmates sounds like a real jerk, and if bullied, "Don't be afraid of anyone."

"Why are we whispering?" the boy asks.

"Because I'm afraid of Mom," he replies.

Wonder's clean language hasn't hurt sales. Produced on a $20 million budget, the film has grossed nearly $200 million worldwide.

The Greatest Showman is a musical tribute to the founder of "The Greatest Show on Earth," and like Wonder is able to command almost two hours of screen dialogue (plus lyrics) without an expletive.

Fans of Hugh Jackman are eminently familiar with his acting and vocal prowess, and as P.T. Barnum he delivers as expected. So do Zac Efron and Michelle Williams, both of whom also have serious singing credentials.

There are a few dramatic licenses taken with the truth (okay, there's outright fabrication!), but the fantastic original songs and choreography overshadow them with genuine feel-good fun.

Political resolution

Any serious student of history knows that fiery divisiveness has always run deep in American politics.

And while it may seem at the moment that political incivility is at its apex, none of us can truly fathom the polarity among the various states represented in Philadelphia in 1787, or during the presidential campaign of 1860.

A New Year's resolution for us all is to recollect in earnest that our nation's story is one of democratic compromise, and to temper word and deed accordingly.

We didn't protest, vandalize, or sue our way to a constitutional government that embodies the finest set of self-governing principles the world has ever known.

And even in the aftermath of a bloody civil war, we used the unequivocal amendment process--not lawsuits and ambiguous court decisions--to end slavery's dark stain.

Compromise is the antithesis of the "political ends justifying all means" attitude commonly on display now. True leadership understands, welcomes and embraces that notion.

So should true citizenship, and as citizens, should we all.

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Dana D. Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.

Editorial on 01/05/2018

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