Architecture of the human spirit

Lincoln Memorial, Wahington, D.C.

Standing on Capitol Avenue in front of the Diocese of Cheyenne, visitors to Cheyenne can take in a wide-ranging sample of Capitol architecture. Look to the left and you see the stately lines of the Wyoming Supreme Court. Farther left you will see ennobling and inspiring Capitol Dome framed by the trees of Capitol Avenue. Continue sweeping left until your back is to the Diocese and your view is obstructed by the imposing concrete mass of the Joseph C. O’Mahoney Federal Center.

Built in 1964, the Federal Center is typical of the modernist buildings that the federal government began to impose on cities across America after World War II. Architectural purists may scorn me for saying so, but the building is neither beautiful nor inspiring. Those with a trained eye will surely point out a thousand interesting details, but none of them can draw the eye and command immediate respect like the Capitol or the Supreme Court Building.

That’s the objective nature of beauty. The common man can recognize it immediately even while a lifetime of study may fail to define it fully. The same is true of inspiration, nobility and respect. Like other common senses, the common man has the capacity to perceive transcendent qualities even if he lacks the vocabulary to define them.

The founding fathers knew this and planned accordingly. According to President Trump’s Executive Order on Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture, signed December 21, 2020, “They wanted America’s public buildings to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue.” That’s an objective and measurable goal that they wanted to accomplish through the art of architecture.

To accomplish this, “President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson consciously modeled the most important buildings in Washington, D.C., on the classical architecture of ancient Athens and Rome. They sought to use classical architecture to visually connect our contemporary Republic with the antecedents of democracy in classical antiquity, reminding citizens not only of their rights but also their responsibilities in maintaining and perpetuating its institutions.”

Pantheon in Athens, Greece

Before reading these lines, I must confess that I had given little thought to the purpose and function of public architecture. Perhaps I took it for granted. Was the look of Washington, D.C. merely a thoughtless whim? It turns out that our founding fathers were not prisoners of their own times and personal tastes. On the contrary, they deliberately chose the appearance of federal buildings “to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue.”

Public buildings are the kind of art that is impossible to avoid. You can choose not to see a movie, or to patronize an art gallery. You can spend your entire life and never go to a concert. But government buildings are unavoidably public monuments. There is no choice but to see them, and to see them is to be affected by them.

Your heart is affected differently when approaching a massive concrete block than it is when passing through tall marble columns. You may not notice it until the experience is brought to your attention, but architects have studied these effects and design buildings with these principles in mind.

For the first century and a half of America’s existence, an unbroken tradition followed the intention of Washington and Jefferson. America’s public buildings called forth the nobility of the Roman republic and the Greek citizen. These familiar shapes filled hearts with pride, lifted minds to noble thoughts and assured individuals that their God-given rights would be recognized.

But, shortly after the second World War that changed. America had just defeated the brutal modernist governments that reduced their citizens to mere machines. Fifty million humans had been crushed under the wheels of war. Yet, in bitter irony, we brought their architecture home and began to design public buildings that looked more like crushing factories than ennobled halls.

The Executive Order signed before Christmas is a deliberate reversal of more than six decades of inhuman architecture. It is a return to the ethics of the founding fathers. It embodies the simple assertion: “Federal public buildings should uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, and command respect from the general public.”

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, my heart is encouraged and inspired to know that a new generation of architects will be unleashed to construct buildings for our children and grandchildren that speak to the common man about uncommon virtues. They promise to draw on the wisdom of the past while guiding our way into the future.

Pres. Trump signing the Order

Beauty, inspiration, nobility and respect resonate in every human heart. They should not be set aside as relics of the past but celebrated as beacons of the American spirit. I applaud President Trump’s architectural vision for bringing federal architecture back to its roots.

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, 1/1/21.

WTE: How Christmas brings the world together

Christmas is, without a doubt, the greatest unifying holiday on the world’s calendar. In these days of turmoil and division we cannot do better than to think on this blessed unity during these holy days.

First, consider how Christmas unifies us on a cultural level. It remains one of the few holidays that all Americans celebrate together. Globally it stands with Easter as the only two holidays that are celebrated on every continent. On December 25th of each year people from Siberia to South Africa to San Francisco set their minds on a singular event that forever changed the world.

Christ’s birth made such an impact around the globe that nearly every person alive can name the number of years since his birth without a moment’s hesitation. While scholars may quibble about whether the ancient calculations were completely accurate, it cannot be denied that the year 2020 intends to count the years since Jesus’ birth.

For all the time before Christ, civilizations marked time by the establishment of a new local kingdom. Judea might note the year as, “the 39th year of King Uzziah.” Next door, Israel had a different king; and that same year was called the first year of King Jabesh (See 2 Kings 15:13).

With rare exceptions, that is no longer the custom. Rather, nations the world over all count back to the date of Jesus’ birth. We acknowledge this every time we put the letters “A.D.” after the year. These initials stand for the Latin words “anno domini,” which are translated, “in the year of our Lord.”

This reveals the second of Christmas’ unifying qualities. It declares that Jesus is the king of all the earth. While the ancient world knew of great and sprawling empires like those of the Persians, Greeks and Romans, never was there a single man ruling over the entire globe. The birth of Christ changed all that.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder” (Isaiah 9:6). The “King of kings and Lord of lords” was born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger (see Revelation 17:14 and 19:16).

Of course, the principalities and powers of this world are always attempting to achieve a one-world government. By the exercise of raw power through vast stores of wealth, they believe that they can solve the world’s problems if only they can control one more lever of power. Yet, the more power they gain, the more misery spreads.

Jesus’ lordship is not like that. He rules not by raw power, but by self-sacrifice. The Creator was born as a man to give His life as a ransom for the sins of the world. What sets Jesus apart from every other king and lord is that he knows the true cause of the world’s division.

The hate, anger and lust that destroy and divide us are not caused by the differences among us. They are caused by the sin within us. So, the unity that Jesus brings to the world is not accomplished by the mere shuffling of power, wealth and status. The unity that is the true hope for the world is brought about by addressing the problem of sin. For Christendom, that means repentance.

This is what makes Christmas truly unifying. Unity begins when each of us, individually, stops blaming others for the evils around us. When we face up to the greed, lust, anger and ill will in our own hearts, the Christ-child comes with His forgiveness to reconcile us to all those who are around us.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn put it well. “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts.” Jesus brings reconciliation not by forcing others to treat us differently, but by changing our own hearts. This permits us to love and be loved despite our sins.

When sins are real and cause real harm, forgiveness cannot be mere sentimentality. Real forgiveness comes at a high price. That is why Jesus’ lordship over the world was brought about by his own self-sacrifice. By paying the debt that we cannot pay, He reconciles us to one another by restoring what others stole from us by their sin and by restoring to others what we stole from them. This, and this alone, brings unity and good will to the world.

As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, seek out the true unity that He came to bring.

“O come, Desire of Nations, Bind in one the hearts of all mankind; Bid Thou our sad divisions cease, And be Thyself our King of Peace. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to Thee, O Israel.”

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, December 25, 2020.

...and the Cowboy State Daily, December 24, 2020.

WTE: China’s attack requires an immediate bipartisan response

Foreign policy is not a high priority for the average American. But an international storm has broken that requires immediate attention. Wyoming’s lone representative, Liz Cheney, took to the airwaves last Wednesday to say that “the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], the Chinese government, is on the attack against the United States of America.”

Earlier John Ratcliffe, the U.S. director of national intelligence (DNI), wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “If I could communicate one thing to the American people from this unique vantage point [as DNI], it is that the People’s Republic of China poses the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War II.”

“The intelligence is clear,” Ratcliffe continued, “Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically. Many of China’s major public initiatives and prominent companies offer only a layer of camouflage to the activities of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Only days later, video surfaced showing a professor from Beijing bragging to a November 28 conference of approving communists that “we have people at the top” of American institutions. Embarrassed by the candor, the CCP immediately censored the video.

Most recently, documents unmasking millions of CCP members embedded in corporations and governments around the world were leaked to the public. According to the New York Post, each has sworn to, “fight for communism throughout my life, be ready at all times to sacrifice my all for the party and the people, and never betray the party [and] guard party secrets, be loyal to the party.” Nearly two million of these oath-takers sit in positions of power in international corporations from Boeing to Pfizer, communication giants and governments around the world.

All of this should put into perspective the recent revelations about Eric Swalwell and the Chinese spy who helped fund his meteoric rise to the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. It should be borne in mind as the Department of Justice investigations into James and Hunter Biden’s China deals are reported.

Everybody knows that graft and corruption are crimes. But fewer people consider how selling one’s influence for financial gain harms anyone. After all, if some politician or corporate huckster can leverage his position to earn a few million bucks, isn’t that the American dream? How does that hurt me?

For starters, remember that bribes are money with strings attached. Those who give lucrative deals to American corporations and politicians want something in return—and they have ways of making sure they get it. What they want are domestic and foreign policies that favor them and disadvantage their enemies.

Here's the rub. Anyone who speaks, assembles and worships freely is considered an enemy by the CCP. The recent arrest and imprisonment of Agnus Chow, Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam demonstrate this point. They were betrayed by the globalist corporations and politicians that should have fought alongside of them.

These young heroes led the citizens of Hong Kong to stand up for the rights that the CCP guaranteed to them in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. Beijing made a promise to the world and the world should have held them to that promise.

Instead, through money and power lavished on private individuals and corporations, the CCP persuaded the world to turn their backs on the Chinese people. The civil rights of Hongkongers, protected by international treaty, evaporated in the span of a single decade. Now these young people are in prison for legal activities that were deemed “crimes” retroactively.

International corporations and corrupt politicians sold the human rights of seven million Hong Kong citizens for personal enrichment. We who support these corporations and politicians are complicit in the betrayal. And unless America acts with resolve today, still more human beings will be sold into slavery tomorrow. The 24 million people of Taiwan are next in the crosshairs of the CCP.

America fought a bloody war to end slavery. And yet, the Apple corporation recently lobbied congress against the “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” which is designed to stop the CCP from using the slave labor of three million citizens to make products for American corporations. This is shameful.

All Americans—across the political spectrum—must demand the vigorous investigation and prosecution of graft and corruption on Wall Street and in Washington, in Silicon Valley and wherever it may be found. We must not allow political considerations to shield one party or another. We must not give in to corporate greed that would protect our favorite name-brands from investigation and prosecution.

Ratcliffe is right. The CCP poses “the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War II.” The hour is late. The time to act is now.

 Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, December 19, 2020.

Graft and corruption are not victimless crimes

Agnes Chow, Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam convicted November 22, 2020

Agnes Chow was only 14 years old when the Chinese Communist Party tried to impose a law in Hong Kong that Christian schools must teach communist “moral and national education.” Communist morals are designed to undermine families, religion, property rights and community cohesion.

A Roman Catholic, attending Holy Family Canossian College, she joined a sit-in to protest the law. As a citizen of Britain and a resident of Hong Kong she was exercising the right to speak that was guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984.

When Beijing backed down, that should have freed her to be a child again. But it didn’t. As the CCP kept violating its commitments to Hong Kong’s seven million British citizens, Chow kept joining greater and greater numbers of fellow citizens to protest Beijing’s injustices.

In June of 2019 two million people flooded the streets of Hong Kong to speak against an extradition arrangement. That law would have permitted the CCP to arrest political enemies in Hong Kong and bury them in the secret prisons and labor camps on mainland China.

The extradition proposal was withdrawn but came back with a vengeance. On July 1, 2020, Beijing unilaterally imposed a new “security law.” This law enables the CCP’s secret police to operate in Hong Kong. It is written vaguely enough that virtually any speech or assembly protesting communist policies can be deemed a crime. And it criminalized actions that took place before the law went into effect.

Soon afterwards, the arrests began. Chow and several others who were prominent in the June 2019 protests were charged with organizing an “unlawful assembly.” On Monday, December 2, the day before her 24th birthday, she was sentenced to spend ten months behind bars. In ten short years Hong Kong went from China’s guaranteed haven of free speech to a police-state.

Chow is among the first to be imprisoned. But more, many more, will follow. Moreover, the threat of aggression from the CCP will not end when Hong Kong’s freedoms are devoured. Across a narrow strait of sea sits the independent island of Taiwan. The CCP does not recognize the independence of Taiwan. If it is successful in imposing communism on Hong Kong, Taiwan will be next in its crosshairs.

President Richard Nixon visits China in 1972

Five decades of trade with the Chinese communists have lulled most Americans into thinking that they are a benign business partners with the same goals as Wall Street—to make money. But as should be obvious by their treatment of Hong Kong, Beijing is quite willing to sacrifice the prosperity created by freedom in pursuit of power.

John Ratcliffe, the U.S. director of national intelligence (DNI), published a column in the Wall Street Journal the day after Chow was sentenced. He wrote, “If I could communicate one thing to the American people from this unique vantage point [as DNI], it is that the People’s Republic of China poses the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War II.” These are strong words.

“The intelligence is clear,” Ratcliffe wrote, “Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically. Many of China’s major public initiatives and prominent companies offer only a layer of camouflage to the activities of the Chinese Communist Party.”

As if any more corroboration was needed, a November 28 video of Di Dongsheng, a Chinese communist official surfaced soon afterwards. It showed him bragged to an audience of CCP elites that “we have people at the top” of American institutions.

Di Dongsheng, November 28, 2020

Days later, a 2015 database file was leaked showing 1.95 million members of the Chinese Communist Party that have infiltrated corporations and governments around the world. They sit in positions of power at places like Boeing, Pfizer and other international corporations. Others are employed in government. All present serious threats to America’s national security.  

All of this should put into perspective the recent revelations about Eric Swalwell and the Chinese spy who helped fund his meteoric rise to the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. It should be born in mind as the mainstream media finally begins to report on the Department of Justice investigations into James and Hunter Biden.

Everybody knows that graft and corruption for financial gain are crimes. But fewer people spend time thinking about why they are crimes. After all, if some politician or corporate huckster can leverage his position to earn a few million bucks, isn’t that the American dream? How does that hurt me?

For starters, we should remember that bribes are not free money. They have strings attached. Those who give lucrative deals to American corporations and politicians want something in return—and they have ways of making sure that they get it. What they want are domestic and foreign policies that favor them and disadvantage their enemies.

Agnus Chow is considered an enemy by the CCP—as is anyone who speaks, assembles and worships freely. Every deal of graft and corruption with the CCP that lines the pocket of someone lucky enough to have connections is paid for by innocent people like Agnes.

Selling out the human rights of Chinese nationals does not only affect China. It spills over to Taiwan and into America itself. The selling of public influence for private gain is as evil as it gets. It betrays the American public and every good thing that America should be doing in the world.

America fought a bloody war to end slavery, had momentous struggles to secure civil rights for all people, and continues to stand against oppression wherever it may be found. Yet, the Apple corporation recently lobbied congress against the “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” which is designed to stop the Chinese Communists from using the slave labor of three million citizens to make products for American corporations. Similarly, the National Basketball Association stifles public criticism of the CCP’s mass arrests and genocide of the Uyghur people.

All of this, and much more, makes millions for American and Chinese financial elites at the expense of both countries’ citizens. It is outrageous that American business is so deeply entangled with the CCP that they regularly turn a blind eye to injustice and actively fight against policies that would protect the basic human rights of people under the thumb of the Chinese communists.

All American people—across the political spectrum—must demand a vigorous investigation and prosecution of graft and corruption on Wall Street and Washington, in Silicon Valley and wherever it may be found. We must not allow political considerations to shield one party or another. We must not give in to corporate greed that would protect our favorite name-brands from investigation and prosecution.

If America is to remain a beacon of freedom to the world, it must stand up to China now. The hour is late. The freedom of America itself is now in jeopardy.

A Time for choosing

It has now been a full month since Americans went to the polls to elect a president. By the time America went to bed on November 3, it was clear who had won the election. When they woke up the next morning, it was clear who had won the counting.

In normal elections and healthy republics, the count winner and the election winner are the same person. When the two are different, voters are dismayed. Neither Democrat voters nor Republican voters won America’s 2020 election. According to a Rasmussen poll, almost a third of Democrat voters believe that election was stolen from President Trump. Three quarters of Republicans think the same. 

These were the numbers before Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Georgia televised open hearings that detailed election fraud in their respective states. The number of voters who feel disenfranchised have surely grown since then.

During a time of crisis such as this, the Fourth Estate ought to be moving mountains to find and report the truth. Instead, it has conspired to hide the truth from the America people. The mainstream media doggedly stuck to its monolithic talking points: “baseless claims” and “without evidence.” The American people are not convinced.

Mayor Rudy Guiliani displaying affidavits

The affidavits of eyewitnesses to the massive fraud perpetrated by election officials grow day by day. By some accounts, they number in the thousands. Each sworn statement is legitimate evidence in any court of law. This is so obviously true that every repetition of the words “without evidence” is simply further evidence that the once-trusted source is lying.

So, Americans are turning in increasing numbers to social media to discover reliable facts. Enter Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey. Using the raw power of their monopolistic platforms, they exploit their users like so many trojan horses. Every user who wants to communicate some fact about voter fraud to his or her friends will find that Dorsey or Zuckerberg intercepts the post and tars it with the word “disputed.” Logically, posts that make the opposite claim are also disputed. That they are not also tarred with the “disputed” label gives away the game.

When election officials in six to ten states defraud voters in strikingly similar patterns it is reasonable to suspect that there is collusion going on. When news outlets competing for market share lose viewers and readers for the same shoddy reporting, it is reasonable to suspect collusion. And when corporations that make their money by encouraging conversation deliberately stifle it, something strange is happening.

One does not have to be a rocket-scientist to see these anomalies. The mainstream media may continue to turn a blind eye, and social media may continue to suppress curiosity. But it will not succeed in keeping voters from both parties in the dark. In a December 2nd speech to the American people, President Trump said, “Everybody knows it.” He is right.

The game is up; and it is a time for choosing. This is no longer about a presidential election. It is about the preservation of our Constitution. “As President, I have no higher duty than to defend the laws and the Constitution of the United States. That is why I am determined to protect our election system, which is now under coordinated assault and siege.”

Wyoming’s senior senator, John Barrasso, recently appeared on Fox News. Asked by Harris Faulkner to respond to Trump’s charge, he said, “this is why we need to get this information and this investigation done quickly. Look, I campaigned for President Trump, voted for President Trump. Over 72 million Americans voted for President Trump. Over 70 percent of the people in Wyoming have done so. We need to make sure that there was a fair election, that there was integrity in the system. Because that’s the basis of our nation.”

“The president,” Barrasso said, “is doing exactly what I would expect him to do under this situation: provide information, look for answers and then, take it to the courts. That’s what he’s doing.” He pointed out that fraud has, “a criminal element to it. This needs to be prosecuted and punished. People need to be arrested here.”

Recently, Representative Cheney said that the president “should fulfill his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States by respecting the sanctity of our electoral process.” This has been widely interpreted as "casting doubt on the Trump campaign's claims of widespread voter fraud".

Senator-elect Lummis also said on Good Morning America, “the integrity of this election needs to be verified.” To the question of whether President Trump should concede, she said, “No! Heavens no!” Later, she tweeted out the interview with the comment: “Ensuring election integrity is core to our democratic republic. Let’s get it right and protect the vote.”

Unlike cultures beaten down by totalitarian regimes, the people of America have strong political opinions and are willing to argue vociferously. Win or lose, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives take seriously their responsibility to speak and vote in a democratic republic. Precisely for this reason, they will not stand by while their vote is cancelled and their voice is throttled.

Every illegal vote disenfranchises an American. Every stolen ballot is stolen from a citizen. Every phantom vote suppresses a flesh-and-blood person. It is a time to choose the real over the fraudulent, the truth over the lie, and justice over power. The world is watching.

Also published in the Cowboy State Daily, 12/7/21.

Health Officers should convince citizens, not coerce

When driving down a highway, it is extremely dangerous to be overly afraid of the oncoming cars. Inexperienced drivers who do this can veer into the ditch. Experienced drivers take both threats seriously, and so stay safely in their proper lane.

The same balance needs to be maintained when dealing with any response to COVID-19. Responses that take into account only medical considerations—without considering the threats to spiritual and emotional health, economic health, and the health of the Republic itself—will be wrong. They risk doing more harm than good.

The need for a proper balance is the very reason for representative government. Our founding fathers knew that no single person can know everything about any situation, but that whatever a person does know can easily crowd out every other consideration. “Give a young boy a hammer and he will treat everything as a nail.” They also knew that both the well-meaning and the malicious can abuse power.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive,” said C.S. Lewis. He explained, “[T]hose who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” Governmental checks and balances are designed to prevent such excesses.

According to a Facebook post, Dr. Ed Zimmerman, former Washakie County Health Officer (CHO), imposed a county-wide mask mandate against the expressed will of the elected commissioners. He was not the only one. During the previous week, 21 of Wyoming’s 23 CHOs imposed mask mandates. Many, if not most, ignored the protests of the citizens through their elected commissioners. Zimmerman explained his decision, “It appears to me the masking mandate was overwhelmingly supported by the members of the community.”

However it may appear to an unelected official, only the elected ones are answerable to the general public. Because public policy involves the balance of many considerations, county commissioners and mayors across the state were outraged.

In a grand shell game, CHOs pressured Governor Gordon to impose a statewide mask mandate through his State Health Officer, Alexia Harrist. Gordon, instead, wanted the mandates to be up to local jurisdictions. When elected county commissioners across the state declined his request, 21 CHOs circumvented them and sent variance requests to the state. In the end, every mask mandate is unilaterally imposed under the signature of Harrist.

For the record, the question is not whether there is a problem that needs to be addressed. The question is whether masks actually address the problem. The mask orders cite only one six-month-old scientific study.  “Chu, et. al. found that Face Coverings could reduce the risk of transmission...” It concluded: “Robust randomized trials are needed to better inform the evidence for these interventions.”

Luckily, three such robust studies were released in November. The New England Journal of Medicine published, “SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among Marine Recruits during Quarantine.” This rigorous study followed 1,848 Marine recruits through 28 days of lockdown, strict mask protocols and sanitary practices. During the study 51 (2.75%) of the participants tested positive for COVID-19. By comparison only 26 of 1,554 non-participants (1.67%) did. While not statistically significant, the raw percentages report that there was less spread among those who interacted without masks.

The Annals of Internal Medicine published “Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers.” This randomized, controlled trial was undertaken in Denmark with 6,024 participants randomly split into two groups. Of the 3,030 in the masked group, 42 (1.8%) tested positive during the course of the trial. By comparison, 53 (2.1%) tested positive from the control group. Again, the researchers concluded that the “difference was not statistically significant.”

Then, on November 20, Nature Communications published “Post-lockdown SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid screening in nearly ten million residents of Wuhan, China.” Although it found 1,174 close contacts with asymptomatic cases, it found no—zero, zip, nada—new cases spread from contact with asymptomatic carriers.

Every single Wyomingite wants to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the sheer desire to see an outcome does not make a mask order effective toward that end. Citizens deserve explanations, not edicts.

On October 12, the Wyoming Department of Health released “COVID-19: Data and Studies Relating o Effectiveness of Face Coverings.” All seven of the laboratory studies cited studied the effectiveness of masks in reducing droplets. None studied the effectiveness of masks in reducing infection rates.

Now that the WDH has the benefit of three robust studies focussed on the infection rate, it should incorporate this scholarship into its overall assessment and update its recommendations accordingly. Wyomingites will do the right thing if they are convinced it is right.

Health officers should convince citizens, not overrule them.

Also published in the Cowboy State Daily, 11/29/21.

County Mask Mandates raise serious concerns

Yes, I believe that COVID-19 is an uncommonly dangerous virus. No, I don’t believe it is fake. Yes, I acknowledge that when I have my turn to combat it, I may die. No. I do not believe that the genie released from Wuhan, China onto the rest of the world will ever be put back in the bottle—not even by a vaccine.

Nor am I unsympathetic of those who have been affected by the plague. I, too, have had close family members and friends severely sickened by it. Some of them have had it twice already. I have watched helplessly as a friend died deprived of contact even from his closest family. I have personally been deprived of visits to my children, my grandson and my aging parents as cross-border travel was penalized.

It is simply not true that anyone who questions the prudence, legality and constitutionality of bureaucratic responses is simply a rustic simpleton and a science denier. I believe the simplistic thinking is, rather, on the side of those who can only see one threat at a time.

When driving down a highway, it is extremely dangerous to be overly afraid of the oncoming cars. Inexperienced drivers who do this veer ever closer to the edge of the road and often run into the ditch. Experienced drivers take both threats seriously, and so stay safely in their proper lane.

The same balance needs to be maintained when dealing with any response to COVID-19. Responses that take into account only the fears of epidemiologists, without considering the threats to spiritual and emotional health, economic health, and the health of the Republic itself will be wrong. They will, likely, do far more harm than good.

The need for a proper balance against every danger is the very reason for representative government. Our founding fathers were possessed of a healthy realism about human nature. They knew that no single person can know everything about any situation, but that whatever a person does know can easily crowd out every other consideration. “Give a young boy a hammer, and he will treat everything as a nail.”

America’s founders also knew that human beings always tend to relish power. Unchecked, they will wield whatever authority they have to impose their own ideas on others. “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive,” said C.S. Lewis. He explained, “[T]hose who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

Governmental checks and balances are designed to prevent such excesses. Elected officials who are directly accountable to the public are given the task of bringing all aspects of a problem to the table and balancing them to the best of their abilities. The answers are never satisfactory for all, but they do take into account the perspectives of all.

When power to make policy is withdrawn from the general public and given entirely to the members of one profession, this oligarchy may satisfy itself with its answer, but it will be unsatisfactory to virtually everyone else. To dismiss those legitimate voices as the “ultra-vocal minority” who would never understand anyway, is to infuriate the very constituency it should be persuading.

This is precisely the situation created across the state last week. Approximately 15 different county health officers conspired to impose “mask mandates” in their respective counties. Although they discussed their plans with one another and with their county health staff, many made their plans without so much as notifying their county commissioners, or the mayors within their jurisdictions.

That is not right. I will let the lawyers wrangle about whether it follows the letter of the law. Regardless, it does not follow the spirit. Our own county health officer made his unilateral order in the hope that it would help our community come together. It did not. Rather, it further fractured our community.

First, county health officers that unilaterally imposed mask orders, later learned that many County Sheriffs and City Police would not enforce them. This would have been important information to know ahead of time. Without enforcement resources, new laws only create more difficulties for local businesses.

Uinta’s County health officer mistakenly thought that the order would help businesses. But the opposite is true. For months businesses have had the right to make and enforce mask mandates upon their customers. None have. Instead, many have merely requested their customers to wear masks. Now that Dr. Harrist has signed multiple orders, businesses are legally liable. Those that refuse to use force on their own customers face crippling fines and the threat of closure by the Wyoming Department of Health. How does this help businesses?

Second, the unilateral mask mandate was based almost entirely on an appeal to authority and went contrary to actual studies. The question is not whether there is a problem that needs to be addressed. The question is whether masks actually address the problem.

Aside from two bald statements and one recommendation from the CDC, the mask order cites only one scientific study. “Chu, et. al. found that Face Coverings could reduce the risk of transmission...” To strip constitutional rights based on the words “could reduce” is outrageous. This is especially so in that the study itself concluded: “Robust randomized trials are needed to better inform the evidence for these interventions.”

Guess what. On November 11, 2020, the New England Journal of Medicine published one of these necessary trials. “SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among Marine Recruits during Quarantine” was undertaken by two score researchers, followed 1,848 Marine recruits through 28 days of lockdown, strict mask protocols and sanitary practices. These were not haphazardly enforced as would be true among the general population. These were marine platoons--each with six enforcers tasked to ensure compliance.

After a 14-day quarantine before the trial, 51 (2.75%) of the participants tested positive during the ensuing 14 days. By comparison only 26 of 1,554 non-participants (1.67%) tested positive over a similar 14-day period. The extreme measures taken by the test subjects did not reduce the spread of COVID-19 by any statistically measurable rate. In fact, the raw percentages report that there was less spread among those who interacted without masks.

On the day that many county mask mandates were imposed, November 18, the Annals of Internal Medicine published “Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers.” This randomized, controlled trial was undertaken in Denmark by 22 researchers. Over 6,000 participants were randomly split into two groups: 3,030 were assigned to wear masks and 2,994 were not.

Of the masked group, 42 (1.8%) tested positive during the course of the trial. By comparison, 53 (2.1%) tested positive from the control group. This “difference was not statistically significant,” they found. The authors concluded, “The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use.”

If the county health officers of the state want to attenuate the spread of COVID-19, every single citizen is in their corner. But the sheer desire to see an outcome does not make a mask order effective toward that end. In a meeting of the Uinta County Commissioners on Friday, November 20, concerned citizens were given statistics about hospital beds, infection numbers and positive test percentages. They were not given any facts about the effectiveness of masks.

Rather, the Uinta County health officer twice repeated that a mask mandate was “easy to do” and that it would only be for an unspecified short time. “Easy to do” is not the same as effective and, “only for a little while” doesn’t mitigate the tyranny in the slightest.

Fifteen unelected health officers acted in unison not only to bypass county commissioners, but also to put pressure on Governor Gordon. I hope that he is wise enough to instruct his state health officer to lead with facts, rather than drive with power. Wyomingites will do the right thing if they are convinced it is right. Convince them.

WTE: It is time to unite around the truth

Multiple filings in state and federal courts alleging election fraud constitute the most momentous election news in two decades. The 2020 election has the potential to be the biggest scandal in the history of our nation. By November 6, all three members of Wyoming’s delegation spoke in support of President Trump’s call to count every legal vote and discard every illegal ballot.

John Barrasso, Wyoming’s senior senator and Senate GOP Conference Chair, said: "As vote totals continue to update, Americans deserve confidence in a fair and transparent election. The President is right to ensure all legally cast votes be observed and counted."

Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming’s first woman senator, emailed through her spokeswoman, Kristin Walker: “Where there are instances of fraud, we must root them out, correct and hold those responsible to account. Anything less is a complete affront to the American rule of law and election integrity.”

Liz Cheney, Wyoming’s lone congresswoman and House GOP Conference chair, wrote: “Every legal vote must be counted. No illegal votes should be counted. The counting process must be transparent, and observers must have access. It’s the responsibility of the courts to apply the laws to resolve disputes. These things are necessary so that all Americans can have confidence in our election process.”

Nevertheless, the Associated Press reported that “top Wyoming elected officials refused to say Friday if they agreed with President Donald Trump’s baseless claim that Democrats are trying to steal the presidential election.” (Top Wyoming Republicans dodge question about Trump remarks, Mead Gruver, Nov. 6). This characterization bears little resemblance to the actual statements.

How can calls for a full counting of every legal vote be anything other than agreement with President Trump? It’s hard to read such misreporting as anything but a deliberate attempt to drive a wedge between Wyoming’s D.C. delegation and voters. Simultaneously, it props up the false narrative that Trump’s claims are “baseless.”

In a state where President Trump received 11 percent more votes than his 2016 victory, and which had the highest margin of victory of any state (69.9 percent), accusing a national politician of tepid support for Trump is certain to damage the relationship between representatives and constituents. While this misrepresentation may have been deliberately aimed at President Trump and Wyoming’s delegation, deception also causes collateral damage among the general population.

Lies disrupt communication. As a direct consequence, they destroy community. That is why everyone should be alarmed at the massive uptick in fraud and obfuscation that we have seen in the mainstream media and on social media in recent weeks and months.

No doubt the media outlets that conspired to hide the facts of Spy-gate, Hunter Biden’s laptop and President Trump’s legal claims were only trying to sway the election. Likely, they were not trying to dissolve friendships or split families. Nevertheless, they were far more successful in doing that than they were in swaying voters.

That is criminal. It should enrage every citizen. The Fourth Estate—the free press—is supposed to unite communities around the truth, which enables them to hold their governing officials accountable. When the press becomes so partisan that it deliberately suppresses the truth in a bid to shield a politician from accountability, it divides and disenfranchises the community. In so doing, it has become the enemy of a free state and of every good citizen within it.

Truth is the bedrock upon which we stand as a united people. It holds us

together as families, churches, communities and nations. We are called to discover the truth, not invent it. It exists quite apart from personal perceptions or opinions. The more people there are who understand the truth, the more united is the society.

The upheaval we are witnessing in this year’s election process is far beyond the bounds of partisan bickering. Community-minded citizens from both sides of the aisle need to recognize that foreign governments, global media corporations and monied interests are openly attacking the community that is the United States of America.

Deliberately hiding factual reports and otherwise gaslighting the American public, their intent is to divide and conquer. Broken friendships, feuding families, deteriorating communities, and even divided churches, are only collateral damage as far as they are concerned. Power is their goal. Falsehood is their weapon.

But they cannot win if you stand for the truth. It is the job of every patriot of every political party to make truth, integrity and justice the highest priority. We must be more loyal to the truth than to any man. We must be more determined to find the facts than to win any election. We must be more willing to punish evildoers than to protect favored players.

Led by lies we cannot win. But united around the truth, we cannot lose.

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, November 20, 2020.

It is time to unite around the truth.

President Trump’s multiple filings in state and federal courts alleging election fraud are, hands down, the most momentous election news in two decades. If even a fraction of the allegations is proved in a court of law, it will be the biggest scandal in the history of our nation. For this reason alone, Wyoming voters are highly interested in the developing story.

John Barrasso, Wyoming’s senior senator and Senate GOP Conference Chair, said in a statement, "As vote totals continue to update, Americans deserve confidence in a fair and transparent election. The President is right to ensure all legally-cast votes be observed and counted."

Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming’s first woman senator, issued a statement through her spokeswoman, Kristin Walker: “Where there are instances of fraud, we must root them out, correct and hold those responsible to account. Anything less is a complete affront to the American rule of law and election integrity.”

Liz Cheney, Wyoming’s lone congresswoman and House GOP conference chair, released a statement on November 6: “Every legal vote must be counted. No illegal votes should be counted. The counting process must be transparent, and observers must have access. It’s the responsibility of the courts to apply the laws to resolve disputes. These things are necessary so that all Americans can have confidence in our election process.”

Nevertheless, the Associated Press reported that “top Wyoming elected officials refused to say Friday if they agreed with President Donald Trump’s baseless claim that Democrats are trying to steal the presidential election.” (Top Wyoming Republicans dodge question about Trump remarks, Mead Gruver, Nov. 6). This is confusing, at best. Some may even call it deliberate deception.

Mead Gruver, AP reporter

Understandably, many Wyomingites have been concerned about the stance of their D.C. delegation. President Trump drew 193,559 Wyoming voters, an 11 percent increase over his 2016 totals. Wyoming tops all fifty states in margin of victory, with 69.9 percent of the vote going to the President.  The enthusiasm of Wyoming’s Trump voters is obvious.

Social media memes are asking why the Wyoming delegation has remained silent. There’s only one problem. They haven’t. Rather, hostile media has used deceptive analysis to hide the actual support that the delegation has voiced for a full counting of every legal vote and the disqualification of any fraudulent votes. Such misreporting is bound to damage our delegation while propping up the narrative that Trump’s claims are “baseless.”

This instance of manipulation is only one snowflake in a blizzard of falsehoods. I use it here as a case study for the results of deception. While deception and bias may be motivated by the lure of political power, its effects are personal and profound. In the first instance, it intentionally damages the relationship between representatives and constituents. In the second, it damages relationships between people who are getting their information from contradictory sources.

From the perspective of a pastor, the second is far more consequential than the first. Media bias has been a problem for longer than I have been alive. But in recent years it has become a crisis, and in the past month, it has become criminal.  

Twitter and Facebook have attached unwanted content to the personal thoughts of millions. Thus, they have coerced the speech of users. When that failed, they colluded with all but a few national media outlets to black out true reporting of legitimate information. They have even gone so far as to de-platform the President of the United States and block the sharing of testimony and evidence that has been submitted to courts of law under penalty of perjury. 

The effect of such iron-fisted censorship has not been helpful--either to their cause, or to the American people. Rather than prevent the dissemination of the information in question, the mainstream media has only discredited itself and precipitated an avalanche of viewers flocking to One America News Network and NewsMax. Simultaneously, it has been a boon to the small and struggling social media platforms like Parler and MeWe.

Those who were savvy enough to invest in these companies a month ago, have probably made enough money to retire early. But such a financial boon for some comes at a high cost to America.

In living rooms across America, the seeds of dissension and distrust are sown by talking heads on a lifeless screen. On nearly every issue of importance today, there are two completely different narratives being told. Those who have absorbed the one cannot find common ground with those who believe the other. No longer can shades and nuances in storytelling be reconciled with one another. News has become a great “either/or.”

In one sense, it is not the fault of the viewers. At the time most people developed their viewing habits and network loyalties, there was a general respect for the truth, and parity in presenting it. The change from objective reporting to editorializing on the front page to the full-on suppression of contrary facts has been gradual. For many it has gone unnoticed.

As public reporting imperceptibly devolved to this low state, the corresponding increase in the rancor of public discourse was obvious. Friendships are dissolved. Families are split apart. Communities are divided. Even church life is disrupted. The winning candidates of this election cycle will serve their terms and retire. The tearing of America’s social fabric will have longer-lasting repercussions.

This article is written as a plea to every citizen to know and understand the connection between these two realities. When you find your relationships strained as never before, do not dismiss friends, family or neighbors as irreconcilable. Recognize rather that at the root of every disagreement is a failure mutually to understand reality. Recognize further that this failure is not a natural occurrence. It is rather an alien intrusion inculcated by deliberate lies.

People who want to use your vote for political gain are willing to lie to you in order to get it. But their lies do more than gain your vote. They also destroy your relationships. For the sake of the people in your life, it is your responsibility to ferret out lies and reject them. Don’t merely assume that your source is true and all others are false. Put every claim you hear to the test.

Truth is the bedrock upon which we stand as a united people. It holds us together as families, churches, communities and nations. It exists quite apart from personal perceptions or opinions. The more people there are who understand the truth, the more united is the society. We are called to discover the truth, not invent it.

The fact is that there are thousands of independent citizens claiming to be eyewitnesses to specific instances of election fraud. Each claim will be judged on its own merits. Either it is true or it is false. The fact remains that there are numerous candidates (not only President Trump) who are claiming that the election fraud in their district was momentous enough to change the outcome. Each one is either right or wrong in this claim.

They will press their cases and we should cheer them on. As Wyomingites who watch the litigation play out in other states, we need to understand what is at stake. Certainly, the presidency is at stake. So also are numerous local races.  

More important than both of these, is the integrity of the system itself. If local, state and federal institutions are incapable of assuring you that your vote has the same weight as every other, America has a dark future, indeed. But above all, if we lose confidence in the truth, if we give up on the quest to discover truth as it exists and give in to those who manufacture “truth” by raw power, we will lose community itself. Now, more than ever, it is time to unite around the truth.

WTE: The legacy of Roy Edwards, a Wyoming man

Roy Harlie Edwards, (R-HD53) was laid to rest on November 7, in Gillette. People from all over the Cowboy State came to grieve with his loving family and to pay their respects. Our little town with long streets owes Roy a debt of gratitude for his service. He made Wyoming a better place.

Roy was a true son of Wyoming living his entire life in the town where his forebears homesteaded. There he raised his family. Beginning his career as an employee of the Farmer’s Co-op, he ended it as the owner of Edwards Tire Company.

Dedication to his wife and children led him out of the house and into the community. For Roy, that meant, first, service in his church. Whether as deacon of Central Baptist Church or traveling across the world to distribute Christian printed material, he was always eager to tell people the reason for the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face.

Roy’s faith in Jesus was not privatized. It led him into public service. Twelve years on the Gillette City Council led to eight more on the Campbell County Commission. In 2014 he was elected to Wyoming’s House of Representatives. That is where I came to know him as a friend.

After three and a half decades in public office Roy’s warm smile and firm handshake remained genuine. Roy was not a gladhander, but a bold leader. He masterfully worked behind the scenes building coalitions, clarifying complex issues, and encouraging colleagues.

He was the epitome of quiet leadership. Even now his humble leadership lives on. Tomorrow, as House Republicans meet in caucus, the alternatives before them are largely due to Roy’s forethought and leadership.

Roy led with a clear vision. At the heart of it was a passion for individual liberty. He had a deep understanding of how easily true freedom is mistaken for mere individualism. He could see more keenly than most that even the smallest growth of government disproportionately reduced the citizen’s ability to build community.

This principled stand often drew unfair and underhanded criticism. People ignorant of his intellect called him a simpleton. Even at his funeral, unscrupulous media attempted to politicize his cause of death. While they debased themselves, Roy’s good humor always handled it with aplomb.

Roy legislative legacy can be seen in the bills that he sponsored. Of the 14 where he was lead sponsor, three removed unjust tax burdens from Wyoming citizens and were signed into law. He also helped sponsor seven pro-life bills, three of which became law.

He got less traction on three attempts to move some of Wyoming’s rainy-day fund into precious metals. These, too, showed his passion to leave a better Wyoming for those yet to be born.

Tax repeals, precious metals and pro-life legislation may strike you as a strange mix of legislative concerns. For Roy, who was deeply imbued with the thinking of America’s founders, they were a natural blend. He allowed his faith to penetrate his politics deeply. This allowed clarity of vision to address the practical and material needs of people as one with their social and spiritual needs.

That, I believe, is Roy’s greatest legacy. For seven decades, we have been propagandized to believe that the “separation of church and state” is a constitutional principle. It is not. It is, rather, a slogan that ideologues use to drive people of faith out of the public square. This is alien to America’s founding principles.

Conservatives who are unaware of this history censor themselves and leave their most powerful weapon in its sheath. They fight for a better community and state with their right arms tied behind their backs. Then, they wonder why truth, justice and goodness continue to lose ground to lies, corruption and evil.

Roy Edwards was not burdened by this false idea. He was unapologetic about his Christian faith and he fully integrated it into his public life. Community service, for him, was not a distraction from his faith. It was the life of faith itself.

In the face of opposition from right and left, Roy had the quiet confidence to stay the course. His principled conservatism was unshakable because it was not rooted in shallow slogans, but in a deep understanding of the human condition.

Roy was a man of Wyoming because he championed its values, not simply because he was born here. By God’s grace we were given many years of his faithful service, and an example to follow into the future. Like him, let us exude the quiet boldness of people who know where we come from and where we are going. That is the legacy of one Wyoming man. 

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, November 13, 2020.

The legacy of Roy Edwards, a Wyoming man

Roy Edwards

Roy Harlie Edwards, representative of House District 53, succumbed on November 2, after a brief illness. Wyomingites from all walks of life, and from all over the state, were sadden by the news. Condolences are extended to his wife, family and all who mourn his loss.

We also owe them our deepest gratitude for supporting Roy in his tireless work to make our little town with long streets into a better place. It is fitting that we mark Roy’s passing with reverence and gratitude. His life of service gave voice to the common man and served the entire state.

Roy was a true son of Wyoming. His ancestors homesteaded in the Gillette area and that is where he lived his entire life. Graduating from Gillette High School, he was blessed with a loving marriage and a faithful family. For three and a half decades he traveled from ranch to ranch for the Farmer’s Coop, servicing equipment. Then, he founded Edwards Tire Company and continued his passion for serving people.

His dedication to his wife and children led him out of the house and into the community. For Roy, that meant service in his church, first and foremost. Whether as deacon of Central Baptist Church or traveling across the world to distribute Christian printed material, he was always eager to tell people why he lived with such a big smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

Central Baptist Church, Gillette

Roy’s faith in Jesus was not privatized. It led him into public service. For 12 years he served on the Gillette City Council. After that, he served 8 years on the Campbell County Commission. In 2014 he was elected to Wyoming’s House of Representatives. That is where I came to know him. I first admired him from afar. More recently, I came to know him as a friend.

One might think that 34 years in public office would make a consummate politician out of any man. But Roy’s warm smile and firm handshake were not an act. He could talk to anybody—and often went out of his way to do so—but he never spoke a disingenuous word.

Roy’s success was not a function of following the crowd. Rather, his brand of politics was to speak boldly and create a following. For this reason, he was often dismissed as a hayseed simpleton. Those who made this mistake not only missed out on his friendship and wit, they also missed out on his profound wisdom.

A master of working behind the scenes, Roy built coalitions, persuaded people on the fence and encouraged colleagues to take the lead. Hardly anybody knew how hard he worked or how sharply he could perceive any situation. But for those who did, he was the epitome of humble and unassuming leadership.

Roy in his element

Even in death his humble leadership is still being felt. As the Republicans of the House of Representatives meet in caucus next Saturday, they will be voting on the last project of Roy Edwards. During the final months of his life, he was the driving force that assembled one of the slates of house leadership that House Republicans will have the option to choose because of his forethought and leadership.

Of course, leadership without a vision does little good. At the heart of Roy’s vision was a passion for individual liberty. He had a deep understanding of how easily true freedom is mistaken for mere individualism. He could also see more keenly than most the connection between true human freedom and fiscal policy. The more that individuals control their own spending, the more communities thrive.

Roy’s colleagues tell me that he was consistently one of the most nay-saying legislators in Cheyenne. He voted against far more legislation than he supported. But that does not mean he wanted government to do nothing.

During his time in Cheyenne, Roy was the lead sponsor of 14 bills. Three of these, “Wyoming Legal Tender Act” (2018), “Ad valorem taxation” (2017), and “Senior center meal sales tax exemption” (2016) were signed into law. All of these removed unjust tax burdens from Wyoming citizens.

Roy also led three unsuccessful attempts to move some of Wyoming’s savings into precious metals. His constant concern was to be faithful with the resources God has given to the state today in order to leave a better Wyoming for those born tomorrow. In fact, Roy’s heart for the unborn can also be seen in his co-sponsorship of seven bills to protect the unborn. Three of these were signed into law.

Tax repeals, precious metals and pro-life legislation may strike you as a strange hodge-podge of legislative concerns. I assure you they are not. Roy was deeply imbued with the thinking of America’s founders. Like them, he allowed his faith to penetrate his politics deeply. This allowed him fully to integrate the practical and material needs of people with their social and spiritual needs.

That, I believe, is the greatest legacy that Wyoming has received from Roy Edwards. In our day ideologues are intent on driving faith out of the public square. For seven decades, we have been propagandized to believe that the “separation of church and state” is a constitutional principle. It is not. It is, rather, alien to America’s founding principles and illegitimately imported into American political discourse.

By internalizing this poisonous thought, conservatives often enter into public discourse with their most powerful weapon left in its sheath. They fight for a better community and state with their right arms tied behind their backs. Then, they wonder why truth, justice and goodness continue to lose ground to lies, corruption and evil.

Roy Edwards was not burdened by this false idea. He was unapologetic about his Christian faith and he fully integrated it into his public life. Community service, for him, was not a distraction from his faith. It was the life of faith itself. If this made him appear unsophisticated to some, that is their loss.

In the face of opposition from right and left, Roy had the quiet confidence to stay the course. His principled conservatism was unshakable because it was not rooted in shallow slogans, but in a deep understanding of the human condition.

Roy was a man of Wyoming because he championed its values, not simply because he was born here. He was an ardent defender of a way of life that settled this land and made her communities good and wholesome. By God’s grace we were given many years of his faithful service, and an example to follow into the future.

The Wyoming flag has been flying at half-mast all week. This is an honorable and fitting remembrance of Roy Edwards. When it is again hoisted to its full height, let us carry on with the quiet boldness of people who know where we come from and where we are going. That is the legacy of one Wyoming man.