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EDITORIALOPINION NAPLESNEWS.COM TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2021 5B Want someone from the Naples Daily News to speak at your event or club? Please go to naplesnews.com/customerservice Today is Tuesday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 2021. There are 24 days left in the year. On this date in: 1787: Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1909: Chemist Leo H. Baekeland re- ceived a U.S. patent for Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic. 1941: The Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as well as tar- gets in Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippines and Wake Island; the Unit- ed States declared war against Japan the next day.

1972: last moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blast- ed off from Cape Canaveral. TODAY IN HISTORY Bluegrass singer Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers is 90. Actor Ellen Burstyn is 89. Country singer Gary Morris is 73. Singer Tom Waits is 72.

Actor Priscilla Barnes is 64. Announcer Edd Hall Tonight Show With Jay is 63. Bassist Tim Butler of Psychedelic Furs is 63. Actor Patrick Fabian Call is 57. Actor Jeffrey Wright is 56.

Actor C. Thomas Howell is 55. Singer Frankie (Kumbia Kings) is 45. Singer Sara Bareilles is 42. Actor Jennifer Carpenter is 42.

Singer Aaron Carter is 34. BIRTHDAYS Fabian Republicans also refuse to deal with the devastating reality of gun violence in America. This week, another American school was the scene of a deadly attack. Four students were shot to death and seven people were injured at Oxford High School in Michigan. A 15-year-old stu- dent has been charged with terrorism and murder.

rhetoric is dangerous Despite the plague of gun violence in schools and in our broader society, Re- publicans in Congress continue to speak in dangerous, irresponsible terms. The recent video released by Rep. Gosar depicting the murder of Rep. Al- exandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, was intentional. video and Rep.

Marjorie Taylor dangerous be- havior including her use of imagery depicting an assault aimed at three Democratic members of Congress were clearly calculated. Extremists in the House Republican Conference are ignoring the Constitu- tion and putting our lives at risk. While voters are frustrated, now is the time to make sure that we under- stand what is happening and what is at stake. The best way to defend democra- cy is to make sure we vote for candidates who support gun safety. My view on where democracy stands now is not a partisan perspective.

It is an American point of view supported by those not afraid to speak out about the risks posed by former President Donald Trump and those who stand for sup- porting him above all else. Democrats can pass gun safety legislation If we are going to protect democracy, and protect our children with meaning- ful gun safety legislation, we must fully support President Joe Biden. Next year, we must deliver a Democratic majority back to the House and a clear Democrat- ic majority in the Senate. We must remove this current version of the Republican Party, and hope there are still Republicans who want to their way to protecting our democratic form of government. Since my daughter Jaime was mur- dered in the Parkland school shooting, our country has made some progress.

We elected a president who supports gun safety, a gun safety majority in the House of Representatives and a Demo- cratic-controlled Senate. However, without a commitment to change the rules of the a split majority in the Senate is not enough. We have the ability through our vote in the 2022 election to strengthen de- mocracy or to lose it. The next election is no longer about what we hope to achieve. The next elec- tion is about what we cannot and will not lose.

Fred Guttenberg is a gun violence prevention advocate whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. most important election of our was a phrase heard often in 2020. It is a far more accurate statement now. In 2020, we needed to defeat one per- son who put democracy at risk. Now, an entire political party and governing phi- losophy put democracy at risk.

Watch, for example, the recent censure hearing of Rep. Paul Gosar, or view the images of members of the Republican Party celebrating when the Kyle Ritten- house verdict was reached, ignoring the deaths of two men. Democracy in the United States is under siege, and this well-funded attack has deadly consequences. For me, that means my dream of passing gun safety legislation a dream held since my daughter Jaime was murdered at school in Parkland, Florida is at risk. We are closer now to passing com- mon-sense gun safety legislation, and yet, at the same time, we are closer to losing any opportunity to do so.

We watched the blatant attack on de- mocracy on Jan. 6. The reality of what happened that day is irrefutable. In spite of the evidence, Fox News, other media outlets and some out-of-touch members of Congress suggest other- wise. Guest commentaries A guest commentary can be 600 words or less on a topical subject.

Authors must have considerable experience, public involvement or expertise in the subject matter. Due to the large number of guest commentaries we receive, these may be returned to the author with a recommendation to resubmit it as a letter to the editor within the guidelines for letters. Submit to Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. Psalm 130:7 BIBLE QUOTE Letters should be 250 words or less, the shorter and more to the point the better, and may be edited for clarity or taste, to eliminate personal attacks and to prevent libel. Letters may be edited for accuracy, rejected or returned to the writer to submit a new letter.

The source of a statistic must be attributed within the letter. No poetry, letter-writing campaigns or airing of a personal grievance against a business. Submissions cannot be handwritten or typed in all caps. Name of the letter writer and city or community of residence are required and will be published with the letter. A phone number is required for verification but will not be published.

LETTERS POLICY My daughter was murdered at her school. We need gun safety In this March 24, 2018, photo, Isabel White of Parkland participates in the for Our rally in support of gun control in Washington, D.C. The march was spearheaded by teens from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland. ANDREW When I was laid in early 2020, shortly before COVID-19 would metas- tasize into a pandemic, I did what mil- lions of other Americans soon would do: I began job-hunting. I emailed my network of former colleagues and pro- fessional contacts.

I listings on LinkedIn and other job sites. I updated my resume. Within a few weeks, after landing freelance projects from precisely two clients and then nothing, I knew what else I had to do: I got down on my hands and knees and scoured our bathroom I mixed up a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, which I then scrubbed into the grout with an old toothbrush, starting in the farthest corner from the door. After covering a swath the length of my arm, I wiped it clean with a wet sponge, made another batch of paste and moved on to the next section. I listen to music or a podcast as I worked.

I remem- ber thinking about anything in partic- ular. I just kept at it, square by square, for a couple of hours. Then I was done. The lines of grout, which had turned a musky orange over the years, were chalky white once again. I had had a job to do and I had com- pleted it.

I had accomplished some- thing even if no one except my wife and I would ever know it. I felt grati- I also felt renewed. That internal monolog that chatterbox alternating between replaying what had hap- pened earlier and rehearsing for what might happen later had stopped. At least while I scrubbed away, I had put that busy voice in my head on mute. Surveys and research show most people hate doing household chores washing dishes, cleaning the bath- room, ironing, etc.

but sweeping, scrubbing or mopping the consis- tently ranks as one of the worst of all. In one poll, in fact, of women and of men said give up alcohol for a year if they would never have to wipe down another again. For that same forever pass, a smaller sub- set said abstain from sex for a year. easy to see why people would go to extremes to avoid the mop. Scrub- bing the drudgery and even servitude and penury.

Cinderella mopped the while her stepsisters skipped to the ball. Widowed and penniless, Red mother eked out a living scrubbing Sailors swab ship decks. lowly charwomen mopped as do to- cleaning ladies, janitors and minimum-wagers at But mopping, like housekeeping gen- erally, has its rewards. We most of the world around us, but we can, however within our homes. With each bucket of dirty mop water we pour out (or dust-clotted we throw away), we can see the just made.

These small achievements have become even more meaningful to me since COVID-19 tsumanied over us and showed us just how inconsequen- tial we are. Some ascribe an even higher purpose to cleaning. repetitive action can either become routine, which has a dull- ing or when done with love and awareness can become a spiritual Linda Thomas, a home-economics pro- ponent who ran her own cleaning com- pany in Switzerland, writes in her book, Cleaning Has Meaning: Bringing Wellbeing Into Your Repetitive actions can also be thera- peutic. In a series of studies, David Ei- lam, now a professor emeritus of zool- ogy at Tel Aviv University, has found that repetitive or ritualized behaviors alleviate anxiety by generating a greater sense of control or predictability. been doing household chores for a long time, since I was a kid and my mother asked me and my younger sister and brother to choose a task in ex- change for our weekly allowance.

I vacuumed, mowed the lawn, swept out the garage and, occasionally, did the laundry, depending on which of us got to pick that week. Today, decades older, the one who mops, vacuums, dusts, Windexes the windows and mirrors and, yes, sweeps out the garage. also the one who obsessively, been told wipes down the kitchen countertops, cabinet handles, light switches, door knobs, faucets and the keypad on the microwave to get rid of smudges. Set- ting us apart from most of our friends, my wife and I have never had a cleaning person. not just the money.

more, why you do this your- self? We used to do yoga at our neighbor- hood YMCA, until it was torn down and replaced by a shopping center. At the end of each class, we would lie on our backs in shavasana, or the corpse pose, and relax our bodies, one part at a time, until we had let go entirely. My breath slowed and my heart rate dropped. My thoughts quieted. The outside world disappeared.

Scrubbing the focusing on a mechanical action that takes concen- tration but no brainpower has the same calming on me. Instead of on the next problem (or oppor- tunity, to put it positively), I can go on autopilot and let my mind wander or go blank. The other day, I toted our spin mop up from the basement. I the bucket with hot water spiked with Mr. Clean, smooshed the mop in the suds, gave the foot pedal a few pumps to wring out the mop and began cleaning the of our house.

Several buckets later, I had all 700 square feet. Ahh. Michael Arndt is a a long-time editor and writer based in Chicago, formerly with Bloomberg Businessweek, the Chi- cago Tribune, Chicago Business and the Harris Poll. Celebrating the transcendental joy of household chores yes, even mopping Surveys and research show most people hate doing household chores washing dishes, cleaning the bathroom, ironing, etc. but sweeping, scrubbing or mopping the floor consistently ranks as one of the worst of all.

REVIEWED.COM Michael Arndt Columnist Your Turn Fred Guttenberg Guest columnist.