As a citizen I am deeply concerned by the depth and scope of the problems we are facing at this point in our nation’s history, and the fact that we seem to have lost our collective focus.

We are still actively engaged in a war on terror. Our financial situation is precarious at best. Political turmoil and partisanship seem to be crippling our government’s ability to effectively confront, let alone solve, a host of serious issues we face (health care reform, illegal immigration, a dysfunctional criminal and civil justice system, to name just a few).

I don’t have answers to these questions, and I am not going to render my personal opinions — but we had better start collectively thinking and doing something before our options fade away.

I don’t care which Kardashian is pregnant, what club Paris Hilton hung out at last night, or what dress the celebrity of the minute was wearing yesterday. What does it really matter in an age where a 20-year-old kills elementary school children and their teachers in a small town in Connecticut?

Jeff Olander

Bend