Time to help: Fellow Americans will need assistance as they battle back

One of the most wonderful things about Americans is that they have perspective when they need it.

So when a good portion of the country is facing massive problems because of a natural disaster, people know that it is time to think about something other than politics -- even though the election is now exactly a week away.

Make no mistake. There will be plenty more politics in our futures. This is too important an election to too many people.

But even with a major political decision so near, there are already millions of Americans offering their services to the mid-Atlantic states and right here at home as they prepare to battle back from the damage caused by then-Hurricane and now Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy.

Money is pouring into the American Red Cross, and people from all walks of life are volunteering to assist their neighbors and strangers.

And from what preliminary estimates suggest, it is going to be a long time before much of the area gets back on its feet.

And, as if the flooding and coastal damage were not enough, now Sandy's effects are spreading across the country, with heavy snows in the Appalachians and high winds in the Midwest. Those areas will need help, too.

So now we need to help each other -- even if there is still a lot of politics to cover.

That's what Americans do.

Published in Editorials on October 30, 2012 10:48 AM