LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — More were to blame

Re Bill Fritz’s letter about spawned hatred: He stated that President George W. Bush’s choice to invade Iraq and Afghanistan is the reason that many Muslim nations hate us.

Well, I beg to differ, since Fritz apparently has forgotten that in 1979, a group of militant Islamic extremists took over our embassy in Iran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Then in the 1990s, all the embassy bombings, and the bombing of the USS Cole, and then the biggest attack of them all, 9/11.

The hate was already there. And not to mention that the president in 1979 and the ones in the 1990s did nothing to stop further attacks.

DAVID FOSTER

Hardy

Liberal interpretation

A recent Voices page had two typical liberal letters. By typical I mean the practice of taking a complete subject or statement, then using only 5 percent of it to make a 100 percent argument.

First, W.J. Braithwaite’s new math: Somehow Obama’s $716 billion from Medicare (conveniently over the next 10 years) is 100 percent good, Romney’s 100 percent bad. I believe all reports say Medicare only has a few years to live as is. So W.J. should be truthful. Medicare as we know it has to change in order to exist.

Next, John Matlock’s letter about Romney’s 47 percent comment: The quick history of his schooling and work is commendable, but he knows as well as I do that he’s not who that statement is about. After the “secret recording,” I thought, okay, where’s the problem? He told the truth. Responsibility and ambition are two key things to consider. People who try to improve themselves (school, training, etc.) deserve some help. Some people honestly need help, temporary or long-term, no problem. But this was aimed at the freeloaders, bums who consistently refuse to take responsibility and think the rest of us owe them everything.

Now, I doubt either of us will change the other’s mind, and there are many subjects we could debate for days, but there is a choice. Endorse this Democrat-Socialist trend to coddle freeloading bums, or the Republican responsible way. Insist that those who can, get off their behinds and contribute to society by helping themselves.

RON ARMSTRONG

North Little Rock

Benefits all involved

I saw on television that prisoners are engaged in making uniforms for our military. Absolutely brilliant. This not only provides uniforms for the military, it gives the prisons funds to operate. It also provides the inmates a training program for their future outside. It gives them the vocational opportunity to go into business for themselves when their term in jail has ended. God bless whoever came up with this idea of the opportunity for a lifetime change for these people.

Oh, man, yeah. As an added idea, this cause may enable textile mills to start a whole new industry, with new jobs and opportunity for many other people. Made in the U.S.A., not China.

ABBIE ELLIOTT

Little Rock

A nonsensical notion

Recently, Paul Greenberg denounced the BBC for rejecting the idea of erecting a statue of George Orwell in front of its headquarters on the grounds that the esteemed author was “too left-wing.”

According to Greenberg, the author of Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm and 1984 exhibited a “Tory sensibility” that apparently BBC bureaucrats were too dull to recognize.

Sorry, but this is nonsense. Satire like 1984 is inherently ambiguous. However, to the end of his life Orwell resisted being lionized by conservatives.

Shortly before his death in 1949, Orwell wrote to an official of the United Auto Workers here in the United States about this exact issue:

“My recent novel is not intended as an attack on socialism or the British Labor Party (of which I am a supporter),” he insisted, “but as a show-up of the perversions to which a centralized economy is liable and which have already been partly realized in Communism and fascism . . . The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English speaking races are not innately better than anyone else, and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere.”

It’s never clear if Greenberg’s attempts to recruit Orwell into the Republican Party are the result of ignorance or wishful thinking.

That they are historically inaccurate, however, is beyond dispute.

GENE LYONS

Houston

Context is important

While letter writer Don Miller was correct in saying that neither Mitt Romney, Bill Clinton nor Barack Obama served in the military, he may have wanted to consider context before accusing fellow writer Toni Mikel of a lack of knowledge. Romney and Clinton came of age during a time of an active military draft; both used a completely legal military deferment to purposefully avoid military service. In Romney’s case, the first deferment was as a “minister of religion,” and the subsequent three were for college enrollment. Clinton also was given student deferments.

Obama came of age in a time of no active draft, thus he was free to choose-he chose public service versus a military career, but did not employ any tactic to purposefully avoid military service.

SUSAN J. KROTZ

Berryville

Get a bumper sticker

In the beginning, the Arkansas Legislature approved a measure to recognize veterans with a special vehicle tag at a reduced fee. I applaud the gesture, and I have personally thanked one of our legislators; others should do the same. So let’s don’t complicate things trying to differentiate who did what. A veteran is a veteran who served his or her country. The signs along the highway say Veterans Memorial Highway or Purple Heart Highway, and we all understand and accept, right?

If the state-issued tag does not convey the message you prefer, then there are decals and bumper stickers that can be made for any message you want. I see them quite often.

Let’s park the issue and thank our legislators for something most other states do not have.

ROBERT BUTLER

Arkadelphia