LETTERS

We need leadership now. Desperate governments do desperate things.

Along with Iran, North Korea is a desperate nation with a nutcase leader and a trigger finger on a nuclear weapon. I am not sure we can afford to wait for these nutcase countries to make the first move. We need leaders with enough courage to take decisive action.

North Korea says it has now placed missile launch sites directed at the U.S. While we do have effective anti-missile capability, what happens if one gets through? Let’s hope it’s a dud. Sometimes things don’t work as designed and accidents do happen. We even had such an accident here in Arkansas.

The energy release of these bombs is measured in kilotons or megatons. I participated in a series of 17 tests. Everything went smoothly except for one dud and two incidents. One was an air drop (3.5 megatons) that went way off course. The other was a dirty bomb (5 megatons) with the mushroom drifting off course and over us.

It’s a little hard for me to get a handle on the power of a nuke, but one kiloton equals a thousand metric tons of TNT and one megaton equals a million metric tons of TNT.

That seems to me like enough to flatten the Ozarks. In an earlier test series, one bomb actually sank an island.

We cannot afford to take the high road and simply wait to be attacked. We need leadership with enough courage to do whatever it takes to protect us against this threat. If a country has to be devastated, better them than us.

DONAL B. WRIGHT

Cabot

The question of when

At what stage in human development does the taking of a life become murder?

All you abortionists, please clarify this for me.

PAUL CHRIST

Harrison

Well, not all children

Why does it seem that most conservatives, who are so concerned about the rights of unborn children, support slashing benefits that harm born children?

BILL FRITZ

Hot Springs Village

Argument is not valid

So many women have written that they are angry about the Legislature’s recent rulings on abortion, as though they are so compassionate and concerned about unwanted children. They seem so sure that just because a woman wasn’t planning on a pregnancy, she will abuse and neglect her children.

I don’t believe this is a valid argument. Plenty of us weren’t the result of a planned pregnancy and still had a wonderful childhood, being loved and valued by our parents. Their so called concern for these unwanted children leads to the children’s death. How kind. Do they feel the same way about abused wives, that the solution to the problem is to kill all unwanted wives? Can we end abuse of the elderly by killing all the elderly?

Dorothy Meyer wrote recently about a woman in poverty who has five children and is expecting her sixth. The woman could have had six abortions, but the woman decided to have the children. Does she not have that right? Would Ms. Meyer force her to have an abortion? Seems to me that Meyer is trying to force her opinion and prejudices on this woman. She seems to be of the opinion that all women are pro-abortion and anti-religion, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is not really a religious issue, but an acknowledgement that abortion is killing innocent lives.

JUDY STARRETT

Little Rock

Aid those who need it

The state Legislature is proposing to modify our current income-tax rates to reduce the tax on income of $44,000 and up. While this will benefit many of us who are already able to get by on what they earn, the fair way to modify the income-tax rates would be to set a reasonable minimum level of income for everyone that is exempt; for instance, the first $10,000.

The proposed modification is regressive in that it provides no relief for those who are most in need of it. Arkansas’ income begins at an unconscionably low rate as it is, disproportionately affecting those with the least among us, particularly the working poor.

Let’s see a much-needed, fair tax-modification proposal.

VICKIE COCHRAN

North Little Rock

Infringes on our rights

I read that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his propaganda group, Mayors against Illegal Guns, are planning to run TV ads here to put pressure on our senators to abandon their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution by voting for the “people control” (gun control) bills Democrats are submitting to infringe on our right to defend ourselves from criminals and tyrants.

The group frequently cites a typical leftist talking point that 40 percent of all gun sales are by non-dealers who don’t do background checks. This is based on an old survey of 251 people who were asked if they “thought” they bought a gun from a licensed dealer. At that time, regulations were more lenient and many gun lovers got a license and sold guns to friends and family. So they were licensed and subject to following all Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms regulations even though the buyers may not have known it.

I’m sure Mayor Bloomberg and his group know this, but in their quest to deny you your right to defend yourself, they use it anyway. How many of their other talking points are false? Don’t fall for it.

Gun control is people control!

MICHAEL BRANNICK

London

Odd distortion of facts

I would like to thank George Weeks for his Second Amendment tirade against me in his letter. His strange distortion of the facts of my letter seems to match his interpretation of the Second Amendment. I do have knowledge of firearms. I served in the Army and used many different guns, such as the .45-caliber pistol I carried when on duty as a military policeman.

Does anyone have the right to shoot and kill someone who might be caught stealing the wheels off their car? Is that a capital offense and can it be justified by the Second Amendment as it was written? If so, then we are living by the law of the jungle.

Yes, I have done my homework on gun rights for the last 60 years, and they have been expanded unnecessarily by the conservative legislators who, I believe, are in the pocket of the gun lobby. This has contributed to the proliferation of mass-killing guns and gun violence in this country.

Mr. Weeks’ rather crazy claim that I probably defend my home with a muzzle-loading gun is a dumb insult. No, it’s a .38-caliber police special.

I agree with the NRA that mentally ill people should not own guns. Do civilized humans threaten to get the job done with a gun by killing another human?

The U.S. is one of the few modern nations where a citizen can get away with murder in the name of self-defense, real or perceived.

RICHARD SNIVELY

Fayetteville

A fact-finding mission

Re Robert McGehee’s letter about the editorial page: Seems to me the editorial writers do express their views-the object of an editorial page.

McGehee writes: “How about telling the story with all the facts and letting your readers make an informed decision?”

I suggest asking him to present the facts, as he sees them, so we, the readers, can understand just what the hell he is talking about. Instead of criticizing, offer us some facts, so we too can be informed and evaluate his facts.

BILL BURK

Rogers

Something to consider

I was highly disappointed in Paul Greenberg’s response to the allegations of former Supreme Court Justice Robert Brown that Greenberg had misstated facts on a conference on judicial reform both had attended. I expected a reasonable explanation from Mr. Greenberg, but instead, his response seemed more of an expression of elation over being compared to H.L. Mencken by Brown. Actually, Brown simply said that Mencken was Greenberg’s mentor and made no comparison of the two, so there was no cause for elation other than being mentioned in the same paragraph.

Greenberg did not address any issues raised by Brown, but used his excellent prose mainly to praise Mencken. Apparently one must assume that Brown was correct in all of the views he expressed, including that Greenberg is part of the problem. If this is the case, Greenberg wasted a good opportunity to admit his mistakes and to apologize to Brown and the public.

The public expects some bias and lack of balance in editorials on controversial subjects, but there should be no room for changing the facts to suit the opinions of the editor. I think most editors will admit to making mistakes in a general way (Whose sins are few?), but once an editorial is published, it seems to become sacred and immune to mistakes. Truly great editorials require a firm foundation of honesty and truth, as well as elegant prose.

Will Brown’s account have any effect on how Mr. Greenberg handles material for his editorials? Probably not, but it will give the readers something to consider.

J.O. LEGG

Rogers

If the Times says it …

OMG!

The New York Times has written an article disparaging laws passed by the Arkansas Legislature. I am amazed; astonished even.

In his Voices letter, Jim Pfeifer doesn’t identify the laws discussed, but says the article casts Arkansans as extreme and embarrassing; the laws are said to be unconstitutional and will no doubt keep industry from moving to Arkansas. Not only that, but we will have to spend money defending these laws.

I bet people at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette are proud to learn about the power of the press.

I say: Why can’t the Times concentrate on its own crazy New York legislature and governor instead of our crazies, including (as Pfeifer identified) our Gov. Orval Faubus? Have we gone that long without a crazy governor?

Mr. Pfeifer did not say so, but he obviously was referring to our new pro-life laws. I have a solution. Tell our Legislature to ask the New York Times to review any pro-life laws Arkansas legislators propose, and only pass the ones the Times disparages. That way, we’ll keep solving the abortion “problem” one incremental step at a time. Support life.

THOMAS G. MURRAY

Bella Vista

Only a matter of time

I know the Republicans are 130 years behind in Arkansas. Is that why they have filed 130 years’ worth of bills in one session?

Due to term limits being too short and the Republican takeover, we sure could use some adult leadership in our House and Senate. How long before our state government is as screwed up as our federal government?

J.B. PRESLEY

Batesville

Feedback

Seeking champion

Paul Greenberg’s column column on banks “too big to save” was worth the price of an annual subscription to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The danger to government of the people, by the people, and for the people identified in that column is clear and present.

The question that Greenberg stopped short of raising is: Who cares enough about this issue to take it on?

I desperately wish I could think of a single potential champion in either political party who qualifies for the task.

But we can hope at least that Greenberg’s column will start a discussion.

BILL SHEPHERD

Little Rock

The devilish details

My thanks to Wesley Clark for pointing out that Paul Greenberg’s halo is more than slightly askew and has been for some time: “Paul strongly pushed for this war and for staying in it, chiding all those of us who had doubts …”

AUDREY CROOK

Hot Springs