LETTERS

Miss Osborne’s light

Jennings Osborne was truly a larger-than-life man in many ways. What I remember is the one time I stood face to-face with him amid his red Christmas lights on Cantrell Road. He and his family were passing out Christmas cards and giant candy canes.

The year was 1993, and Osborne was living his dream.

I remember the night so well. After parking my car on a side street, I walked on to the Jennings compound. Immediately I heard Christmas music as I gazed at his myriad of lights. Other folks were milling around in hushed silence.

Yes, it felt like holy ground when I stood before the huge nativity of Jesus’ birth. I don’t recall ever having seen a crèche in larger-than-life figures. My heart was warmed as I gazed at the Christ child.

The main house was in red lights-millions and millions of red lights-creating an image of flame.

I could only imagine that Osborne’s heart was truly what inspired his creation. His intellect had nothing to do with his wonderland. This man was all about heart.

When by court order his Christmas paradise was shut down, I sometimes think his heart shut down, too.

Today the Jennings compound is overgrown with weeds. It’s a real eyesore now. I wonder if red lights would be better today than the haunting effect emitted by total darkness.

KATHY WILLIAMS NEAL

Little Rock

Sure source for letters

It seems the only issue stimulating letters to the editor more productively than the Four Gs (Guns, God, Gays and Gestational Prerogative) is a change in comic strips.

Who says God has no sense of humor?

C. MICHAEL BAILEY

Bryant

Peace in Middle East

Re guest writer Sheldon Richman’s column about Iran: My, my, what an eye-opening rant about how to ensure peace in the Middle East.

My take on the pro-Iranian stance by the writer is that it would guarantee another Israeli holocaust. How many times do the Iranian leaders have to avow the destruction of Israel? How can we trust that Iran never wanted to develop a nuclear weapon? This is the quintessential liberal tenet. So what if Iran had the “bomb”-Israel has more. Surely Israel could retaliate before it was totally destroyed. What about the development of suitcase nuclear devices that could be smuggled into the United States? I guess that would be another paradigm of Iran doing what it never intended to do.

I appreciate the fact that the editor has to provide a “balanced” approach to what people think. I think this is an example of far-left ideology at its finest. Kudos for exposing the mentality of the liberal mind.

Can’t we all just be friends?

THOMAS JOHNSON

McGehee

Honoring Americans

I am uncertain as to the exact meaning of T.A. Laughlin’s accusation that flag-waving hides the ignorance of our history by those waving those flags, or the connection made of taking from Medicaid to give to the Pentagon.

How many people would have been trampled under Nazism or Japanese imperialism had we not responded? How many people would have starved but for the Berlin Airlift? How many South Koreans would be imprisoned today without our intervention in that war? How many millions would have perished in the aftermath of terrible natural disasters around the world had we not helped? These and many more examples are the reasons I wave my flag. I am proud to be an American.

I fully understand that we are not perfect. We are a nation of people, and people are not perfect. Poor decisions by our leaders are tolerated, not forced upon us, because we go to the ballot box ignorant of what goes on in our behemoth of a government. And because we vote on emotion and what feels good.

On the island of Iwo Jima some 70 years ago, a few Americans raised an American flag after suffering tremendously.

On Sept. 11, 2001, a handful of terrorist murderers perpetrated a horrific act to murder 3,000 Americans. How many offers of help did any other country provide us?

America is an exceptional country in all the history of the world. And I am proud to defend our flag. Some in Eureka Springs may find reason to avoid flying the flag and suffer no consequence. They can do that because of Americans like those at Iwo Jima. They may honor them, and many more like them, or not. That is their choice.

MICHAEL SANDERS

Little Rock

It’s nation’s only hope

I would like to be able to write something inspiring and hopeful, but I can’t seem to come up with a whole lot after reading the morning news and gathering up what the TV news offers.

It seems that which needs to be heard is not wanted on the printed page, and since it is not too well-accepted from the pulpit of our churches, I believe the truth has been ignored and compromised to such an extent that the morality and hope of America has reached an all-time low.

If encouragement doesn’t come from our churches, nor from our established government in Washington, then where do we look?

Our leaders are elected to lead and make the decisions that make a difference, but what do they do? Spend all their time arguing about the nonessential. Maybe that is understandable. They need a leader, but what do they have for a leader? I think he leaves a lot to be desired.

I believe that he who sits in the Oval Office needs to be a man of wisdom, integrity and common sense. All the diplomas and certificates hanging on the wall are of no benefit if there is no understanding and compassion to go with it.

It seems he endorses homosexuality and abortion, running our country into trillions of dollars of debt, putting our citizens in jeopardy with this ill-organized medical insurance program and other things of the same unthought-out consequence. I don’t know if you can call that leadership.

I think the only hope that America has is to repent of her sins and come back to the God who gave this freedom, liberty and justice for all.

EVERETT MASON

Pangburn

Send in replacements

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has two comic strips that I think are extremely bad, and I’d like to suggest replacements.

Replace The Duplex with Snuffy Smith, and Wumo with Tank McNamara.

MILTON MURRAY

McNeil

Editorial, Pages 15 on 12/06/2013

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