LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — Give Obama a break

The editorial review of the president’s inaugural speech was, I felt, mean-spirited at best. Is it not at least possible that he actually believes what he says, that he still sees us as the “City on a Hill?”

Grinch-like reviews such as this do little to alleviate the terrible atmosphere that seems to be rapidly bringing us to Third World status.

Does anyone remember where we were four years ago? I lived through the Depression and felt that we were going there again. If anyone had told me that the market would go from just under 8,000 to nearly 14,000 and unemployment would be at 7.9 percent, I would have thought them mad.

Please give the president a break.

TED ZABEL

Cherokee Village

Boys’ acts admirable

We all hear about the bad and evil of this world and many of us have experienced it, but two heartwarming and laudable acts of love and kindness performed very recently by two local Benton boys show that there is still some good emanating from our society.

Commendations go out to M.J. Ferguson and Cameron Terrell. Both boys gave up their traditional birthday gifts to help organize separate donation drives for the purpose of collecting food, clothing, shoes and other essentials for the less fortunate and needy in Saline County and within their own schools.

These selfless and praiseworthy acts do not go unnoticed in our community, but especially with God. The Bible states very plainly that when we help the poor and needy, it is if we are giving or lending to the Lord himself, and the Lord will surely repay us through blessings of various kinds.

A big kudos goes out to these two boys who hopefully will have inspired others to do like deeds in their own communities.

REEVES HUIE

Benton

Some stones to throw

As usual, I enjoyed the sarcastic humor of John Brummett in his recent column on Mike Beebe’s patience. However, the letter under the column, penned by the recently elected Jason Rapert, was even more hilarious.

While Brummett explored Gov. Beebe’s conspiring with Rapert on the grocery-tax measure, Rapert was crying about “personal attacks.”

It seems that Arkansas has once again elected a politician who has placed his personal beliefs in the headlines of most of the major news media.

It appears that partly through Mr. Rapert’s personal efforts, our state continues to make the case that we are oddly populated with a combination of pious, sexist, narcissistic, racist and religious fanatics.

It just seems strange to me that all of the above traits can be found in one individual.

Mr. Rapert must understand that he is a politician. Politicians, like people who live in glass houses . . .

MICHAEL CAUSEY

Conway

All have privacy right

It’s not about exceptions for rape, incest or health of the mother. It is about an individual’s constitutional right to privacy and personal liberty.

No one but a woman who becomes pregnant has the right, or the burden, to determine whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.

When governing bodies start dictating when, where and how a woman’s body must be examined, prodded or probed, it is the end of equal justice for one gender at the bidding of the other. Women’s bodies are not objects to be controlled by any legislative agenda.

I know no one who is “anti-life,” but I know many who profess to be “pro-freedom.” What freedom is more celebrated in our culture than one of self-determination?

Sadly, there are those in elected positions who misuse their power to create legislation specifically designed to deprive half the population of this country of their right to individual freedom.

Surely they understand that we all desire the same thing-we want what’s best for ourselves and our families. Both men and women have the right to personal freedom and self-determination, not just the half with a Y chromosome.

What is it about the female gender that causes some legislators to feel compelled to propose government control over women’s bodies?

HELEN JANE BROWN

Fayetteville

Holes in background

Since guns are inanimate objects, they cannot be evil. Only those who use guns can be good or evil. If one wants to solve a problem, he should eliminate the cause. Unfortunately, our leaders either ignore the cause, or they are extremely ignorant.

The gunmen at Virginia Tech, Newtown and Aurora were all known to have mental problems. Why did people not know about these mental problems? Federal privacy laws kept Seung-Hui Cho’s mental condition secret. Those who should have known that he was a danger to himself and others were denied that knowledge.

Can you believe that Cho passed the state and federal background checks? Time Magazine reported that Cho showed three forms of ID-a Virginia driver’s license, imprinted checks with the same address, and a U.S. immigration document proving he was a permanent resident of the U.S. Why did state and federal databases not show he had mental problems?

The cause of the Virginia Tech massacre was known only to the killer. However, the method of purchasing his weapon is known to all as a background check. If felons and mentally ill are prohibited by law to own guns, why is there no record in state and federal databases?

Would it not be simple to create a database of the mentally ill and felons that would be accessible to gun dealers and gun shows? Why wasn’t it available?

Unfortunately, political correctness and equality nullify universal background checks.

DON CROWSON

Benton

Putting ideas in peril

If the concept of a university means anything, it means an arena where ideas survive on the basis of their logic and accuracy. Advocates are free to express their thoughts without fear of retaliation or physical abuse.

The NRA is fond of arguing slippery slopes. Promoting the introduction of guns onto the campus of any educational institution puts us on a slippery slope to the day when the survival of an idea will be dependent not on its elegance but on the firepower of its advocates. It tells the student that, after all, the pen is not mightier than the sword.

LEN WHITE

Fayetteville