LETTERS

— Our legislative bullies

What an awful time to be a young woman with an unwanted pregnancy in Arkansas. Some of the most respected, intelligent and necessary people in her life are working hard to make her life much more difficult.

At this point in her life, she needs less pressure, the wisest counsel and the greatest empathy from her adult community as she tries to make the hardest decision she has ever faced. Right or wrong, the Constitution gives her the legal right to make a choice.

It doesn’t matter if her parents, minister, doctor or school counselor support her choice because the Arkansas Legislature apparently has decided that if it does not like her choice, it will pass laws to take it away.

These lawmakers who seem to take pride in going after this young woman are, by majority, older, white, Christian men. For 40 years, this group and its friends have tried to overturn the law of choice without success. They are angry at that law-not the young woman-but that law is out of reach. Unfortunately, she has become the target for the bullies when all she ever wanted was to get on with her life without having a baby.

How absolutely cowardly that the very people who, in the past, have been on the front lines to care for, protect and even die for the women in our lives are now leading the efforts to make life hard for women with an unwanted pregnancy in Arkansas.

And Mr. Governor, you share the shame.

JIM RAWLINS Bigelow Protecting our wildlife

I loved Butterball. Yes, he was too fat, but who could say no? He loved yum-yums and snick-snacks and I’d give them to him. He lived many cat years, and when he died, I bought a casket from his vet and buried him under the apple tree.

Little Gloria was too cute. When she wasn’t so little, she won a blue ribbon at the county fair (my son’s 4-H project). When I took a friend some bacon and chops, she said, “If that’s Gloria, you can take it back home.” Gloria was delicious with eggs over easy, red-eye gravy and biscuits. (Make red-eye with coffee, not water.)

Will Rogers said, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” I’ve never met a dog I didn’t like, but some of them didn’t like me.

I love our wildlife: quail, turkey, songbirds, all of it. I respect and appreciate hunters. They love wildlife like I do. They are better friends to animals than my PETA friend, who refused the gift.

I encourage those who hunt on my land to kill every feral house cat, feral hog and feral dog they see. Protect wildlife.

I’m a realist and a pragmatist. This is planet Earth, not planet heaven.

But I’ll admit I cried when I buried Butterball-tears as big as horse apples.

WAYNE B. WYATT SherwoodToddler knows better

My toddler grandchild is a champion when it comes to sleep. Be it a nap or nighttime, she barely lets out a whimper in revolt.

When it came time for our 15-month-old Godsend to spend the night with us, we decided to invest in one of those “white noise” gizmos that her parents utilized in hopes of recreating their nocturnal miracle. Theirs was a basic rainstorm/ocean surf model that baby had gotten used to; we decided to splurge on an upgrade. Grandparent privilege.

Our unit had a few new sound settings and we wanted to let the baby get used to the new sounds, so we gave the unit to her to push the buttons: ocean; rainstorm; and then lullaby; and lastly, heartbeat-sounds she had not yet encountered from a sleep machine.

When she heard the heartbeat sound, she stopped, pondered, and then, with the sweetest and most tender voice one can imagine said, “Mama.” My wife and I were dumbfounded, and then brought to tears. When our daughter-in-law returned, we played the heartbeat recording and once again, “Mama” came forth … as did the tears.

Long story short: When someone like Gary McLehaney says that life doesn’t happen until you leave the womb, and that in the womb you are a developing and functioning body that knows absolutely nothing, please don’t believe it. After all, a toddler knows better.

Out of the mouths of babes.

BRADLEY BARBER FayettevilleHow many more rats?

Years ago, I studied two years each at UCA and the U of A. I never doubted the integrity of the big boys and girls in charge.

Now, however, I’ve lost track of how many have acted abominably.Are there many more rats in the woodpile? How many more will be fired, fined or jailed?

SETH HENRY StuttgartWisdom appreciated

Some would characterize it as “speaking truth to power.” I prefer “speaking common sense to leftwing, ideological dogma.” However described, Benjamin Carson’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast was a breath of fresh air.

Dr. Carson, world-renowned director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, speaking only a few feet from President Barack Obama, delivered a blistering critique of administration policies ranging from health care and political correctness to taxation as a means of redistribution. Considering Carson’s worldwide reputation and prestige, his comments warrant the attention of every citizen who holds an allegiance to America’s founding principles and harbors apprehension about our country’s direction.

The doctor’s exemplary biography is depicted in the docudrama Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. His achievements, from a humble beginning as the son of an illiterate, single mother until now are far too numerous to enumerate here. The author of four best-selling books, he was thefirst doctor to successfully separate conjoined twins joined at the back of their heads.

Carson, a man of many talents and interests, is a patriot who understands and appreciates America’s exceptionalism and appears willing to defend its core principles with words and actions. We should all endeavor to learn more about this soft-spoken doctor and welcome his voice and wisdom in our national debate about the future course of our republic.

DENNIS LEGGETT BatesvilleNeed to cede ground

I tend to vote Democrat on most issues-can’t explain it (same as being unable to explain why I think chocolate is a better flavor than vanilla). It’s just the way I am.

That opinion is wavering, however, as I continue to see the Democrats’ leadership refusing to address wasteful spending and get real about paring down some of the government programs that are only providing a benefit for the recipients and not to the taxpayers who are paying for them. Democrats got their way on the fiscal-cliff thing and now need to learn to give up something on their end.

The next election might very well find me filling in more of those little circles in the other column on my ballot sheet.

RUSSELL LEMOND Little RockPut out to pasture?

I challenge the sports section of the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette to devote at least a paragraph in its daily reporting from Oaklawn to those horses who either finished “99” lengths behind or did not finish.

STEVE A. JONES El Dorado

Editorial, Pages 19 on 02/27/2013

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