LETTERS

Salesmen of the year

As an avid Second Amendment defender, I want to say a hearty “thank you” to President Barack Obama, Vice president Joe Biden, Dianne Feinstein, New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the national media and any other gun-control supporters for their being solely responsible for arming more people in this country than ever before in history.

Every time they open their mouths, the NRA’s memberships increase by thousands and the shelves at gun stores go empty. The more guns in America, the more secure the Second Amendment becomes. These guys should get a kickback from the gun industry, or at least an award for salespeople of the year. Doh!

Faith, family, firearms and facial hair.

SCOTT E. WALDROP

Sherwood

A celebration matures

I’m getting ready to go to Riverfest. It’s just too much a part of my family to miss. Riverfest is where I first met my husband’s extended family. A few years later, young newlyweds, we sat on the grass with our best friends, eating funnel cakes, watching Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I easily recall the year we spread our quilt out, now with a group of friends, and Steven whispered in my ear, “Do you realize four of the five women sitting on this quilt are pregnant?” Yet two of us were still keeping it a secret.

Soon we had preschoolers rolling down the grassy hill, laughing, giggling, and playing chase. Crowds were still thin; it was easy to spread out. I remember the sense of freedom we felt at Riverfest when we realized we didn’t need strollers any more. But that was replaced with anxiety as Michael and Libby wanted to run between the playgrounds, the fountains and then stand in line to layer colored sand into cork-topped bottles.

There were years that were so hot we thought we’d melt. There were years it rained. But Riverfest grew, and with it, my children. I can create a parallel with the growth and sophistication of Riverfest and Riverfront Park to the same in my children.

Libby just finished her first year at NYU. She wanted two of her new girlfriends from New York to visit her here during Riverfest. A very mature Riverfest will see a very mature young woman who will no doubt teach a couple of Yankee girls about sitting in the grass, listening to Southern rock, and eating funnel cakes. It is as summer should start.

JANET RILEY CATHEY

Little Rock

No mystery seen here

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette headline, “Exxon Mobil: Pipe’s fissure still a mystery,” seems both strange and inaccurate.

When 22 feet of a pipeline splits open, the reasons seem obvious. Entropy is at work and is speeded up by a corrosive material at high pressure. In other words, hundreds of miles of pipeline have the same characteristics of the Mayflower pipe. If it continues to be used, there is no question whether it will fail again. The question is only when and where.

Hopefully it will not be in Lake Maumelle.

JEROME DAVID KAHLER

Little Rock

Nature of politicians

That wascally Obama! Republicans in Congress, aided by some lazy pundits, have attempted to demonize President Barack Obama for events in Benghazi and questionable activities by the IRS and Justice Department.

In Benghazi, our embassy was tragically left under protected against terrorists who succeeded in killing our ambassador and three others. As every president in recent decades has discovered, it is impossible to protect every American around the world. We should have done better in Libya, but I’m betting the terrorists would have found some other way to attack us. Obama’s people were clumsy and foolish in trying to put the best face on their incompetence. Such is the nature of politicians.

In a recent column on the editorial page, John Kass wrote of “…his [Obama’s] Internal Revenue Service,” as if the president ordered the close examination of Tea Party applications for tax-exempt status. Excuse me? I believe the Tea Party (Taxed Enough Already) and other conservative groups seeking this exemption are the epitome of hyper partisan political groups. Their apparent sole purpose is to lower taxes on the wealthy; surely they deserve a little scrutiny from the tax man.

And the Justice Department’s snooping into journalists’ records is a long-standing assault on the First Amendment that goes back for decades, if not centuries.

Meanwhile, the House (19 percent approval rating) just voted to dismantle Obamacare for the 37th time. Yawn.

Wake me when something happens.

MARK AROUH

Little Rock

The scandal that isn’t

The worst thing I see about the IRS “scandal” is the fact that we exempt any political-party group from taxes. I think we could fix that if we had a Congress that could figure out what its job is, which isn’t working for the NRA.

The only thing the Republicans apparently are interested in is seeing our country fail so they can say that President Barack Obama is a failure. They voted 37 times to repeal healthcare legislation and voted to require voter ID. During my lifetime, I have worked dozens of elections and don’t recall anyone trying to vote using someone else’s name.

They scream about spending problems, but then when they are faced with airport delays, they can’t wait to vote money to take care of themselves. They have obscene perks paid for by taxpayers.

The few who want to do their jobs and move us forward seem to be afraid to stand up to the power-grabbers for fear of losing their jobs.

In spite of this, we have been able to make some progress toward ending this recession and finding jobs. Think what we could have accomplished with their help rather than their opposition.

Remember President Bill Clinton, how they hated him? The editorial page of this paper still shows signs of hatred for Hillary. Why not get over it and show both sides?

URBA REED

Batesville

Editorial, Pages 17 on 05/24/2013

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