LETTERS

Seek legitimate votes

I have never shied from reading or hearing those with whom I disagree, and never miss John Brummett, whom I usually find one of the more intelligent and honest purveyors of the beknighted utopianism from which our country has suffered so much. But when he railed against the heartless practice of requiring ID for voting-please, spare me! For how many things in life is a photo ID required? What is more important than voting?

Always the excuse of the old or infirm unable to meet the requirement even when offered them for free. The purpose of the law is to protect the integrity of our rightful votes. Bradley Gitz once told me he estimated the Democrats to be advantaged on national elections by 3 percent due to fraud. I thought he might be low.

Of one thing I am sure: Only those who think they benefit from vote fraud will oppose every measure to make elections more honest. Has there been a single attempt of any kind to protect legitimate voters from being defrauded of the value of their votes by intentional dishonesty that has not been utterly and universally opposed by the Democratic Party?

Enough said.

KARL T. KIMBALL

Little Rock

With only one paddle

Re State of the Union: For me, watching President Barack Obama lead is like watching someone trying to row a boat upstream using only one oar.

It’s really unfortunate that he doesn’t seem to understand our “ship of state” can be moved smartly and with great success when engaging both sides of the aisle. Right now we’re just going in circles, kind of like when you empty the bathtub.

RON HILL

Hot Springs Village

Protected freedoms

At this time of the year I am cognizant of the phenomena of the number of birthdates of people who are recognized for their contributions to the subject of freedom, in particular Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) on January 15, Thomas Paine (1737-1809) on January 29 and Ayn Rand (1905-1982) on February 2.

Yes, people like Paine and Rand are disliked, liked and controversial because they wrote and spoke from well-documented, researched societal conditions, and suggested solutions that were not altogether popular either at the time or even today.

I know the subject of freedom is hardly more than a seldom emotion today in our country, but we must be forever vigilant in maintaining it as we see it still does not get acceptance elsewhere. To those who helped us get our freedom (Paine in particular) and to those who see how it gets eroded (Rand in particular) I say give them an unbiased review.

With that done, I hope you will find it-as I do for this time of the year-that besides Martin Luther King Jr., there are others who should be given gratitude for contributing and protecting our freedoms. It is inspirational for the new year.

JACK MAKENS

Fayetteville

Attack was ridiculous

I saw the mailer supporting John Cooper that John Brummett talked about in his column. Frankly, I can’t believe they said such nasty things about college students. Those college kids were not radicals, as the mailer accused them of being. They were simply young Arkansans dedicated to a cause they felt strongly about. In fact, I was surprised that young people would give up their winter break to work for the political process.

I think that mailer attacking those kids was ridiculous. Those kids were not radical and more importantly, attacking kids should never be acceptable.

Let’s keep political mailers about the issues and the candidates instead of trying to distract voters with petty and meaningless attacks.

TYLER CLARK

Fayetteville

Expected more of him

I must say I was disappointed, but not at all surprised, by Rep. Tom Cotton and his vote against the recent compromise farm bill, which easily passed the House and at the time of this writing, appears headed for easy passage in the Senate as well. In a press release announcing his opposition, Cotton said he was against it in part because of “President Obama’s runaway food stamp program.”

This one line really caught my eye. For one, Cotton fails to even acknowledge that the already meager benefits awarded by this program have been cut once earlier last year and again with this bill. He also fails to mention that many people in his district rely on this program. And Cotton makes it appear that President Barack Obama has something to do with SNAP.

President Obama didn’t come up with this program, neither did President Clinton, Bush, Carter or even Ford or Nixon. The current program originated in the Great Society programs of President Lyndon Johnson. So if Cotton is looking to give credit for the program, he should have given it to President Johnson.

That leaves unanswered why Cotton portrayed Obama as some sort of godfather of this program. Many of us believe Cotton, being a politician, did this to gin up resentment against the president using the not-too-subtle hook of racism. This line of thinking is something that, unfortunately, you can still get some mileage out of in Arkansas. Cotton knows the president isn’t the most popular politician here, so it was a cheap and easy shot he could take with little ramifications against him.

Many of us expect a higher standard in those who purport to “represent” us in Congress.

RICHARD MOORE

Camden

Beebe deserves thanks

The citizens of our state owe Gov. Mike Beebe a debt of gratitude for his accomplishments during the years he have served as our governor. It is reassuring to know that our state is one that has no deficit. His concern for the citizens is apparent. Even though many may have been against our state accepting federal private-option funding, he weighed everything in the balance and realized that to do so was the right thing to do for our future.

I am of the opinion that his tenure will go down in our history as one of the finest governors to have served us because of his genuine efforts to see to the needs of all concerned, and I wish to personally thank him for his service to the state of Arkansas.

T.L. BROWN

North Little Rock