Today's editorial will be all thumbs. By that, we mean we'll be offering observations on a number of topics. As to whether it also means we handle the job clumsily, well we'll leave to your judgment, dear reader.
(Up) U.S. Rep. Steve Womack was given the impossible task of herding the cats during Monday's rules fight at the Republican National Convention. He herded them quite nicely, or as well as cats can be herded.
The "Never Trump" contingent was making its last-gasp effort to stop "The Donald" from topping the GOP ticket for 2016 by moving the goal posts at the end of the game. They were proposing a rules change to allow committed delegate to vote for whomever they want in the hope that enough would abandon Trump and prevent is first-ballot nomination. If that had happened, a real free-f0r-all would have ensued.
Much of the party faithful, having decided that literally anybody is a better choice than Hillary Clinton, were ready to join the Trump bandwagon. So Womack was left to preside over a brief and bitter skirmish between the two factions. No one could have looked in control of chaos on the floor for those few minutes. But Womack managed to stay cool and unruffled as the battle below played out. A deal in the back room settled the matter, clearing the way for Trump's eventual nomination. But Womack provided a steady hand amid the raucous back-and-forth.
(Down) The world has always had chiselers and con artists searching for ways to separate the trusting and innocent from their money. Take, for example, the person who conned a Bella Vista man with the old "send-me-a-little-to-get-a-lot" scam, who then added an even more sinister twist to the ruse: He claimed that a briefcase purported to hold the victim's pay was actually a bomb that would go off if more money wasn't sent to the bad guy, or guys. Fortunately, there was no bomb and the only things lost were money and pride.
Those who take advantage of others in such ways not only victimize the people who get conned, they make the rest of us even more cynical and defensive. It's a double-whammy of anti-social behavior. As it is, we should remember that sad-but-true adage: "If it sounds too good to be true, it is."
(Up) Arkansas public school students got a boost this week with the news that the speed of the state's new broadband connections are even faster than earlier anticipated. In addition, Arkansas will soon become one of only three states to have high-speed broadband available in every school building. That's right, every building. Mark Myers, director of information systems for the state, calls it "moving to the top of the class in connectivity." We call it extraordinary, and in a good way.
(Down) It wasn't great news for University of Arkansas students when this newspaper reported last week a 1.6 percent jump in the cost of attendance in 2015. Now, that likely comes as no surprise to those who have to write the checks, take out the loans and sign up for the second and third jobs in order to pay for college.
The increase for the UA was low in comparison with public universities in neighboring states. It's also worth noting that that the total cost for attending the UA remains among the lowest in the region. But still ...
(Up) They're already working on the northwest branch of Arkansas Children's Hospital in Springdale. The better news is that donations for the facility keep rolling in: $1 million from the Dupps family last week; another $1 million from Premier Concepts of Bentonville this week. And let's not forget the lead gift of 37 acres of land from members of the George and Evans families last August. Once completed, the hospital will have 24 patient beds, offer a wide range of diagnostic services, and surgical and emergency care. Many children and their families will be able to stay closer to home while receiving the outstanding care provided by the doctors, nurses and other professionals from Children's Hospital.
Commentary on 07/21/2016