Watch as civics lesson
I don't know if it has been a custom for students in the Cabot School District to be allowed to watch the presidential inauguration at school, but I think it should be.
One of my granddaughters, who is a student at Cabot Junior High North, told me that her class was not allowed to watch the inauguration at her school during social studies class. The granddaughter was told by a teacher that she wouldn't be at school on inauguration day as a sign of protest because she wasn't to be allowed to let her students view the inauguration.
I did not vote for President Trump in the general election as I had decided that he was unfit to be president. In my opinion, he tries to be a bully, is thin-skinned, insecure, childish, undisciplined, fact-free, a bloviator, egotistical, arrogant, and grossly unprepared for his new job. Having said that, I think all students in the Cabot School District should have been allowed to watch the presidential inauguration proceedings as a civics lesson. I don't know if they weren't allowed to watch because of political, personal, or safety reasons, but these students will soon be voting and they should be exposed to all of the process. I wish the president well.
RANDY BLAKEY
Cabot
Fairy tale of Mr. Big
Mr. Big had been tapped to lead the country. He had chosen a few true believers to be his advisers. They were: The Company Man, The Hell for Leather General (aka Jack T. Ripper), the Spin Mister, and the Spin Mistress (who invented alternative facts).
While there were many people who loved him, many were very fearful. Speaking or writing about him in any way not glowing sent The Bird (Tweet) at them immediately. The Bird was quick and without mercy. Now Mr. Big loved to travel among his minions to receive their cheers of love and admiration. However, some chose to stand away because they were fearful. Among the citizens were some who thought Mr. Big needed more of the common touch.
There were tailors who offered to make him a wonderful garment that could magically identify his enemies. Mr. Big loved to strut his stuff and the idea of a magic garment was a powerful item to have. While the clothiers were busy, Mr. Big was also busy sending out edicts to the country's representatives in order to tell them how they were to meet his commands. Any infraction brought not only The Bird, but the threat of bigly shunning.
The big day and the garment arrived. Mr Big was feeling great and his presence was huge. Then some feckless youth was heard to say: "Hey, dude, you are naked as a jaybird." (With apologies to Hans Christian Anderson.)
GWENNETH L. PRICE PICARD
Little Rock
Not transfer of power
Transfer of power? No! Transfer of responsibility, duty, service--yes. Why do the media mischaracterize the role of the president? The president has the highest civil responsibility and duty to serve the American people.
Power? A typical media construct to divide us. A pox on those who use the term.
JACK SCHMEDEMAN
Little Rock
Don't arm campuses
I am writing to express my concern over HB1249, concerning the carrying of concealed weapons on public and private college campuses in Arkansas. As I understand the bill, the governing entities of public and private colleges in Arkansas would no longer be able to prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons on campus unless some very specific criteria are met. This is in contrast to a bill passed previously which allowed each institution the freedom to determine for themselves whether or not to allow firearms on campus.
I am completely against HB1249. Forcing institutions of higher learning in the state to allow faculty and staff to carry weapons is an egregious idea and goes against the "small government" mantra we are always hearing from the GOP. The carrying of firearms into a classroom is most definitely not conducive to learning and would no doubt be intimidating to some students.
Mr. Charlie Collins no doubt believes that an armed faculty and staff would be a complete deterrent to an active shooter; in reality, I believe they are providing the means for an upset or distraught person to become an active shooter. I am not convinced that students should depend on minimally trained faculty and staff to save their lives as opposed to trained law enforcement.
I encourage all who read this letter to write their state senator and representative and ask them to protect students by opposing bills such as HB1249.
JUD HANSON
Fayetteville
Resist name-calling
In Tuesday's paper, Frank Floyd of Berryville had the following in his letter: "Hillary Clinton was a terrible, no good, rotten, really, really bad candidate ... [and] I believe the best thing Barack Obama has ever done for this country happened on Jan. 20th."
I have said I would try to stay out of this fray as it won't change anyone's opinion, but I can no longer keep quiet. I believe Hillary Clinton is an intelligent and amazing woman. Having spent most of her adult life in politics, she has been investigated more often than we grocery shop, and yet they have never found anything worthy of an indictment.
I do not plan to extol the virtues of either of the above people, but calling Hillary Clinton bad names, as is being seen everywhere, is just plain wrong. And how can you do that and still vote for and support Donald Trump? He is a mastermind at bullying, lying, nasty mouth, bad attitude toward women, etc., etc.
One of my sons worked on telephone installation at Trump Towers. His boss on this job was female. The stories he tells about Trump and how he treated the lady boss would make your hair curl, and all she was trying to do was get a job done. And it wasn't just the boss; it was everyone on their crew.
EVELYN BROWN
Little Rock
Not 'alternative fact'
Regarding the political cartoon showing Hillary Clinton telling Donald Trump she won: I am pretty sure Hillary Clinton did not win.
FRANK LATIMER
Sherwood
Editorial on 01/30/2017