Who's pulling strings
By the time this is published, anything may have happened in the U.S. Congress. But as I write this, March 2nd, it is obvious that we need a full, independent investigation into the connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman resist such an investigation at their political peril. If they are still joined at the hip with the administration when the whole Trump presidency comes crashing down, they will tumble down, too.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions wisely recused himself from an investigation. Now I hope the Democrats have enough determination to get to the bottom of the mess. The American people deserve to know who is pulling the strings.
MAYA PORTER
Johnson
Should study statistics
I read with great interest Noah Smith's column from Bloomberg on the value of welcoming legal immigrants into our country. I agree that legal immigrants can be a boon to the U.S. versus the problem dealing with illegals. He considers "comers" to this country to be a positive experience. Many of them do come with the intent of becoming lovers of this country and not just malingerers. The main dynamic he felt immigrants would add to our country would be youth. Yes, our population is aging! With his stats about the low birth rate, could that have anything to do with the lack of live births to expectant mothers?
Perhaps as a country we should study the statistics of deaths caused by abortions rather than the age of the population. As it stands now I believe we are, as a government, paying Planned Parenthood (an oxymoron) to abort millions of prospective citizens. How about we start encouraging more "homegrown" immigrants?
JEANETTE DeVINNEY
Hot Springs Village
Bullies behind wheel
I just moved back home to Arkansas after having spent 25 years in the Pacific Northwest. I used to tell my Columbia River buddies how cordial and congenial the traffic was back home in Arkansas. How friendly, how thoughtful, the roads were back home in good old Arkansas.
Well, I am telling you something really has changed since I left way back then. Seventy-five percent of the time, I'm driving five over the speed limit just to keep from getting blown off the highway, and there is always some pushy driver bearing down on my rear bumper, trying to get close enough to count the dots on my fuzzy dice.
Really? What the heck happened to Arkansas? People passing me like I'm a turtle, and they flip me off and raise their fists? Who do they think they are? What kind of sociopolitical monster has been given unofficial license to be a big bully behind the wheel?
I remember a fair measure of common decency, but it's all over now, baby blue. I can't help but think that some big-ego folks are letting their politics do their driving, and real soon, that, too, will be deregulated.
HOLLY HUNT
North Little Rock
Thoughts on politics
I would like to share my thoughts on a few unrelated items.
I read so many letters of Democrats mentioning the terrible things Mr. Trump has said, and the Republicans mentioning the basket of deplorables from Ms. Clinton. Maybe each time a Democrat writes they should mention the basket of deplorables and each time a Republican writes they should mention what Mr. Trump has said. Unless we are ready to accept our own wrongs, maybe we should not dwell on the wrongs of others.
The birther situation. I never questioned the birth of Mr. Obama; however, it seems to me if there are qualifications to be met in the Constitution, when those qualifications are questioned, it is the responsibility of the candidate to immediately prove they meet those qualifications.
I am embarrassed the way Americans have acted at the town-hall meetings. The freedom to express ourselves belongs to all, not just to the few who wish to dominate the conversation. Most people have come to hear their representative on the issues. If a group of people wish for the audience to hear them, then they should hold their own meetings. The result of some behavior is to make them look foolish while making the representatives look more statesmanlike.
I did not like it when Mr. Trump did not know if he would accept the results of the election. The Democrats were enraged with that possibility. Now it seems it is the Democrats who refuse to accept the result of the election. Let's become civil Americans. My personal preference for president did not even get nominated; however, I want whoever is in the White House to lead our country in the best way it can go. I love my country too much to hope things go bad just over petty politics. I hope at least some of you agree.
GREG MARTIN
Hope
Misplaced priorities
A little article on a recent back page mentions that almost a million and a half children are starving to death in the countries of South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen.
But it's front-page news when some state makes new laws about who can go to what public bathroom. This issue isn't related to any actual problems that have arisen, yet it's the social question of the day.
Meanwhile 500,000 children are starving in Yemen because of a Saudi-led war supporting the Yemen government against a rebel group, the Houthis. Our country has interests in a key shipping lane through which a lot of oil passes, so we support the Saudi bombing. Most of the bombs are American-made. Taking advantage of the chaos, an al-Qaida group has moved in. Our new president is likely to escalate U.S. involvement.
In 2002, war protesters like me said that if we invaded Iraq, it would destabilize the Middle East. The U.S. invaded, and the Middle East has been coming apart ever since. But that's their problem, isn't it, as long as they don't come over here. We have our own problems, like defending our right to not make a wedding cake. Or deciding if there is anybody at all who shouldn't carry a gun, and anyplace at all where they shouldn't carry it.
CORALIE KOONCE
Fayetteville
Editorial on 03/07/2017