Something to consider after Buffalo experience
With the lower Buffalo River on the brink of ruin by pollution, surely Arkansas does not need another hog operation.
George Day
Harrison
With skill, Donald Trump managed to steal America
On the first Tuesday of November 2016 a man of pure evil defrauded the American public and took the reins of a great nation.
Perhaps ironically, "race" was not directly involved in the heresy displayed in the election. But it was hatred thoughtfully turned against anything the Republican voters believed Donald Trump was against and which the voters believed was consistent with his or her populist beliefs and fears. That is, those relating to (1) race, (2) regional prejudice or jealousy, (3) the economy, (4) the so-called "coastal elites," or even (5) what some labeled the "Deep State," i.e., a vague term created by Trump's team that allowed him to act as a giant "carnival tent" within which any voter upset or concerned about anything could "park" his or her complaint or problem.
Trump, truly a master propagandist, played to each and every hate, prejudice or even simple regional discomfiture as to the nature of our government's day-to-day operation. Which, the Trump voters believed, had favored whichever group of people they concluded had an advantage over them as to anything in situ on the first Tuesday in November 2016. In this regard I am reminded of news reports and some coffee shop conversations I overheard in the election run-up that evidenced a feeling amongst our local folks that the "elites" of the U.S. lived their lives ignoring us. Those "elites" -- whom they identified with Clinton -- were supposedly flying from New York to California, forgetting or ignoring each and every person living below them and any and all issues with which they might be concerned. And it was, in fact, these disenchanted "flyover" folks who elected Trump as their president because they resolved that, "By God, he will straighten out this mess and give us respect."
Which, if one thinks about Trump's status as a multibillionaire determined to help only himself and other similarly situated millionaire and billionaire ultra elites, demonstrates Trump's magnificent -- even if evil -- talent for misdirection. It was because of these inter-related factors -- the evil, duplicity and skill -- that he actually did win every one of those so-called "flyover states" other than Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado and New Mexico.
Hopefully, the happenstance of the 2016 election (made possible by Trump's unique skill set) will be a "one-off" in the history of the U.S. and never again will our system of government fail the "gal or guy on the street," i.e., every single one of us.
Don Switzer
Rogers
Commentary on 09/01/2018