Must accept realities
In just over a year in office, it seems we have experienced nothing but chaos from this president. He doesn't believe experienced personnel confirming Russia's interference in the 2016 election, fires or tries to fire anyone that can prove this, insults world leaders, and antagonizes the leader of North Korea, which could lead to a nuclear attack. Trump also refuses to acknowledge women when it comes to sexual harassment or assault. Could this be because he has been linked to multiple sexual-harassment incidents and now two affairs? This constant chaos leaves our nation vulnerable to our enemies and threatens the very democracy our nation was founded upon.
Now he wants to spend millions of dollars to have a military parade. Really--how outrageous! Dictators demand this type of show. This truly has nothing to do with honoring the great men and women of our military. It continues with Trump's need to elevate himself. If he truly wants to honor our military, why not take the millions of dollars this parade would cost and give them a well-deserved raise? Write your members of Congress and encourage them to speak out against this parade.
Americans, we need to stop taking our freedoms for granted. It' s time to stop complacency and become educated voters. We have to stop making candidates be what we want them to be and accept the reality of who they really are and what they stand for.
KAY HERMANSEN-POOL
Batesville
Support road safety
As flu deaths increased in Arkansas and were forecast to exceed well over 200 total, Gov. Asa Hutchinson stated in late January that he wants to "make sure we're doing everything we can as a state to prevent the spread of the flu." With all due respect to those who have lost family members to the flu, I would like to request the governor also direct the Department of Transportation and the state police and its Highway Safety Office to make sure they also are doing everything they can to prevent the loss of lives on state, county and local roadways.
Well over 500 additional Arkansas family members are missing from family Christmas dinners every year due to roadway fatal crashes in Arkansas. These are not "accidents"; these are preventable fatal crashes! The highway safety professionals in the Department of Transportation and the Highway Safety Office are well aware of the most cost-effective safety measures which could be implemented in Arkansas based on the success in other states which have lowered rural fatality rates much more than Arkansas has in the past decade. (See Federal Highway Administration's historic state by state highway fatality rate tabulations.) What is missing is the support of our elected and appointed state officials, particularly the governor.
Arkansas highway officials often state that "safety is our highest priority." Unfortunately their actions, budgeting and programming do not support their claims as shown in their reluctance to implement very cost-effective safety measures.
It is time for this governor to address this public health epidemic occurring on Arkansas roadways year after year, and prove safety is indeed "our highest priority."
TOM WELCH
Fairfield Bay
How to secure schools
I'll bet if the governor put out a call to retired military and law enforcement veterans who would be willing to volunteer one day a week to defend our schoolchildren, the response would be overwhelming. The state police or the National Guard could develop a two- or three-day refresher course. I can't imagine that being very expensive.
Our politicians can solve this problem with our help.
WR CORLEY
Benton
Worst abuse of logic
Mike Masterson's Give-Trump-a-Chance column is a tour de force of naïvete and denial. The problem with Trump is not that he has a limited vocabulary; it's what he says using that vocabulary. He insults, divides, inflames, incites; and worst of all, he lies. And when he gets caught in a lie, which is virtually every time he opens his mouth, he unabashedly lies some more. I believe Trump's words are not merely a manifestation of plain-speaking, they are the products of a diseased mind and soul. Funny that so many who call themselves Christians can't come to grips with the moral bankruptcy of their president--and I'm still just talking about bearing false witness. And no, the Russian collusion is not "purely politicized"; it's becoming more concrete with every new guilty plea from Trump's slimy campaign creatures.
Masterson's worst moment, and his worst abuse of logic, comes when he attempts to prove that Trump ran for president because "he cared ... about the nation and the future of our children," and offers, as proof, the "salary he needlessly sacrificed for the good of the country." As a lifelong wage slave, perhaps Masterson isn't aware of how Trump makes money. A small example should be sufficient: Following the election, Trump doubled the membership fee at Mar-a-Lago from $100,000 to $200,000. Since then, he has been leveraging the presidency into making more money for the Trump brand in any way he can.
Stick to beating up the hog farm, Mike. You clearly don't have the political sophistication or the cognitive horsepower to figure out what's really going on at the national level.
ALEX MIRONOFF
Fayetteville
A moral to the story
When I was a youngster, 6 years old to be exact, I too, like Ralphie from A Christmas Story, wished for an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle. Yet I got a "Crosman" BB/pellet gun instead.
This gun was actually a little better and had some killing power, and in my head, it was time to hunt. Before getting this birthday gift, hunting was fairly difficult with a slingshot. I opened the gift at the park and I was off to the woods--yes--all alone and armed with more than a "pea shooter." The birds better watch out.
That day, I came back empty-handed, but it would not be long before I finally got my first bird. Upon it falling to the ground from the electric high wire, I went from ecstatically proud and triumphant to bitterly sad and empathetic. What had I done to this poor animal and why? It was not a fun game anymore, but a serious tragedy. I placed it in a shoe box, dug a large hole and had a funeral for the black bird.
Still to this day, I hunt larger game with larger rifles and still feel the same each time I take a life--saddened, and empathetic. I am glad that I learned to hunt, shoot, and to care for all life. I am also glad that Ralphie really did not shoot his eye out, or anyone else's eye. Classic movie, classic rifle, and classic moral to this story! What happened, as I am not that old?
SHANE HAMPTON
Fayetteville
Editorial on 03/01/2018