Humor, originality
What a sad day it was to read of the way-too-soon passing of Michael Storey. I totally trusted his television reviews and best bets and set my DVR accordingly. I'll never forget when he wrote glowingly about the upcoming series Breaking Bad and, as always, he was right on the mark. I did feel sorry for him having to watch all the really bad TV shows since about 95 percent are awful.
Of course, Otus the Head Cat was his crowning accomplishment with its fresh humor and originality. I looked forward to that priceless nugget every Saturday. He had a way with words and a command of the English language that made reading him a true pleasure. His columns reflected his wit and personality in a way that you felt you knew him. Truth be told, it was he, Bryan Hendricks and Paul Greenberg that assured my subscription loyalty to the Democrat-Gazette. I miss him already!
My deepest condolences to Miss Celia and his family. Michael was truly a gem and one of a kind.
PATRICIA HILLIS
Little Rock
Toss the amendment
One thing that will help our national government work more efficiently and in line with how the founders designed our nation to work is to repeal the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. Until the 17th Amendment was passed, the Constitution of the United States under Article I, Section 3, stated that the Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state chosen by the legislatures of each state.
Senators should represent the states and not be elected by popular vote.
JOHN SCHMIDT III
Hot Springs Village
Proved equal to task
After the 2016 election, my wife and I decided to join the Garland County Democratic Party and volunteer to do whatever we could to help. That is when we met Hayden Shamel, who was the chairperson of the Garland County Democrats.
We quickly learned to appreciate Hayden's energy, hard work, decency, and dedication. It was then an easy decision for us to volunteer for her campaign for U.S. Congress in the 4th District of Arkansas.
Hayden has proven herself equal to the task of organizing and leading a true grass-roots campaign of volunteers and local contributions which has become competitive with her opponent who is well-financed, largely by out-of-state corporate sponsors.
Please join us in supporting with your contributions and your votes for Hayden Shamel. If elected, she will put people above profits, and will be a representative all Arkansans can be proud of.
ROBERT BARD
Hot Springs
A dictator in training
Donald Trump admires the way Chairman Kim's subjects sit up straight and clap for him. That is what he wants out of "his people," from all Americans. The only people who do that for him are the Trumpers who get their news from the "real" news on Fox. He admires and respects President Putin. He promises to be just like him if we would just make him president for life. Think how powerful we would be. He can make fire come down from heaven. He would follow Putin's example and divide the assets of the country among his rich friends.
He would rid the nation of all "fake news" on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS. He would require all Americans to watch Fox News and listen to the news on Fox Radio. He would no doubt declare himself God and execute anyone who does not believe it, and Don Jr. could succeed him as our Dear Leader. Fake news would be outlawed, and the commentators on CNN, et al., would be jailed or worse.
He would require everyone to attend military parades in our new capital city in Kansas. What a wonderful future we would have. Hitler, too, was elected the first time.
If you get your news from only one source, chances are you watch Fox News and listen to Fox Radio. You don't get the news. You listen to brainwashing propaganda 24/7. Republicans in Congress are afraid Trump's base will defeat them in the next primary. They are spineless cowards. They will not provide the constitutional check necessary on this president.
Pray for our nation and vote for Democrats to save us. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country--not their party! This election really is different. We will rise or fail on your vote Nov. 6.
RUUD DuVALL
Fayetteville
Big Brother schemes
In a recent editorial regarding Issue 1, the writer compliments those who demand an "independent" judiciary in order to have checks and balances among the three branches of government. Actually, the three branches are already independent by the design of their responsibilities under the Constitution. That is the heart of our system and the reason for our success. Checks and balances come into play when at least one branch can affect or limit how another branch carries out its assigned tasks. For instance, the allowed use of judicial discretion is going to be much more extensive if the power comes only from the Supreme Court. If the Legislature is involved, it may affect or limit the misuse of such power. Currently it requires two-thirds of each house to do that. Issue 1 reduces that to three-fifths of each house. So not enough improvement to call for an amendment.
As for the whole of Issue 1, clearly it incorporates separate issues that are unrelated. Each one should be dealt with separately by the voters rather than lumped together as they are in Issue 1. In its current form it forces the voters to ignore what they dislike in order to vote for a factor they agree with. Furthermore, there is no wisdom whatsoever in setting an arbitrary value on anyone's pain and suffering. Imagine the difference between loss of a limb and quadriplegia. Now imagine that the victim is a child.
We are not all the same, and seldom are the results of significant injuries all the same.
Finally, a constitutional amendment of any kind should be carefully worded and understandable. Issue 1 is neither. No doubt, the effort behind Issue 1 smacks of selfish interests attempting to operate through Big Brother principles.
J.R. NASH
Little Rock
Investigation needed
In response to his column Oct. 8, I have one simple question for Professor Bradley Gitz: Unless he believes Dr. Ford and Ms. Ramirez are lying, does he not believe their accusations deserve thorough investigations? Such investigations did not occur.
EARL RAMSEY
Little Rock
Editorial on 10/14/2018