Letters

Deserving of coverage

This summer, at a gathering of over a thousand in Central Arkansas, I asked those in the room with a pre-existing condition to stand. Around half the room rose.

Then I asked those who have an immediate family member with a pre-existing condition to stand. The entire room was on their feet.

Standing at the podium, I was already on my feet, but I too would have risen on the first ask. Last year, I was diagnosed with and overcame bladder cancer. And now I, like 1 million Arkansans, live with a pre-existing condition. For us and our families, the notion of having access to care without going bankrupt or dying is a daily reality.

There is now a lawsuit seeking to allow insurance companies to charge exorbitant amounts of money to those of us who, through no fault of our own, have a pre-existing condition, whether asthma, diabetes, cancer, or something else.

While the lawsuit is dangerous, it merely highlights the ongoing attack from Washington on Americans' ability to have affordable health care. Our own representative, Congressman Hill, has voted dozens of times to do just what the lawsuit would--make care much more expensive or remove it entirely from hundreds of thousands of Arkansans. Last year, with the vote of Congressman Hill, the House passed one of these bills, which even the president called "mean," and then celebrated afterward with grins and portraits in the Rose Garden.

Congressman Hill recently stated he has "no regrets" about that vote. We deserve better. Pre-existing conditions deserve coverage. Americans deserve representatives who fight to protect their constituents' access to health care--not vote to take it away.

I say this not for myself but for the million Arkansans with pre-existing conditions and the families across this state and country because for them, this issue is truly a matter of life and death.

CLARKE TUCKER

Little Rock

State Rep. Clarke Tucker is running for Congress in the 2nd District.

Made it about politics

I am an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Army, married 50 years to a woman, have raised two children who are successfully functioning adults, retired from a blue-collar job I worked for 35 years. Yet in the last 10 years I have been called a bitter clinger, right-wing extremist, racist, Nazi, misogynist, homophobe, xenophobe, Islamophobe, stupid, naïve, idiot, climate denier, deplorable, toothless garbage person and many others, all because I voted against St. Hillary and believe in the First and Second amendments and am a Christian and do not believe there are more than two genders.

Who called me all these names? The members and supporters of the Democratic Party.

Furthermore, it seems they have made everything a political war--entertainment, business, even funerals. And now they bring a mob of protesters to a hearing on a Supreme Court justice. Because of it I don't watch TV or movies anymore and have been disinvited from doing business with companies I liked. What do they think will happen next time they win an election? Do they not realize what goes around comes around? Do they think we on the right will just roll over and not retaliate?

They are discarding history, pretending insanity is sanity and lies are truth. It's as if the liberals took Orwell's book 1984 to be a how-to book instead of a warning. And these smartphones we are all carrying around are the Big Brother televisions from that book. I fear for the future of my grandchildren.

JR CROMWELL

White Hall

Doesn't tell us much

I've recently seen some commercials featuring Clarke Tucker talking about some events that shaped his life. That's nice, but what's he going to do for me? He's just giving me a resume of where he went to school, his church, where he played ball and where he beat cancer. There's not much in these commercials that thousands of ordinary Arkansans do, have experienced before or are facing today.

There are not any reasons to vote for him.

I also beat cancer at UAMS, I played baseball at Lamar Porter Field, I was baptized in a local Presbyterian church, and I graduated from Central High School. Just like Clarke Tucker. Maybe I'm qualified to be a congressman too.

TIM IRBY

Little Rock

Was he heroic icon?

I know I will take some heat on what I am about to write, but the doting media have gone overboard on their admiration for John McCain. I think one of the problems is that so many people mistake courage for heroism. By definition, heroism consists of putting others first, even at one's own peril. John McCain was shot down and captured. He was severely injured, received less than adequate medical attention, and spent years as a POW. That does not make him a hero. That just means he was terribly unlucky.

There were hundreds of other airmen that languished in Hanoi, but there were even more that died from enemy anti-aircraft fire. I lost almost all of my closest friends during that 10-year war. McCain was given accolades for refusing to be repatriated early. That was not heroism; he was simply following the instructions from the American Fighting Man's Code of Conduct. It states that when a POW you will not accept parole or special favors from the enemy. I have no doubt that McCain suffered, but he did not die as did two pilots I knew who were beaten to death.

Upon his repatriation he found that his beautiful wife, Carol, had been horribly injured three years before his release. As per his close friends, McCain began to "play around" almost immediately. He divorced Carol and married pretty and rich Cindy (18 years his junior) one month after the divorce. Real class act!

Does anyone remember the "Keating Five" and the savings and loan debacle? Five politicians were accused of accepting illegal gratuities from Charles Keating, head of Lincoln Savings and Loan, John McCain being one of them. By the evidence shown, I believe all five were guilty; however, McCain got a pass from the Democratic Congress. Since that time, his voting record came closer to mirroring that of John Kerry than that of his fellow Republicans.

So, was John McCain the heroic and patriotic icon being painted by the media? You make your own conclusion.

ROBERT W. BEST

Greers Ferry

Must protect the river

I am a supporter and admirer of the Buffalo River. I don't want to see our beautiful river that has been tirelessly protected to be polluted by anyone. I commend the writer John Kimbrow referred to and think his criticism of the subject choice to be unwarranted.

I for one believe that the effort to protect our river must be ongoing and never-ending. There will always be those, in this state and Washington, D.C., who will want to exploit this gift God has given us to cherish and protect. The hog farm is a present problem. Until that problem is addressed and eliminated, the information and protection must continue.

The gift of this river must not be underappreciated. When we stop fighting we will lose our precious river. I don't want future generations reading about the Buffalo in Arkansas history books. I want them to experience and enjoy this gift, as I have.

CLAYELL CHRISTY

Jacksonville

Editorial on 09/10/2018

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