So, about the hacking
Dear Arkansas congressmen: What are you going to do for the citizens of Arkansas and the U.S. in regards to Russian and Chinese hacking into our elections? We may lose our democracy if we sit on our laurels hoping for the best or sticking our heads in the sand like an ostrich. Problems don't go away when ignored; they just get worse.
I would like to see an answer in the paper and some legislation introduced. I'm too old to start learning Russian or Chinese.
EDITH SEAMAN
Lakeview
Sorry, vegetarians ...
Democrats in California are ridiculed for trying to protect us from unknowingly purchasing products that contain cancer-causing substances. The importance of that knowledge to us is obvious, such as with lead in water hoses. Personally, I think about the preventable health issues of the relatively unregulated foreign workers who are producing those products. They benefit greatly from a shift in ingredients demand too.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Arkansas are trying to protect us from being able to purchase healthy veggie burgers. They say, without any evidence whatsoever, that Arkansans are too ignorant to understand packages that say "plant-based" on the front and contain a detailed ingredients list on the back.
To be honest, Arkansans who want those products are lucky to have them available in the first place, because they are not exactly top-sellers here. And I can't imagine that companies are going to change their names, brands and nationwide packaging in order to cater to bigots in Arkansas politics.
I don't believe that this is about money, though. It is not about political donations or their own personal food businesses. I believe that, with the pool of people that Republicans can legally discriminate against shrinking, they are lashing out for a sense of control. I can only hope that the time and effort that they dedicated to taking food away from vegetarians has distracted them from hurting someone else in some more significant way.
CALVIN HANELINE
Paragould
Helping panhandlers
Over the years I've struggled with whether or not to give money to panhandlers. Are they going to use it for drugs or alcohol? Would I be better off giving money to a food program or homeless shelter? If they can afford to have a dog, then why should I give them money?
Well, finally, the truth struck me. Why it took most of a lifetime, I don't know.
I was sitting on an off-ramp waiting for the light to change, and a man was asking for money. And as I gave him a couple of dollars, it finally hit me: It doesn't really matter why someone's standing on the street asking for money. The reality is that I will never be as bad off as that person. I will never have to endure the shame of asking strangers for money.
Whatever has gone on in their life, and whether or not it's "their fault," they've obviously had more misfortune in their life than I have. And they deserve my help.
KATHRYN PEARSON
Little Rock
There's no lie too big
Not since I saw the 3-year-old throw a tantrum, rip off a dirty diaper and befoul everything within reach have I seen anything comparable.
But as I watched the responses of the Republican members of the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, and their questions of Robert Mueller on Wednesday, I--and certainly many other Americans--saw the 3-year-old's actions outdone, in spades.
While Mr. Mueller strove to follow the protocols established for the inquiry and to stay within the guidelines for any explanations offered, time and again Republican congressmen ignored any standard of decency and logic, claiming that evidence meant nothing, and facts could not mean what they did. To them, one and one no longer added up to two.
As for any logical handling of evidence or conclusion, no lie was too big, nor was any insult too mean in their denials. They attempted to paint Robert Mueller, a longtime American stalwart, Vietnam veteran, public servant and FBI director, as an outworn remnant of a former time when dedication to Constitution, principle and country meant far more than partisanship.
Maybe his time has come and gone, and partisanship and trumpism rule? It's time to take a stand. How do you vote?
DENNIS A. BERRY
Bryant
On the borderlands
Pundits seem puzzled by today's hyperpartisanship. They've forgotten 1994, when Newt Gingrich's mobilization of Southern Republicans turned American politics into warfare. Mitch McConnell carries on the grand Newt tradition, blocking more presidential nominees in four years than in previous history. But pundits pretend everyone's equally to blame. Now be nice, Democrats!
Nor do pundits seem acquainted with those who came from the borderlands of England and Scotland to the colonies (some via Ireland) in the biggest migration of the 18th century. Borderer culture persists today, especially in the highland South: anti-authority, pro-military, strict gender roles, Calvinist, intolerant of other folk and folkways, trusting guns more than the law.
Former Sen. Jim Webb wrote about the Borderers (counting himself one) in Born Fighting. Does that title tell you something? If you're a fighter, everything looks like a fight. Every idea is partisan. Truth is what my side says, and ignore any contradictions. Loyalty to the leader and in-group is a very high value; higher, it seems, than the Golden Rule, logic, or what used to be called facts. Karl Rove knew how to push Borderer buttons--it's all too easy. More noted as warriors than critical thinkers, Borderers tend to follow demagogues.
Back in the lawless borderlands, the chosen clan leader for rustling, rieving, and feuding was a canny, well-to-do fighter without unnecessary scruples: a robber baron. Trump, from an entirely different background, fits neatly with those ancient attitudes. Backed by the might of the nation, he appears like a warrior. Billionaires are successful by definition. Trump's amorality may seem an actual advantage to some.
Hyperpartisanship is no mystery. Trump's base is no mystery.
I've some Borderer ancestry (so-called Scots-Irish) myself. But many of us have learned new ideas and ways since 1742.
CORALIE KOONCE
Fayetteville
Editorial on 07/28/2019