TV heads: Show viewers what they tune in to see
I write in appreciation for Joe W. Crow’s letter on the “small talk” of the commentators at the Arkansas-Ole Miss game.
My other irritation was Thanksgiving Day. I settled in to watch the Macy’s parade. I watched for nearly 45 minutes and I never saw a float (other than the turkey with the parade marshall), never saw a balloon, never saw or heard a band … just the uninteresting “small talk” of two commentators and commercials.
The musical numbers they showed were nice, but I came to watch the parade! I gave up and went to old movies.
I agree with Mr. Crow: Whoever is in charge of broadcasting ought to be paying attention. We pay a lot to bring television into our homes, and we ought to get something of interest and value for our money.
William G. Myers
Bella Vista
What’s to come in Putin’s war
The Russian winter. Putin’s clever, ruthless weapon of war. As cold as his blood.
But there is an impulse among the people of the western world, among the people of the Christian world, and among so many others who love peace. It is an impulse to be kind, to be generous, to reach out with a helping hand, to give with love and charity. It is an impulse to rescue our fellow man.
God put this love in our hearts — the love of the pack hunter to risk himself to rescue his fellow in the fury of the hunt; the love of the gathering women to shield each other from the stings of briars and bees. God bred us to be loving creatures, to want what is good for the other, even at our own expense. Thus we survived. In the crucible of nature, God made us what we are.
So, we will do it. We will do it again, as we did it in Berlin. It is no secret. The wizards of Washington already know it. The military wizards of London and Berlin and Madrid and Rome and Budapest, Warsaw and Oslo and Bucharest and Paris; they already know that we must rally an airlift for Ukraine.
We will fly in the food and water, the fuel and blankets, and the warm coats and shoes; the medicines and the mercy. We will fly in under the flags of 10 dozen nations. We will broach the war zone with our weapons of love and mercy and peace.
Thus we will defy Putin, and he will have to say, (he will get to say), “Alright. Let’s talk.”
And he will be so glad for our merciful ways, for some way out of his grotesque error. And his troops will say, “Thank God, this is over.” And they will mean to go back home. And in the cold of the Russian winter, Putin will have lost. We will have called the bully’s bluff. The many nations will remain in Ukraine for some time, to rebuild. Peace is nearly as expensive as war. But Ukraine will become a partner in the western world, revered for her bravery and valued for her produce.
This is no secret. This is history repeating itself. Go ahead: Talk it up. Make it easy for our leaders to decide. All of NATO; all of Europe; all of the United Nations … these decisions are so difficult. So, talk it up. This is a grassroots kind of thing. We are this kind of people. We lead.
William l. Harris
Fayetteville