Appeasement redux
Have I got this right? The Republicans in Congress would not pass tough, carefully crafted, desperately needed, bipartisan $180 billion border legislation so that Donald Trump could then turn around and blame Joe Biden and the Democrats for not dealing with the border crisis, when he and the far-right Republicans prevented any meaningful legislation?
It makes my head spin.
And are we seriously discussing abandoning our promised military support to Ukraine because we want to “Make America Great Again” by ignoring what is going on in Europe? This isolationism did not serve us well in 1938.
There is a word for this. The word is “appeasement.” It didn’t work in 1938 and it won’t work in 2024. Vladimir Putin will not stop at Ukraine, and a wider world war will likely happen that would involve our armed forces and our treasury. He most assuredly won’t stop if we elect an American president who says to Putin, “… do whatever the hell you want!” This isn’t making America “great,” this is making America “grovel.”
GEORGE BENJAMIN
Siloam Springs
Has them stirred up
Mike Masterson sure has gotten the leftists and other crazies stirred up. They can’t handle the truth. Keep up the good work, Mike. There’s tons of us in your corner.
JOHN STEPHENS
Des Arc
She’s not here for us
She’s not coming here for us. That was the one-sentence reply I gave a fishing buddy several years ago. He had just excitedly explained that Donald Trump spokesperson Sarah Sanders was quitting D.C. and coming to Arkansas to be governor. He was right about the governor part. The current governor’s actions, words, and the people that surround her continue to prove l was right also. What she is doing is easy to spot by anyone familiar with the business world.
Gov. Sarah Sanders is brand-building.
Familiar with the term “elevator pitch”? A 15-second sales pitch with bullet points on why to buy. Quick, repeat the pitch: stomped out reproductive rights, divided our already broken schools, stopped catch and release, not. And most important, crushed the liberal radical left. All six or seven of them running loose. Looks great on Fox News and MAGA fundraising websites. Notice she missed bragging about the attempt to destroy your Freedom of Information Act?
It is obvious “Sarah’s Brand” is aimed at her next job. And it is not a governor. Sanders’ next step is a win-win. If Trump is president, she gets a high position. If he goes to jail, she fills the void. Governor Sanders is not equipped to solve Arkansas’ problems: nation-leading poor health care, our education dysfunction, grinding poverty, prison reform, teenage pregnancy, or actual tax reform. Governor Sanders is not a problem-solver. She’s a player. Likely leaving us soon and solving nothing.
The self-serving MAGA operatives, whoever or wherever they are, continue to prove they are not here for us. Wake up, folks. Hate, lies, and fear are not how we solve complex problems.
SPENCER BAKER
Little Rock
Border-crisis blame
Democrats and the Democrat-controlled media have tried to blame the border crisis on House Republicans for not passing the Senate bill which deals with the border, plus stuffed with billions of funding for Ukraine, Israel and more. Please! Spare me the outrage. The Republican House passed HR2 Secure the Border Act in May 2023 that deals with the border issue while not including a host of other political pork. It lies dormant in the Senate. I believe most people are unaware of HR2 because the media would rather demonize Republicans than report the truth.
Seems to me the border crisis was created solely by President Joe Biden. And now after three years and an estimated 6.3 million illegal crossings and counting, he’s pretending that he cares and needs legislation to act. Biden is a day late and a dollar short. He needs no additional legislation. That excuse is nothing but political deceit. All he had to do was maintain the executive actions of President Donald Trump and we would not be facing this crisis today. But reversing anything Trump was more important to Biden than protecting the American people and fulfilling his constitutional obligation.
TIM IRBY
Little Rock
Arkansas treasure
Rex Nelson’s column in this past Sunday’s paper brought tears to my eyes. He is truly an Arkansas treasure.
ELIZABETH PHILLIPS
Little Rock
On game regulations
I agree with Bryan Hendricks that muzzleloaders of today have little in common with the ones of the past, except they load through the muzzle. However, the proposal for straight-wall cartridges gives a huge advantage over muzzleloaders.
If we’re going to allow breach loading, why not just let them use single-shot shotguns with rifled barrels and slugs? They all can shoot three or four times before a true muzzleloader shooter can reload and be ready to shoot again. I thought it was called muzzleloading or black powder season for a reason. We might as well do away with it and let everyone hunt as they want to.
I also don’t like the idea of an earlier bow season so bucks in velvet can be taken. They already start before firearms hunters anyway. Non-bow-hunters are deprived of even an opportunity at these deer. A lot of bucks will be taken out of circulation before they even have a chance to pass along their genes to the following generations.
For all the good that has and is being done by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, it seems sometimes regulations get considered and put in place that benefit the few over the majority.
PHIL WESTMORELAND
Maumelle