LETTERS
Posted on Thursday, May 8, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Editorial/225078/
Antics play to Clinton’s benefit
It has been some time since I have written to the Voices page, but recent events have caught my attention; mainly, Jeremiah Wright, who has made hateful remarks that would seem to coincide with the elections in North Carolina and Indiana. Why did he wait till now to make these damaging statements ? He has no doubt stirred up racial hatred that had died down. Barack Obama has every right to run for president and be treated fairly. Now we are seeing things that should not be in politics, people who will stoop to any level to get votes. Instead of working to help a brother in his church to get elected, it would appear that Wright is trying to tear him down by his outlandish remarks about our great nation. A minister should preach love and unity among the brethren and not hatred that will divide us. All of this seems to be playing into the hands of the Clintons so they can get back into office. Why Wright is doing this is anybody’s guess. I can only hope that the people of other remaining [primary ] states will not be moved by these antics. I want to think that the voters are just as smart as this ole Arkansas hillbilly and see through all this at election time. When the blind man passed the fish market, he said, “Something smells awful fishy here.” I wonder if this is another plot by the Clintons to try and win votes by smearing Obama. If so, I hope this all backfires in their face come primary day in the remaining states. Only time will tell how the voters will react to all this when they cast their votes.
L. J. BUFFINGTON / Benton
Liberties are preferable
I was appalled to read the comments of Brandon Woodrome, candidate for the General Assembly. He shows either an astonishing ignorance of history or a shocking willingness to disregard the core principles of the American judicial system. If studying history is too taxing, perhaps he should watch virtually any World War II movie set in Europe. He might learn which government was notorious for asking, “Papers, please !” Yet, this is exactly how he suggests law enforcement should now work in this country. If he were asked to do that today, how would he prove his citizenship ? Does he suggest a national I. D. card like other governments imposed ? I prefer the freedoms of America to the oppressions of a defeated dictator. If little things like core constitutional principles (innocent until proved guilty ) escape him from the outset, how will he handle the tough questions ? A shift toward the Napoleonic Code of France that requires you to prove your innocence cannot be the way. I prefer the protections of America, where the state must prove a person guilty rather than assuming it. By immediately resorting to such easily discredited and xenophobic practices, Woodrome calls into question his ability to address complex issues. Will he continue to demagogue and blame nebulous evil groups like big business and immigrants ? I question any candidate who looks to emulate the French judicial system and the German idea of controlling people’s liberty. I prefer America and those who will protect our freedoms.
STEVE STEWART / Fayetteville
Double standard clear
It’s always good to see racism alive and well in the U. S. Barack Obama’s preacher says a few off-key (to whites at least ) statements that [are ] shared history and the media [are ] all over it. Where are they when the Pat Robertson / Jerry Falwell / John Hagee types spew their pronouncements out ? Why do the white candidates get free passes when they align [themselves ] with such vitriol ? Could it be that Obama is black and they are white ? Apparently, white folks have no idea how the other half thinks or feels. God bless America, and we will remember only those deeds that we like. No Tuskegee syphilis experiments, no genocide of native peoples, no slavery, no lynchings. America has done a lot of fine things, but it also has done some shameful ones. “My country right or wrong” is a phrase that the Nazis could have used. No country is perfect. Just as with people, there are always two sides, good and bad. Wake up before it is too late.
DAN HILL / Bella Vista
Political priorities clear
Let me get this straight. Barack Obama has a controversial minister ? If by controversial you mean an anti-American, paranoid racist, then please continue. Obama doesn’t wear a flag pin ? How about [once didn’t ] place his hand over his heart during our National Anthem ? Oh, but that is a minor thing. What about his wife ? She said she [is ] proud of this country [for the first time ] in her adult life. Hmm. Starting to see a pattern ? Let’s look at his association with William Ayers. Remember him ? He’s the unrepentant former Weather Underground [member ]. (That was a terrorist group, not a global warming cult. ) As for Obama’s bowling skills, I don’t care if he’s a world-champion discus thrower, we’re talking about the office of the president. Let’s move on to the other candidate, who wears pantsuits and may or may not show too much cleavage. As for her faulty memory, where I come from we call what she does lying. Her experience in the White House environment ? I guess you could make that argument for the Clintons’ cat, but I don’t think that qualifies it to be president. John McCain was not my first choice to be president, but it has nothing to do with age. Ronald Reagan was in his 70 s and may have had a bit of a temper, but he was one of the best presidents in history. I wonder if people know the difference between a Shiite and a hole in the ground. By the way, we should bomb Iran. They are building the mines that are killing our soldiers in Iraq.
HAYDEN HIGDON / Fouke
Schools are better cause
Re the letter by Barbara Heckmann, “None gain from lottery”: Please wake up and smell the coffee. It’s not the gamblers who are hurting Arkansas the most. Arkansas already has the gambling-addicted, the homeless, the poverty-stricken, the divorces, but it is a personal responsibility as to how people spend their money, not hers, not mine. I’d just like to see some of that money stay home and benefit programs in this state instead of the surrounding states. As for the current lottery proposal by our lieutenant governor, I plan to vote against it, not because I consider gambling a vice—nearly anything in excess can be a vice—but because it only supports higher education scholarships while our school districts are going bankrupt. For example, the Bald Knob School District was nearly eliminated and the Conway School District is cutting teacher positions. How many are facing possible consolidation because of funding ? Let’s support those schools and properly prepare our young people for college. It can be done without raising taxes simply by keeping at home some money that is going out of state.
DAVID L. WEAVER / Sherwood
Clinic much appreciate
I want to thank you for the story on the Arkansas Dental Association, Delta Dental of Arkansas and Arkansas Baptist State Convention Disaster Relief. I am a disabled vet who gets a small disability check a month. I receive all my medical treatment free from the VA, but they do not cover dental unless it’s combat-related, so I was one of the many who came to [the free clinic at the Statehouse Convention Center ] to have some badly needed dental work done. I had five teeth extracted that had been broken off or decaying for years. My teeth were so bad I had started to pull them myself. I wish to thank all the dentists, volunteers and all involved with this Arkansas Mission of Mercy. Now my health will improve and I’ll be able to eat the right foods.
JAMES E. COLLINS / Dover
Is ‘takeover’ imminent?
I read a recent letter to the editor that asked, “Why are we idly standing by and letting Mexicans take over our country by way of attrition ?” In the very same section of the paper there was a story that estimated that the Hispanic population of Arkansas is around 150, 000. I paused for a moment to remember that the population of our state is at least 2. 5 million. Even if the African American population of our state joined the Hispanic population for the “big takeover,” they would together still only comprise around one-fifth of the total state population. Locally, we have a large Hispanic population. It would be quite impossible for most of those people to “take over” when they work most of the time. I guess those who work in the chicken processing plants would have to ask for special time off from the job so they could have meetings to plan this big takeover. It’s a good thing I speak Spanish so that when the takeover is complete, I will have one less thing to worry about.
TOM ARNHART / Rogers
Theory needs validation
Letter writer Fred Wilson takes us all to task for not accepting manmade global warming, since this theory is accepted as fact by what he apparently considers a majority of the world’s scientists. This would be the same majority who agreed during the 1970 s that we were headed into another ice age. He cites tobacco, tetraethyl lead and chlorofluorocarbons as proof. I don’t recall anyone ever touting tobacco as a health drug. On the other hand, I haven’t noticed that lung cancer has been nearly eradicated by the true believers’ hysterical crusade to stamp it out. I must have missed the lead-poisoning epidemic. The usual hysterics decided that the lead in gasoline would wipe out all life on Earth if we didn’t ruin the performance of all U. S. vehicles by going unleaded within months. So octane ratings dropped through the floor, car performance degraded and the price of gas went up. I’m sure Wilson is proud of having saved all life on Earth. Chlorofluorocarbons are the same song, second verse. I’ll make Wilson a deal: Get a statement signed by at least 80 percent of the climatologists not associated with the “green” movement agreeing that mancaused global warming is a fact and an imminent threat, and I’ll sign on. Now, I don’t mean meteorologists or “eco-scientists” or other pseudo-scientists. And I don’t mean the Union of Concerned Scientists. Unless they’re climatologists, their opinions are no more authoritative than are mine. Until he gets that agreement, I will continue to doubt both the coming ice age and man-caused global warming.
WILLIAM ZELLMANN / Searcy
Israel should keep land
I am sorry for the Israeli / Palestinian conflict or conflict anywhere. George Arnold, in presenting Professor Raouf Halaby’s viewpoint, is forgetting several things. I don’t know about Arnold, but Halaby, as a Christian, should know that God gave Israel the land in question. When they were disobedient, God took the land back and dispatched the Jews worldwide. Now God has chosen to give it back, although considerably less than the original allocation. What is wrong with viewing the situation from the Israeli perspective if that is what the United States chooses to do ? Isn’t that what allies do ? The Palestinians and all other Arabs thought they could push Israel into the sea because they so outnumbered Israel. They were soundly beaten in the Six-Day War. They forgot that Israel has always been outnumbered. But God is on Israel’s side, and if he is for you, who can be against you ? If the Israelis won the land, why should they give it back ? Would the Arabs give any to Israel if the Arabs had won ? I don’t see the U. S. giving this land back to the Indians. No one seems to really get it. Life is unfair. The instrument of our salvation came through the Jews. And even though they don’t now believe that the messiah has come, God says one day they will. I am a black female presumably descended from slaves. I have railed against that savagery and all it entails. But I have learned that I must do my best to live the best I can in the short time I am alive. We all need to keep reading the Serenity Prayer.
HAZEL A. SMITH / Pine Bluff
Figure costs of running
This is something I’ve thought about. We let these senators off from their paid jobs to politick for a higher-power job and usually more money. I’m sure we figure the cost of them running as to what it costs us to pay them.
ED TURNER / Fordyce
Feedback : Cover heroes instead
Probably every news outlet in the U. S. has daily reports on the Summer Olympics. But it’s not about the Summer Olympics, it’s about all the political junk that is formed by its very nature. I would like to see one major news outlet, whether TV, newspapers or Internet, produce a column on our heroes who are about to try for the gold. I’m tired of the silliness reported about the flame protests and the riots. Tell me about the heroes. Tell me who they are, where they’re from, their schools, their trials in getting to the gold. Just one article would be nice.
RICHARD LEWIS / Quitman
Only one was sensible
There were three people running for the office of president when someone suggested dropping the federal gas tax for the summer. Only one of the three had the sense and courage to call this giveaway a bad idea. Was it the conservative, John Mc-Cain ? Sorry, no, it was his idea in the first place. Was it Hillary Clinton, with all the experience ? Sorry again. The only candidate to see this as useless electioneering, which it is, was the young man from Illinois, Barack Obama—like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise moldy environment.
DONALD FERGUSON / Huntsville