LETTERS

— Legislator proves a class act

I am sure some have followed the so-called opinion by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. This little fiasco was triggered by a request from Gov. Mike Beebe to issue an opinion as to the next step caused by the untimely death of Keith Crass, who was elected to fill the House District 24 seat vacated by term-limited Rick Saunders of Hot Springs.

McDaniel opined that Saunders could continue to serve even though term-limited.

Now as someone who thought he understood the English language, the concept of not being term-limited because of the death of an elected successor baffled me. At least, until it dawned on me that this was a blatant attempt by Beebe and McDaniel to retain a previously filled Democrat seat that had changed hands to a tea-party Republican. I would just as quickly chastise the Republicans were that to be the case.

Fortunately, McDaniel also opined that if Saunders chose to resign, then a special election would be needed. I had heard that Saunders was an ethical guy and he proved it when he announced that he would not fill the open seat. I congratulate him with having class something both of those clowns in Little Rock clearly don’t. A big thumbs-up to Saunders for being a true representative of the people, and a double thumbs-down to Beebe and McDaniel for providing another example of why the people don’t trust government.

DENNIS BOSCH Hot Springs

Support open service

Before the end of the year, the National Defense Authorization Act will be brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate. One part of the bill repeals the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy enacted during the Bill Clinton presidency.

Let’s be clear: It does not require the Department of Defense to change the policy. It simply removes a congressional obstacle to the policy reform that the Defense Secretary and the joint chiefs may choose to adopt. Repeat: Repeal will not allow gays and lesbians to openly serve in our military. It will allow the Pentagon to move forward with a smooth and responsible transition to open service, if that is what the ongoing review calls for.

As a veteran, a former noncommissioned officer and military linguist, I can attest that a service member’s sexual orientation has nothing to do with his or her ability to carry out a mission. It is at least as irrelevant as eye color when it comes to assessing job performance. Accordingly, the militaries of three of our closest allies, Australia, Britain and Israel, have successfully made the transition to open service.

We are in the midst of two wars and face numerous global threats. We need every qualified person we can get in our armed forces. Open service can only enhance our military readiness by recruiting and retaining the most qualified available.

This former staff sergeant urges Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor to vote to approve the NDAA.

DAVID J. WHITAKER Fayetteville

People have spoken

Right you are, letter writer Cameron Coker, though not for the reason you state.

The midterm elections have shown us that individuals such as Coker, dissatisfied with the results, believe themselves superior in knowing what’s best and demean those of us who voted contrary to their wishes.

The statement that “fear works” may be correct, but not as Coker claims-fear for where this country is headed with the current administration.

The election was held, the citizens have spoken with their ballots and a majority of voters have more intelligence than Coker gives them credit for. FOX News had nothing to do with the midterm elections. Coker should get over it.

ED HENRY SR. Mount Ida

Many can be trusted

How very sad that Greg Stanford can only see darkness, hate and violence in the hearts of humankind. As his letter makes clear, he has no faith that humans will someday bring peace to this planet.

In fact, he seems to think that letter writer Matt Thomas, an atheist, is quite foolish for having any faith in any man’s, woman’s or child’s capacity to offer love, understanding, acceptance and support to others in the name of or pursuit of peace.

When thinking of people in whom we might have had or still have faith as seekers of peace rather than war, the only ones Stanford could come up with were: Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, Chairman Mao and, of course, Adolf Hitler.

I would like to offer an alternate list. Think about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who urged nonviolence in the pursuit of equal rights; Mahatma Gandhi, who helped free a nation with nonviolence; Nelson Mandela. who after 30 years of wrongful imprisonment sought reconciliation rather than retribution, Buddhists who preach nonviolence at all times; doctors and nurses who volunteer at free clinics; donors at blood drives; men and women who volunteer as Big Brothers, Big Sisters and mentors.

There have been and are now plenty of people whom we can look to and have faith in to lead us or at least walk with us as we humans seek peace in the world.

JAMES BLOK Benton

Rolls getting smaller

Have you noticed how your t.p. slides side to side quite a bit on the roller? That’s because they’re narrowed the paper by a half-inch. What next, 10 eggs to a dozen?

DONNA DAUGHERTY Sherwood

Smoking bad for all

Re John Vinson’s letter, “Behavior is bullying”: My husband was buried on our 47th wedding anniversary last year. He died from lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure in conjunction with smoking.

The surgeon general’s warning on cigarette packages and television ads against smoking started showing up when our son was around a year old, and from the time he was old enough to talk, he tried to get his daddy to stop smoking, but to no avail. My husband continued until 1994, when he stopped because my company insurance placed a $100 annual surcharge on anyone who smoked or had a family member who was a smoker.

I never smoked because I was fortunate enough to have a mother who saw it for the filthy, stinking, dangerous habit it is and took every opportunity to warn me against it. My son has never smoked, possibly due to the same reason, but most likely because of the various anti-smoking campaigns he grew up with.

I can state on 66 years of experience with inhaling first my father’s and then my husband’s secondhand smoke that it has a definite detrimental effect on one’s health, even when inhaled out-of-doors. Kudos to anyone who bans smoking in their facilities, whether indoors or out. As for antismoking ads and package warnings, if they’ll keep even one family from going through what we have, let’s see more of them.

BETTY LYNN WALKER Benton

Reason for the name

Letter writer Cameron Coker of Russellville should know a few more facts about this Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero before he expresses his opinion with such conviction.

The cleric who has so adamantly demanded that this center be called the Cordoba House doesn’t give explanation

for his choice of names. I can assure you that he has not randomly chosen this name.

The original Cordoba House was built in the 800s and occupied by an army of Muslims known as Umayyad caliphs who invaded Spain in 711 A.D. Cordoba, Spain, was established as their Spanish capital and they occupied Spain from 711 to 1031 A.D., at which time a Spanish insurrection pushed Muslims out of Spain.

The Islamic house of worship in Cordoba is a huge structure with over 1,000 pillars of granite, marble, onyx and jasper supporting its arches. Itwas converted into a Roman Catholic cathedral in 1238. This building still stands as Cordoba’s most important landmark. Check it out in the encyclopedia.

R. NILES RAINS Green Forest

Differences define us

Sarah Palin must be crazy. She said she was for the Iraq war. When her son came to her and said he wanted to join the Army and fight in Iraq, she thought it over, then told him to go ahead, he had her blessing.

Palin had long claimed to be pro life. When she was pregnant, the doctors ran tests on her.They came to her and said the baby would have Down syndrome and recommended an abortion. She thought it over and said no abortion, I’ll have the baby. When the choices are hard and sometimes heartbreaking, what kind of person is it who will actually do what he says he believes in? Courage, conviction and character.

However, these values are so old fashioned and outdated. Some would prefer an idiot with a Harvard law degree, a Democratic donkey with big ears, yet still unwilling to hear what the American people are saying. We, indeed, are defined by our differences.

DAVID BRYANT Lonoke

Feedback Cable news useful

Ted Koppel’s recent lament over the current state of electronic media reminded me of a once-great boxer who has taken one too many punches, starting with his reflexive lumping of Bill O’Reilly in with the likes of Beck, Sean Hannity, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann.

The latter usually makes me nauseated, but I did agree with his contention that Koppel is living in the past.

Koppel’s assertion that the Big Three were impartial is laughable. Dan Rather does a hit piece on President George W. Bush using a forged document during election week of 2004. Charles Gibson smugly chides Sarah Palin over not knowing about the Bush doctrine when in fact there was no Bush doctrine. NBC openly roots for Barack Obama to win the 2008 election.

I view cable news as a source of unfiltered information from which I can glean the useful stuff myself without the need for a high journalistic priesthood telling the unwashed masses what they need to know.

MIKE WERKMAN Hot Springs Village

Lyons misguided

On occasion I manage to summon enough courage, especially when needing a good chuckle, to read Gene Lyons’ opinion piece. I have a question on his recent column.

In between two Ted Koppel quotes, Gene dropped some famous names. My question: Who the heck is Chet Brinkley? Was it deliberate or accidental?

Seriously, even though I disagree with Gene’s politics, I do respect his right to have those misguided views.

HOWARD D. HUGHES Maumelle

Editorial, Pages 15 on 11/30/2010

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