LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — ID law waste of time

State Rep. Bryan King is at it again, trying to get a voter photo-ID law passed that will prevent voter impersonation at the polls. It apparently doesn’t bother him that voter impersonation is almost nonexistent, but he won’t let facts get in the way.

The whole idea of a photo ID to vote is a grand example of voter suppression by the Republicans; they know that large amounts of poorer people who live in big cities take the bus to work and don’t drive and most of them tend to vote Democrat. The idea that we would need to get an official photo ID from the local county clerk’s office is really stupid, when a state driver’s license would do.

A careful check of voter irregularities would show that buying votes happens more often than voter impersonation, and even that is also infrequent.

In Arkansas, I’m sure there is a greater chance that a person will be struck by lightning in each county than that voter impersonation will happen at the polls. I suggest that King propose something important, such as outlawing the possession and sale of exotic poisonous snakes and constrictors in Arkansas.

FRANK NEWMAN Huntington Right from Geraldo

Out of the mouth of none other than Geraldo Rivera. I doubt any would call him a right-wing zealot.

He was interviewed by Mike Huckabee while at the scene of the disaster in Connecticut. Rivera said the gunman was the devil incarnate, pure evil. He said a man of faith could not have done this. I had thought that no one would say this publicly.

In all the mass shootings, has there been one perpetrator who was a church-going Christian?

FRED SAWYER Little Rock Negative terms harm

Why does America have to use negatively defined terms to restrict others from success? This is the United States-shouldn’t we all be working together?

When a human is labeled negatively, like the terms in the legal disability environment mean, then there is no incentive to succeed. The terms “disabled,” “retarded,” “handicapped,” etc., serve no beneficial purpose, unless it is to keep citizens of America valueless. Do you want your children or grandchildren to face the heartaches of little self-value? Dr. Phil McGraw states that “self matters.” We know from years of forced exclusion that our population doesn’t reach its full potential when acceptance is denied.

Humane treatment is equal treatment, regardless of challenges. “Disabled” is forced exclusion. Isn’t America for everyone?

SHAUN BEST SmackoverRelieve their suffering

Growing up, when faced with certain situations, I was admonished more times than I can count with, “Just use your common sense.”

Well, somewhere along the way, this simple concept has become completely obsolete. We humans are determined to bury important issues under mountains of complex renderings when a little common sense would serve us well.

Case in point, the issue of the legalization of medical marijuana. Many chronically ill individuals are sent home with powerful prescription opiates or narcotics to dispense at will to alleviate their suffering. Pray tell, what is the difference between that same individual being allowed to take marijuana for the same stated purpose? Both come under the heading of a drug. The only difference is that one is deemed legal by the passage of time and tenure, and the other is making slow arduous inroads towardthat same destination.

So, please, can we all, in the interest of common sense, put ourselves in the shoes of suffering individuals and not dare deny them this means of relief and comfort? Remember, there but for the grace of God could go I.

MARGARET EVANS RolandEvil flourishing there

Another tragic mass shooting by a deranged individual whose actions epitomized evil. The usual remedies have been touted. Calls for more gun control were voiced before the smoke cleared. Perhaps more money for mental health programs. Perhaps armed guards in every school. Perhaps the entertainment and game industries bear some culpability.

President Barack Obama in his speech at Newtown High School quoted a scripture: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them-for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” How many considered the irony that for a teacher, administrator or a student to have cited such scripture within the halls of a public school a week earlier, would have been criticized or silenced for daring to voice such a sentiment-violation of separation of church and state, you know.

Let me propose a suggestion: We will not reverse the senseless destruction of innocent human life so long aswe acquiesce to the exclusion of God from our public schools.

We have now had two generations since the initial removal of prayer and Bible reading from schools. These students, now adults, have been taught by omission that religious values are irrelevant to daily life, and that absolute moral standards are nonexistent.

It should be no surprise that respect for life is gone and that selfish and cowardly misfits feel motivated to such carnage. Is it any wonder that evil takes root and flourishes in such a setting?

GEORGE SCHROEDER Little RockDemand an end to it

The terrible event in Connecticut has forced me to rethink my position on what has become a culture in this country. I know that some consider it a right of citizenship, and to be honest, I did support that view.

But now, especially after how Sandy Hook brought back so many horrific memories of Columbine andthe seemingly endless string of school shootings in the 1990s, I have come to the realization that the only way to stop this type of senseless violence would be for the federal government to impose a complete and total ban immediately.

No one should be allowed to inflict this type of damage to the children of our country; therefore we must unite and demand an immediate end to the vehicle used to facilitate these crimes.

Stand with me and demand an immediate end to violence; demand an end to public schools.

WILLIAM B. CLEVELAND Clarksville