LETTERS

Silly campaign tactics

The 2014 Arkansas senatorial election is shaping up to be a ham-handed media affair trying to appeal to our lowest common denominator. Television spots paid for by out-of-state concerns attack Mark Pryor for being too conservative on one hand and too liberal on the other. This is a silly campaign approach that tries to scare everyone. Such is the plight of the beleaguered political moderate.

Now, a new PAC ad fires a pre-emptive shot over the bow, accusing Tom Cotton of being self-serving by voting for lifetime free health care for congressmen. I have always considered that a reality, making this claim a red herring. The ad would have better appealed to me had it cited Cotton’s allegiance to the amoral foreign policy of the “Bush Doctrine” as a reason to oppose Cotton. I guess the PAC felt we constituents are not that refined. Gentlemen, I wish you thought better of us.

C. MICHAEL BAILEY

Bryant

Placing us in danger

I’m against gay marriage, abortion, artificial birth control, etc., because I believe it is against God’s commandments, it’s against reason, and it is placing our dear nation in danger of destruction by our poor reasoning, our ignorance, lack of education and the propaganda of people who seek their own pleasure and don’t care about the welfare or lives of other people.

China and Russia, the leading and largest communistic countries of the world, I’m sure would love to see the U.S. become a weakling by reducing the size of our country population-wise. They have stolen our military secrets. China has the largest population of any country in the world.

If you care to live in a free world, reject the evil ideas of people who care only about their own pleasure. May God bless and enlighten us all.

LAMBERT G. SMITH

Pocahontas

Educate the entire lot

Re Lanette Grate’s views per racial unease: All wrong from A to Z. The “n-word” users and their victims, I believe, should be declared as genuine ignoramuses, and all resources wasted in foreign aid and our eternal wars should be used for educating the entire lot of said ignoramuses. This crusade would corral a lot of heathens, including a lot of barbaric wordsmiths who’d be needed to entertain the shrewd thugs who would loot while posing as the good guys and be praised to the high heavens.

The late and great editor Jerry Neil observed that everybody is ignorant, so nobody need be offended when correctly classified as genuine dyed-in-the wool ignoramuses. When discussing the vast armies of humans who’ve been victimized and treated as subhumans, us lunatics who’ve escaped from confinement are far more victimized than the “n-word” victims.

These are my idle speculations, entertainment often during my nearly 91 years of existence as a penniless oaf.

H.E. HARVEY

Clarksville

Contempt for the law

The recent gratuitous Voices page attack on U.S. House Rep. Tom Cotton demonstrates to me that John Brummett must have been soaking up something stronger than air conditioning.

I’ll leave it to others to detail and verify Barack Obama’s War on Coal, his assaults on our economy, creating our $16 trillion debt and expanding the grip of big government at every opportunity. Regarding Brummett’s criticism of Cotton: I believe that to regain and restore our government, we must elect a majority of congresspersons with the intelligence, integrity and courage exhibited by Cotton.

Obama said he was embracing the validity of climate change and would take unilateral executive actions to respond to it and that he would impose, by regulation, tougher carbon emission standards and bypass Congress to do it.

It is inconceivable to me that our president, a man who says he has taught constitutional law, would show such contempt for our Constitution.

Someone should tell Obama that our government was designed with three independent branches (the doctrine of separation of powers) and that he controls only the executive branch. Someone should tell him that all laws passed that the people must obey must originate in Congress. Someone should tell him that all spending bills must originate in the House and if Congress decides that he has overstepped his constitutional power, it can stop paying the millions he spends going on trips to Africa. The above threats by the president make one wonder what nation’s constitution Obama was teaching.

ARTHUR O. MILLER

Little Rock

As long as you agree

I knew it wouldn’t take long for those freedom-of-speech lovers to come out in support of Paula Deen.

Of course, they can be elective in their support. If free speech happens that may be contrary to their particular view of religion or politics, then the letters contain lamentations and wailings of the end of the world and they become highly offended.

One writer discusses political-correctness heresy and another mentions the media setting itself up as judge, jury and prosecutor. A few minutes of Faux News, or as they call it, commentary, will certainly see the political correctness required when the conservative position is questioned. Their talking heads are aggressive judges, juries and prosecutors of anything remotely connected with the president, but that is different, of course.

They can fall back on former Sen. Jon Kyl’s staff member’s announcement that Kyl’s statement was not meant to be a factual statement.

Certainly, the Constitution gives you the right to make racist statements and even be an unapologetic racist, but wouldn’t it be nice for one letter-writing person defending freedom of speech to say that using the “n-word” is offensive? I guess expressing that statement is not very important to them, just happily defending Paula Deen’s use of the word.

I don’t remember the Dixie Chicks being defended for their freedom of speech. Where were you letter writers then?

CHUCK STEPHENS

North Little Rock