Make better use of space
Come on, folks. With all the important policy and procedure problems that exist, and a foolishly inactive Congress whose members seem more ready to hurt and hinder this administration and the U.S. than solve any problems, you waste editorial space showing a bad photo of the president saluting and whine about a sloppy hand salute.
I've seen, in my many years of seeing television and print media images, many presidential hand salutes as sloppy or sloppier, and from presidents considered "icons" by the media, with no complaints. Why didn't you toss in how much golf he's played, or vacation time taken while at it, or have the talking heads overdone those already?
Please, discuss important issues for Arkansas and America (and their solutions) in your limited editorial space, not what trivia we can find to criticize President Barack Obama about. What's next, a complaint over which hand he uses to cleanse, or the brand of bathroom tissue used, post-use of restroom facilities? Please get real; at least he doesn't "salute" America with his middle finger as many U.S. citizens in and out of Congress seem to be doing. Free speech, well, maybe; but where is the line between free speech and sedition, or does one even exist today?
Y'all do know anything done to hurt our government hurts all Americans, including you? We are that government. Our choice regarding support ended when the ballots were counted, or so it is indicated by our various laws and constitutions.
Working for change is fine, but bad-mouthing for fun or profit, no! The world is watching this American governance experiment; we've not proven its long-term workability. Look at the fate of the Roman Republic.
GERALD K. O'BRYAN SR.
Springdale
Again, nothing done
Why is it front-page news that a young man overstayed his sentence in youth confinement? Abuse of prisoners is as old as the prison system, yet every now and then it is a headline. Meanwhile nothing is done.
Ironically, it is known that rehab and education are cheaper. Yet we continually turn to "for profit" contractors to do it for less. It's like reinventing the wheel. I believe most prosecutors and lawyers recognize that the War on Drugs is a total failure, but again, nothing is done.
Will we be sending the same "head in the sand" politicians back to continue doing nothing?
VERLA SWEERE
Little Rock
No wonder we're fat
Re the recent letter about the man offered a jumbo chocolate bar as he was going through the checkout lane in a drug store: I think that's what's wrong with our society. Our diets are saturated in fat, sugar and carbohydrates. We don't get anywhere near enough exercise. It's no wonder that we're overweight and out of shape.
The last thing a child needs is a jumbo chocolate candy bar. I would never give a child any snack without their parents' permission, especially candy. It can spoil a child's appetite or contribute to hyperactivity, ADHD, ADD, etc., or a child could choke on it.
A piece of fruit, nutrition bar, Gatorade, Vitamin Water, or nuts might have been a better alternative. I am a diabetic so I'm not supposed to have the jumbo chocolate bar either.
JANET WAGES
Jacksonville
Fight the oppression
Why do the oppressed seem to consistently support their oppressors? These are the poor, the unemployed, those on food and housing assistance, drawing Social Security and Medicare or on Medicaid, yet they constantly vote for the politicians who want to cut these very things.
Our attention is focused away from the issues that directly affect us and onto hot-button, or wedge, issues like religious freedom, gun rights, abortions and immigration. People have fought against oppression for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. For just a brief moment in time during the second half of the 20th Century did we actually enjoy the strongest middle class the world has likely ever known and now, due to trade and tax policies supported by the top 1 percent, it seems it is all being destroyed in the blink of an eye.
We have shed blood and died to get equal rights for people regardless of race or gender, to achieve humane and safe workplaces and for decent wages so that people could actually live and not just exist, which is now systematically, bit by bit, being swept away. FDR called these people the economic royalists; I call them economic terrorists because they terrorize us and want to dominate us because they view us as inferior simply because we have not chosen their paths, nor were we born into wealth.
There are no saviors and even our government won't save us. It is up to the people to unite and refuse to be divided, because if we don't we are doomed to a lifetime of failure and oppression.
JUDITH K. ZITKO
Hot Springs Village
Protect our interests
Well, he's done it again, "gonna do," having ruined my game shows to get his time in the limelight as a gonna do or what we might do. Sure ruined my day.
How about something positive, Mr. President, like "we are," "it's gotta stop," "we are going to stop it"? But to talk for 30 minutes, and extra time for the news to tell us what you said, I don't think you got your point across.
We are not the world's police force. Let us protect our borders and our interests, and if the other parties can't take care of themselves, let them learn or suffer the results.
We can't keep holding their hands if they will not help themselves. They are like kids; you can only do so much.
I think it's time we quit spilling our blood all over the world and help our citizens here achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We have left enough blood, and for what?
JOHN P. BAUMAN JR.
Sherwood
Honoring war heroes
Have you noticed the metal monument for our war heroes at War Memorial Park? My grandkids thought it was a jungle gym. They wanted to play on it.
That's how much it doesn't relate our war heroes to the younger generation.
Why not put up statues of the women who served? We had nurses of all branches. Women flew during World War II. They were known as WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots). They flew over 60 million miles in operations, and 38 of the WASPs were killed on those missions. They flew P51s and transport planes.
Go to MacArthur Park and look at the Korean War monument. Now that's a memorial that has meaning.
BOB MASSERY
Little Rock
Art of military salute
What mean-spirited wretch decided to run the photo of President Barack Obama's poorly executed salute on your editorial page? What next? An in-depth critique of the president's fashion sense? Oh, yeah, tan suits are so unpresidential. Maybe even unpatriotic.
Cheap shots of this ilk smack of middle-school playground taunts rather than the editorial stance of a serious newspaper.
And for the record, I believe a president who actually thinks before he commits American troops to bloody and endless foreign wars renders a greater service to our men and women in uniform than some empty flight suit who has mastered the art of the military salute.
ALEX MIRONOFF
Fayetteville
Left someone out
I am a big fan of Bradley Gitz, but was surprised, if not astonished, that Art Tatum, jazz pianist, was omitted from his jazz column.
Art Tatum is considered by many as the greatest jazz artist on any instrument of all time, and one of his many albums, Art Tatum & Ben Webster, is considered one of the best albums in the history of jazz.
SCOTTY FREEBAIRN
Little Rock
Common ground
Finally, something Bradley Gitz and I can agree on! I was delighted with his Labor Day column on jazz music.
Though I may be left of center by his standards, I'm glad we can find common ground in our love for jazz.
BETTY IRENE McSWAIN
Fort Smith
Well, that's a surprise
For once, Bradley "Gitz" it! Since up to this point, I had so rarely agreed with Mr. Gitz's opinions, when I glanced at the title of his recent column--"All that jazz"--I prepared myself to be treated to perhaps a diatribe on the "lamestream media" or, even more likely, a comment on one of the Democratic candidates' ramblings on the issues of the campaign.
But, no, it was not the metaphorical jazz upon which he was ruminating but, indeed, the very literal meaning of jazz, the quintessential American art form.
Thank you, Mr. Gitz, for a heartfelt testimony to the beautiful gift that jazz is. It is a shame that too few Americans really appreciate this music. Perhaps, as you noted, since it is an "acquired taste," our cultural bias toward instant gratification is the ultimate reason so few take the time to really listen and learn to love.
My first purchase of a jazz album was a Thelonious Monk compilation, The Composer. I'm not sure what I expected, but my first impression was that this guy was playing the wrong notes. But I played it for a second time, all the way through. By the time I had listened for the third time, I was saying to myself, wow, this music is making beautiful sense and in a surprising way.
That is the beautiful thing about jazz: It can evoke surprise even after many listenings.
Kind of like the surprise and enjoyment I received because I forced myself to read Mr. Gitz's column last week.
J.W. DILLREE
Hot Springs Village
Professor blindsides
I always look forward to the contributions of Bradley R. Gitz and relish the perverse enjoyment I receive from the professor's tortured attempts at fashioning reasonable arguments into a coherent column explaining the liberal mindset.
In short, we ain't gonna see eye-to-eye on much of anything.
Then lo and behold, I was once again blindsided by the good professor on Labor Day when he expressed his love for a magical creation known as Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.
On each and every track, Miles Davis builds on the broad shoulders of Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers and Bill Evans to expose a glimpse of a new world. Next, "Cannonball" Adderley shows us how to explore those horizons, and then, just as the exhausted listener believes nothing more can be said, John Coltrane steps up and teaches us mere mortals how to soar.
This was the tipping point from East Coast Hot to West Coast Cool.
My point is that we as Americans have very few distinctions. We have many differences. Once we understand this, most differences can be bridged with a glass of excellent scotch (neat, of course) and a fine cigar, listening to Miles; beer and brats at a tailgate party; sweet tea and gossip on the cathedral that is your back porch at twilight (feel free to fill in your chosen vices).
Thank you, Dr. Gitz--stay the course.
KEITH VACHON
Little Rock
Editorial on 09/08/2014