A giant leap of illogic
The burning of Atlanta culminated in the incineration of the civilians of Hiroshima?
Let us all salute the Democrat-Gazette's ambitious, indeed breathtaking, juxtaposition of historical events in a causal leap marvelous even to those nurtured on stories of the Lost Cause and the villainy of William Sherman.
Damn Yankees, indeed.
CLEVE MAY
Little Rock
Was man of integrity
Kudos to the Democrat-Gazette for the editorial page on Gen. Robert E. Lee's birthday. It showed a man of integrity, compassion and leadership. He was a man who followed his beloved state of Virginia into the conflict between North and South. Lee was a graduate of West Point and an officer in the United States Army when the war began. It was a hard decision for him to choose the Confederate Army. He was a man his troops respected, and they would follow him into battle willingly.
The good he did after the war is seldom referred to, like his leadership in education. He presided over Washington and Lee University from 1865-1870 and expanded the college. Lee showed no rancor against those he fought.
Hopefully this paper will not have any negative reprisals from this editorial. I am sure it will be from people who want to wipe out monuments along with the history of this time or the great strife.
History is history. There is nothing we can do about it, and we need to learn lessons from it, not just try to forget it. There was great injustice done on both sides. It is time to put all this behind us, move on and quit antagonizing everyone. Just be thankful we live in America and have the right to speak our piece. I ask you please not to beat this issue to death. Let it go and work together for a more cohesive America instead of dragging the past up. What can you do about it?
OCTAVIA TAYLOR
Camden
Questions are raised
The recent stories regarding the Arkansas Supreme Court raise some interesting questions that don't pass the smell test. Maybe it would be worthwhile to conduct an investigation, at least to clear any questions that have been raised.
Can this be a conflict of interest? There should be some means to appoint or elect judges, where no conflict of interest can ever be a question as to a judge accepting contributions from someone and the same judge hearing a case of the contributor. I'm not saying anyone is involved in active corruption, but it does certainly raise some questions of opportunity.
Let's use an example: Suppose I'm an attorney and I make a $50,000 contribution to Judge XYZ's campaign, and tell him/her I will continue to make this kind of contribution every time he/she runs for office. Then after Judge XYZ is elected, he/she hears a case where I'm the attorney of record. Just an open question: What are the chances the judge might find in my favor? Sounds like something that might happen in our present federal administration.
Definition of corruption: Wrongdoing on the part of an authority or powerful party through means that are illegitimate, immoral, or incompatible with ethical standards. Definition of conflict of interest: The situation in which a public official or fiduciary who, contrary to obligation and absolute duty to act for the benefit of the public or a designated individual, exploits the relationship for personal benefit.
ROBERT L. MAYNARD
Hot Springs Village
Foregone conclusion
Asking Courtney Goodson if judges should be elected or appointed is like asking a banker if you should put your money in a bank or under your mattresses, or a fox if chickens should roam free or be cooped up.
JUDY THOMPSON
Little Rock
Maybe repositioning?
Perhaps the news of our Supreme Court members' funding sources should be moved from the regular headline position on the front page to the "In the News" left-column strip on the same page. I've thought for some time that that column should be renamed "News of the Weird."
JOHN EDINGTON McCOWN
Hot Springs Village
Exemplary leadership
One of the delights of living in Little Rock is the Central Arkansas Library System, whose neighborhood Fletcher Library has been a continuing education for me and has done so with proficiency, cheerful good humor and helpfulness.
Dr. Bobby Roberts has poured 27 years of prodigious hard work, vision and affability into providing us an institution that engenders pride in our city. He has instilled in the library personnel a sense of cordial service and commitment to the public while seeing that all areas of CALS have been well-served.
Thank you, Dr. Roberts, for your exemplary citizenship and public service.
JEAN SIXBEY
Little Rock
One older book club
I loved my friend Chris Barrier's article in the Perspective section last Sunday about his book club, but he was mistaken in one particular. There is a Little Rock book club that is decades older than his and his wife Nan's clubs.
The Book Club, of which I have been a member since 1980, first met at the Marion Hotel the last Friday of January 1946. This past Friday's meeting was the first of our 71st year. The charter members were Bill Nash, Azro Barber, Jimmy Vinson, and Dr. Granville Davis. Nash and Barber, who first discussed forming a club before World War II, set down four rules, only two of which we still follow rigorously: All members are men, and we read only books by authors now deceased.
We meet with spouses and friends of the club for cocktails at 5:30 on the last Friday of each month, save December and August. The men repair to a restaurant for a dinner that begins at 7, with the review by the member who selected the book and a freewheeling discussion beginning at about 8.
Our membership has included two Rhodes scholars, two college presidents or chancellors, 14 college or medical school professors (four of whom taught literature), six physicians, five ministers, one Pulitzer Prize winner, and way too many lawyers, including me.
PATRICK GOSS
Little Rock
Editorial on 01/31/2016