Reminder from Teddy
Recently watched Kellyanne Conway being interviewed in reference to the media disrespecting Donald Trump. Her statement that people not treat the president and vice president as our peers but show deference and humility brought back a quote by a great Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
Many in the White House need to be reminded of this and learn from a real Republican who honors the Constitution and the American people.
EDITH SEAMAN
Lakeview
What we all deserve
My three favorite sections of the newspaper are the comics, the crosswords and the letters to the editor. I have closely followed the debate on health care, and eagerly awaited comments on Sen. John McCain's recent diagnosis. What interested me most was how the argument became an issue of what the senator deserved. And that struck me as the heart of the debate over health care and the so-called entitlement programs.
I have a great deal of respect for Senator McCain, a true military hero who has served this country with honor, courage and integrity. He has earned access to some of the best health care available in this country because of his service. But to say he deserves his health care implies that other people don't.
The same argument applies to programs that comprise the "socialist" safety net of SNAP, welfare, SSDI, SSI and Medicaid. These are collectively referred to as entitlement programs, with a very negative implication. But most people feel they are entitled to certain government benefits, programs and/or tax breaks. Like the ridiculously low tax on capital gains and all those other deductions that allow wealthier Americans to reduce their tax liability.
And to say that only certain people deserve shelter, food and clothing is wrong as well. A child does not choose to be born into poverty, but this random assignment defines to an overwhelming extent the quality of their education and their access to jobs and health care.
Yes, there are some people who prefer to live off the effort of others. But that is true at all levels of society.
There is no excuse, especially in this so-called Christian nation, for any citizen to go without food, without shelter, without health care, and without hope of having a better life for themselves or their children. We all deserve at least a small slice of the American pie.
KATHERINE TUCKER
Perryville
Persistence pays off
On Aug. 4, I made a keyboard error and was mysteriously locked out of my email account--a password problem. I called support. Two company tech supporters at different locations emphatically decided that the only way to get restored was with a temporary password that must be sent postal, and expected in three to five days. I was flummoxed.
A word message on the screen said the local local tech store could help. I went there. The nice store folks said there was not a store in Arkansas that could do this and they emphasized that a temporary code (number) must come by slow mail.
No mail on Aug. 10. Seven days without email. With persistence I called tech support and a sweet female in the Philippines connected me with her tech superior in Phoenix, who was the nicest person that I've have ever done business with, and he not only said he could make me whole again but he wanted to, and he did.
The moral of this story: Be persistent and get second, third and fourth opinions, always.
WILLIAM C. KRAMER
North Little Rock
Haunted by specters
Bradley Gitz's recent column "The new gospel" finds him haunted by the specter of communism, which he regards as the source of everything amiss in the world. Gitz must know that Marx sought to grasp the essence of a rapidly changing society and that Capital, his 19th century analysis of an industrializing world, could never capture the reality of the world today.
A current intellectual movement labeled "intersectionality" tries to capture it and seems to offer another specter to haunt Gitz. It's a more sophisticated analysis of oppression and injustice based on a wide range of interrelated cultural attitudes and structures found in contemporary religion, education, language, class, race, gender, etc., in addition to economic exploitation noted by Marx.
Gitz labels these ideologies secular religions of false hope, with their own saints, scriptures, proselytizing clergy, murderous crusades, and totalitarian pretensions. Yet neoliberalism, which seems to be his faith, might be tarred with the same brush. F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman stand at the apex of its prophets. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom and The Constitution of Liberty, plus Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom constitute its New Testament, while Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations comprises its Old.
Jane Mayer's Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right brilliantly summarizes the structure and strategy of the neoliberal movement that seeks to put economic, political, social, cultural and educational institutions firmly in control of the wealthy, proclaiming it the American Way!
It's not a radiant future Gitz's gospel holds for the wretched of the earth.
DAVID SIXBEY
Flippin
Great American hero
The column written by Mr. Bradley Gitz, Ph.D., published in last Monday's Voices section was a wrongful and malicious attack on a great American hero. I believe U.S. Sen. John McCain spoke and acted from his heart and knew fully well what was right for all Americans. Mr. Gitz chastised and condemned McCain's vote on the repeal of Obamacare, knowing it was poorly written in haste and would leave millions of Americans without health care.
Sen. Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republican power structure forced the vote under extreme pressure from President Trump. Informed Americans knew it was ill-conceived and extremely damaging to the entire national health system.
Senator McCain and two other Republicans had to courage to stand up for the American people and defy the Republican power structure in the U.S. Senate. So please, don't attack a true American hero, Mr. Gitz. I believe Sen. John McCain will always be held in high esteem by military personnel and most Americans.
ROLLAND DOCKHAM
Cherokee Village
Editorial on 08/14/2017