Lots of doublespeak
The thing that is so sickening about the Charlottesville discussion is all the doublespeak and dishonesty.
For example, Bill Farrell of Bella Vista said that Donald Trump said both sides are to blame, which they were. Then he said, "As president, his job is to serve and protect all the citizens of these United States." Isn't that exactly what he did by calling out both sides?
There is just as much hate on both sides of this issue, if people would just listen closely enough. Are we really going to allow fear and animosity to drive us forth?
PAM MONTGOMERY
Conway
Reduce carpool rage
Thank you for addressing the rage induced by school carpool lines. As a teacher, I have spent years doing carpool duty and would like to offer suggestions to shorten your wait time:
Ride the bus. The more students who ride the bus, the shorter the carpool line. If your school does not provide a bus, contact Rock Region Metro. They often partner with schools to provide discounted passes. A 31-day student pass costs $19.50.
Communicate with your student. When students wait until they hear their name called or a teacher comes to physically take them to their car, the line gets held up. Impress upon your student the need to be in the designated pickup area immediately after dismissal.
Obey all directives from school personnel. If you are only allowed to turn right out of the school's driveway, then turn right. Do not attempt to cross traffic or turn left.
All children within the vehicle must be properly belted in; it's the law.
Carpool is not the time for a parent-teacher conference. Contact the teacher and arrange for a more appropriate place and time.
Keep in mind that while you are in your climate-controlled vehicle, school personnel are on their feet, out in the elements, breathing in all the vehicle exhaust. They would rather be marking papers, sponsoring a club, or preparing for the next day. The quicker the line moves, the quicker they can get back to their teaching responsibilities.
ALICE KUNCE
North Little Rock
Reality of the matter
One of our Stepford senators, Tom Cotton, could not help trying to burnish his image when commenting on our current turmoil over statuary. One recent press release had him extolling the virtues of our founding fathers who gave us our freedoms such as free speech, the right to assembly, etc.
But in reality those proto-Americans gave us a country controlled by white landowners, and then only men of a certain age. Women, natives (Indians), and a few hundred thousand slaves were not part of the discussion in the making of our country back in the day.
It seems Tom Cotton wants us to go back to those glorious early days when our country was founded. The reality is those days have never left us.
CARL E. BUCHANAN
Scott
Rowing against tide
Tyranny: Usurping power and flouting laws for personal and political gain. Fascism: Hyper-nationalism, fomenting violence in political discourse, fetishizing masculinity, and creating a personality cult.
That's what we got right now.
Our president sneers at the rule of law as he tramples on it to pardon his favorite minion ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Who, in his turn, has been "doing his job"--brutalizing our Latin brothers and sisters in Arizona--for decades.
It's a baby step from abetting flagrant and vicious abuse of power against the helpless, projecting menace at rallies, and "courageously" condoning Nazis and white supremacists, to unleashing a holocaust as tyrants and fascists have done before. Countless lives the world over have been lost or, in the surviving, been severely or irretrievably burnt to a crisp. Some plead with the world never to forget. Some don't have that luxury, as the horrific past revisits itself in nightmares to this very day.
We're in it now, with this strafing of the judicial process under cover of the Texas storm. Presumably our own little tyrant's motive, in addition to strutting for his base now that Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka have come unleashed, is similarly to mock the investigations against himself and cronies.
Writer Annie Dillard tells of a man in a rowboat who was nearly swept away by fierce tides off the coast of the other Washington. He had to row all night, with all his might, until the tide finally turned.
This is that night.
ANITA SCHNEE
Fayetteville
Paging Bill Murray ...
I came across a rerun of Ghostbusters this weekend, and it got me thinking. Could it be that Donald Trump is Gatekeeper and Keymaster in one, ready to bring destruction to the world?
It seems the portal is open already, but instead of the Marshmallow Man, we have white fools with tiki torches marching through our streets.
Who are you going to call? I tried the Republican Party, but no one picked up the phone.
H. PETER ELZER
Fayetteville
American holocaust
In Barbara Youree's letter in Saturday's paper, in writing about the events in Charlottesville and the taking down of monuments, her last statement astounded me. She wrote, "Surely we do not want an American holocaust."
Barbara, sadly, we already have an American holocaust. It's called abortion.
LINDA HRYNYK
Cabot
Editorial on 08/30/2017