Letters

Turn out the lights ...

It is over! Who cannot understand that? Donald Trump is the winner of the election. What has happened to the patriotic minority?

When Barack Obama won his second term, did the conservatives act like the complete fools? No. They picked up their lower lip, cinched up their belts, and went about life. Obviously the snow-flakes just don't get it. It is just life. You can't have it your way all the time.

There used to be a balance in the editorial section before the change in editors. It seems it has become increasingly simple to determine the politics of the editorial staff. Since the inauguration we have been bombarded with anti-Trump and anti-new administration columns by David Brooks, Paul Krugman, John Brummett, and Philip Martin. The political cartoons attempt to point to Trump's inexperience and ignorance. You are right in one respect. He doesn't have political experience. That is exactly why he was elected. Hopefully we will recover from the situation that politicians have fashioned.

Incidentally, the picture of Paul Krugman is great. His surprised look makes it appear that he has just been caught in another lie.

ROBERT W. BEST

Greers Ferry

Split up the holiday

Professor Michael Dougan in a guest column on Jan. 20 proffers that Robert E. Lee held the high ground. Up until 1861, with the exception of holding slaves, I would agree.

Professor Dougan thinks that because earlier presidents held slaves that Lee should get a pass. None of them fought a war to uphold slavery, however.

The crux of his argument is duty. Lee saw that his duty was to Virginia, not the United States of America. This is the high ground? The USA was a nation he pledged to defend when he joined the U.S. Army. Are we supposed to revere a person who turned his back on his country in the darkest hour of its history? It took no courage to go along with his home state. He had no duty to Virginia. Courage and duty would have been to defy his state and accept the command of the U.S. Army. If he had, he would have kept his home at Arlington.

I believe the one who should be revered is U.S. Gen. George Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga, a great son of Virginia who did not turn his back on his country.

Remove R.E. Lee from sharing the day with Dr. King. It is way past time. They are not two sides of the same coin.

ED PARKS

Rogers

Rechristen the bridge

The Arkansas Highway Department should rename the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock the Donald J. and Melania Trump Bridge. It would be the first bridge in America to be named after the new president and would balance the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport's Democratic name with a Republican.

JACKSON T. STEPHENS JR.

Little Rock

Now it makes sense!

I've been continuously bewildered trying to follow Kellyanne Conway's explanations of Donald (now President) Trump's tweets and other utterances. But she finally said, in two words, something that made the central point of all of this crystal clear, and I'm grateful for that. Those two words were "alternative facts."

It's simple and obvious now: Our White House will be operating on facts from an alternate universe, and its name is Trump.

CHARLEY SANDAGE

Mountain View

On dealing with fools

One thing I have learned from living a really long time is never to try reasoning with fools. Their minds are locked in granite. They have all the answers (albeit the wrong ones) to every issue and to try to convince them otherwise is the purest waste of time. They talk like a machine gun with a hung trigger and the only way to shut them up is to walk away. Their moral compass points where they want, though the true direction is straight to hell.

They come in all shapes and sizes, genders, skin colors, educational backgrounds and nationalities. Some fools believe that you plan parenthood by killing the unborn; some believe that they will not pay in eternity for aborting their unborn babies; some believe that sodomy in any of its forms is not sin against God; others think that whoremongering will go unpunished when they meet God face to face. Still others believe the way to find happiness and someone worthwhile to share it with is to be found in bars, honkytonks and nightclubs; and there are those who cohabit with a "significant other" rather than marry as God ordained.

I must not overlook those who are paid to write columns for newspapers and still others who write letters to the papers free of charge whose words in print leave no doubt that they are, as the Bible says, "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." As hard as they are to digest, they are, nevertheless, to be pitied rather than censured. To censure is only to heat up their keyboards and give excuse to more of their printed, educated ignorance. There are countless other kinds of fools that I have left out for lack of space, but they include everyone who willfully violates the laws of God or of nature, which are God's laws too. If you play with fire, you are going to get burned.

JACK MAYBERRY

Sheridan

Not sure this is right

Let's see if I have this correct: withhold contraceptives from women abroad because you oppose abortion. Am I missing the logic here?

If you were opposed to abortion, wouldn't you support the availability of contraception?

And how many white men were standing around President Trump when he signed the executive order? By my count, seven very white men and zero women. It's nice to see men taking care of these issues for the little ladies who are at home.

DANNY HANCOCK

Lonoke

The election is over

A few days ago a writer said in his travels he sees a lot of newspapers. He said the Democrat-Gazette compares very favorably with newspapers in other cities. But he questioned why in a red state like Arkansas we are bombarded with very negative political cartoons. I wholeheartedly agree that this is irritating to say the least. I have been hopeful that these cartoons would be diminished.

But they get worse. As Joe Biden said, "It's over."

RUSS BAILEY

Little Rock

Behind a bully pulpit

Are we going to see a bully pulpit reach new heights in the next four years?

PAT SMITH

North Little Rock

Editorial on 01/26/2017

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