Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Arkansas, from border to border--that is, from West Memphis to Texarkana--and all the ships on DeGray Lake. Let's go to press--
The leftish side of American politics doesn't have a sense of humor that it's aware of, and it showed this week, as it does every week. Somebody asked one of the muckety-mucks in the Donald Trump White House why his spokesman, Sean Spicer, has spent less time in full view of the cameras at press conferences lately. Said muckety-muck, the very mucky Steven Bannon, responded: "Sean got fatter." Which is a hoot coming from the Steven Bannon we've seen pictures of. But the joke didn't go over on the port side of politics. Even one of the Clintons--this one is our favorite, Chelsea--whined that the White House was "fat shaming" the press secretary. Either that, or it was just a joke to annoy the media. Considering the source of the comment, it had to be a joke. Miss Chelsea should remember something a wonderful editorial writer once told us: "This is sport, not persecution. But it is sport." . . . . One of the attorneys for the small town of Damascus, Ark., is trying once again to get around a ruling that his client--that is, his town--has been operating a speed trap as folks travel up U.S. 65. In his filing, said attorney claimed the anti-speed-trap law "is even profoundly unclear, arguably to a fatal extent, as to who exactly has authority to act with respect to the inquiry and sanctions provisions." To a fatal extent? Goodness, law schools must be teaching Hyperbole 101 to freshmen these days. . . . It is so hot in the American West that planes can't take off. That is certainly not hyperbole. It seems that small jets can't take off when it gets hotter than 117 degrees. Somebody tried to explain that the hotter the air, the thinner the air, and planes need longer runways to take off in that kind of heat. And in places where the runways aren't long enough, you have canceled flights. Folks, say what you want this summer about Arkansas, but until they start parking planes, it ain't really hot here. . . . There's been a lot of ink spilled about the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper by The Beatles. One must wonder why. It wasn't a very good album, and hasn't held up over the years. It is clear The Beatles were out of ideas at that point, writing songs about kids' artwork and a big-band tune about turning 64. It would take a trip to India to get them angry, and their juices flowing again, to put out the next few albums--and much better ones, too. Wake us when it's the 50th anniversary of Abbey Road . . . . For all the chicken farmers in Arkansas--and they are legion--here are some stats to show how important the industry really is, compliments of the Wall Street Journal: The chicken industry in this country requires 750 million new chickens to raise and slaughter. Every. Single. Month. It's a $60 billion business nationally, led by folks such as Tyson Foods and Pilgrim's Pride. The numbers are so massive that if there's a 1 percent decline in the number of eggs that hatch in just one five-month period, that's a $121 million loss for the industry. Folks, chicken is BIG business. . . . Somebody on Fox News named Todd Starnes has proposed the president of the United States "rain down hell fire" on North Korea if it harms another American citizen. Even though that's certain to touch off a massive war in which Seoul will be flattened and millions of people will die, including tens of thousands of American soldiers based in South Korea. And that's even if nukes aren't used--a big if, considering that Lil' Kim runs the North. Here's hoping the president doesn't still get his military advice from the cable shows. . . . The Little Rock Zoo features the continent's oldest gorilla in captivity, and Trudy celebrated her 60th birthday (zookeepers think) over the weekend in her own way. By napping in the shade. She just wasn't into a party. The older we get, the more we can relate. . . . The sports section of Arkansas' newspaper has been reviewing the most memorable football games in the last 25 years since the Razorbacks joined the SEC. One this week featured the game between Arkansas and Alabama in September of 1998. The UA beat the pre-Nick Saban Alabama team that year 42-6. You know, we'll take that exact same score this year. As long as it's the same winner. . . .
Editorial on 06/22/2017