Letters

No more pro football

I was just about to watch football Sunday afternoon, but happened to catch some news first. Many NFL football players are refusing to attend the playing of our national anthem before the game, and some are taking a knee as the anthem is being played.

I realize these players have freedom of speech, but so do I. My Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays will no longer include watching professional football. In my opinion, college football competition is more exciting anyway. And I will give that up too if this protesting translates into college ball.

Hopefully the pro football team owners and players will feel the pinch when business advertising departments expect to pay a prorated charge because of a drop in viewership.

HENRY ESPOSITO

Little Rock

What flag stands for

For the past few days I have continued to hear and read about the president's condemnation of the NFL players and other sports figures for their "disrespect of our flag," citing our nation's history of service and sacrifice to defend the flag.

As a retired Army officer and Vietnam veteran, I feel it my duty to correct the president and point out that I did not serve to defend the flag, but to defend what the flag stands for. The flag is just cloth; what it stands for is everything, and certainly one of its most sacred principles is freedom of speech and expression.

As a serviceman, I was, and still am, prepared to fight and die for the right of these players and others to have their say even if--and especially if--I disagree with their message.

And consider this, how many additional security personnel were on hand during last week's games to protect the fans and stadium from any violence by the players? There was no riot, no looting, no fighting, not even any disruption of traffic flow. These peaceful protests were the prototype of our constitutional democracy in action and, as opposed to condemnation, they should be celebrated for the manner in which they were conducted and promoting what our flag actually means.

And finally, a note to my C-in-C. Mr. President, Sir, while you portend to drape yourself in our flag, ostensibly for patriotic reasons, the fact is you do not comprehend or begin to understand what our flag truly stands for.

WILLIAM FRALEY

Sherwood

It's a sign of respect

Taking a knee in an athletic contest has always been a sign of respect for an injured player. America is injured. No amount of attention to symbols can heal us.

CHRIS SPATZ

Conway

Pioneer in civil rights

As we pause to recognize the 60th anniversary of the "Little Rock Nine," please take a minute to advise your readers of the U.S. Mint's recent release of a commemorative quarter to mark the coming 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass.

Men and women like him were the 19th century pioneers in the civil rights movement.

JOE WHALEN

North Little Rock

Insight and zeitgeist

For my money, only three of your syndicated columnists on the op-ed pages merit top marks. My picks are Megan McArdle, Doyle McManus, and Reg Henry. McArdle and McManus impress with spot-on clarity and insight. Henry does both, complemented with a wonderful touch of wry wit. The others are repeatedly predictable, blowing plenty of hot air which quickly evaporates.

Two of your in-house scribes tend to reach too high and blur the focus of the average reader. Greenberg the Elder and Martin the Younger are both dreamers. It seems Greenberg yearns for a restoration of Scarlett's "Old South" (minus the slavery). Martin seeks to unmask the hidden mysteries of the current weltanschauung and zeitgeist without resorting to schadenfreude. John Brummett is a romantic crusader mounted on a high horse, charging the windmills of corruption and ineptitude in state government. When shedding his armor as he chats with Bubba over in the Delta, his words sparkle.

Would that the op-ed pages included streetwise liquor-infested columnists such as Jimmy Breslin, Mike Royko or Christopher Hitchens. For required moderation, aim to resurrect a teetotaling William Allen White, who famously recognized Calvin Coolidge as a "Puritan in Babylon."

E.D. CORCORAN

Conway

Others helped at site

While Benton resident Gerald Griffin should be commended for his telling the readers about his spending "a week feeding the evacuees from Hurricane Harvey," it is regrettable that he had to state that he had "never seen the freethinkers or any Muslim organization helping at a disaster site. However," added Mr. Griffin, "I did see Christians feeding Muslims in Houston."

Had Brother Griffin's concern for facts not been blinded by myopic disregard (if not bigoted sentiments) of facts, surely he would have discovered that the Houston Muslim communities were very involved in Harvey relief efforts. One headline reads: "Muslim groups in Houston are on the front lines of Harvey relief efforts." Likewise "freethinkers," Jews, Catholics and people of all faiths, inspired by their sacred teachings, also worked for the common good.

We Christians should take our cues from Christ's teachings and not from politicians and others who are sowing seeds of divisiveness and hatred. Humility, Christ taught us, is not an exercise in holier-than-thou chest beating.

RAOUF J. HALABY

Arkadelphia

Editorial on 09/27/2017

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