Democrats' chances
As the Trump administration continues to decimate the Republican Party with its sleazy sex scandals and reckless policy decisions, the normally comatose Democrats are looking to break out of their long-standing malaise and take back the Congress that has eluded them for so many years.
I know, it sounds crazy to me, too. It's like watching a UFO land on the roof of a Waffle House, or Jerry Jones selecting a qualified free agent for the Dallas Cowboys.
Yet according to most polls, there seems to be some legitimacy to the Democrats' optimism. Reuters currently has them up 10 points over Republicans, and even predominantly conservative red states such as Texas and Florida have races too close to call, including that of Sen. Ted Cruz. When asked who best represents their values, the Democrats score a commanding two to one lead in virtually every poll. Even Hillary Clinton's self-righteous diatribes against working-class Americans are having very little impact on the Democrats' rising popularity.
One major flaw the party is reluctant to address is the unwillingness to listen to the needs of its own constituency. Russian trolling, Stormy Daniels and Late Night lampooning may seem like a winning formula to the "corporate whores" at the DNC in Washington, D.C., but it does very little in addressing the medical, educational, and financial concerns facing the rest of the nation. Criminal justice reform will not occur by grousing over the 2016 election, screaming about Jill Stein. It may feel good for your emotional well-being, but then again, that is what a therapist is for.
Anyway, good luck to you, Democrats. Hope you don't blow it this time, but I won't be holding my breath.
JOHN LANCASTER
Donaldson
Cutbacks slow it down
This was witnessed recently in a local Social Security office. There was a wait time of 1½ hours just to get a certificate copied for their files. After waiting for 1½ hours, the task took 5 minutes to complete.
All this because they have been cut back on personnel and may see further cutbacks. The workers are doing their best. Why not have someone to take care of short-time tasks like copying something for their files?
People, prepare for cutbacks in other government offices!
S.K. ONEIL
Sherwood
In praise of calendars
It hangs on a wall, sits on a desk, crams our mailboxes and pops up by demand on our electronic devices. It's about time we set aside a date to celebrate that which allows us to set aside dates to celebrate; that which controls our lives more than anything else (except perhaps the cell phone); an object which I doubt that few would name as humankind's greatest invention or innovation: our ubiquitous calendar.
It did not attain its present status easily. Prior to Julius Caesar, the Romans used a lunar calendar with a base year of the founding of Rome (about 735 B.C.). Julius took enough off from his dallying with Cleopatra to study the Egyptian method of keeping track of days and came up with his own calendar version, complete with one month bearing his namesake, known as (drum roll, please) the Julian Calendar. It lasted for centuries, but it kept gaining one day about every 128 years on the actual time it took the Earth to do its dance around the sun.
Through the years various chronologists kept trying to correct this discrepancy with little success until Pope Gregory in 1582 proclaimed that year would be the last year for the Julian Calendar to be used by the Catholic world; it was to be replaced by (another drum roll) the Gregorian Calendar. The calendar that year leaped from Oct. 4 to Oct. 15. In some places riots reportedly occurred because some people actually believed they had lost 10 days of their lives.
England and its colonies did not accept the pope's version until 1752, by which time 11 days had to be expunged (reportedly producing more riots), which is why we recognize George Washington's birthday as Feb. 22 instead of Feb. 11.
JOHN McPHERSON
Searcy
A troubling situation
It's getting harder and harder for me not to smack people upside the head when I hear them repeat, word for word, what the president tweets as if it's gospel truth.
It's not. Most of his tweets are misleading, and some are just outright wrong; the facts, not my feelings, tell me that.
It's troubling that he can't get over Obama, Hillary, Comey, Mueller, or anyone else who hasn't lain prostrate at his feet to worship him. It's troubling that he promotes his businesses, media outlets that are friendly to him, and books that paint him as a white knight on a fiery steed. It's troubling that he hasn't released his tax records even though he said he would, and is acting awfully guilty for someone who almost constantly proclaims his innocence.
But what's most troubling is that it seems his followers see nothing wrong, and his party just goes along with whatever he wants.
Are we getting to the point that we'll be "disappearing" folks who displease him? Lordy, I hope not.
LML TERRELL
Dayton
Flashback
Editor’s note: In honor of Earth Day, we republish this letter, originally printed April 22, 2015.
Step to a solution
April 22nd is Earth Day. The original Earth Day began in 1970; it was all about cleaning up our air and water so that we wouldn’t be poisoning ourselves. Now it’s about cleaning up the carbon pollution in our atmosphere so we can maintain a livable planet for ourselves.
Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that manmade climate change is happening now, with the consequences becoming more dire with time. I believe there can no longer be doubt that it’s time for real action on global warming.
I think the best answer is a fee on carbon, with the revenue returned to everyone on an equal basis. This fee would hasten the transition to renewable energy. It’s not a tax, so there is no drag on the economy. A fee of $15 a ton of carbon dioxide translates to an extra 15 cents a gallon of gas and a $300 monthly check to each family to pay for the extra costs. Studies show most people would come out ahead.
As a first real step toward a climate solution, that’s a real bargain.
TONY POTOCHNIK
Rogers
Editorial on 04/22/2018