Filthier than Trump
Donald Trump may be coarse, but I believe the Washington press corps proved itself to be far lower by the way they whooped and hollered at the filthy monologue spewed by the "entertainer" they hired to express their hatred for Trump, Republicans and all issues associated therewith.
The "humor" was so vile that most people outside the D.C. press mob avoid those who engage in it.
GERALD HOLLAND
Bentonville
Potholes need love too
The month of May is name your favorite pothole month. Multiple entries along with photos are encouraged. Send your potholes' names and photos straight to the Department of Transportation.
First prize is a 8x10 of Scott Bennett, suitable for framing. Second prize is a chunk-of-asphalt paperweight. Third prize is a can of Fix-a-Flat.
We expect hundreds of thousands of entries, so send your potholes straight to ArDOT early.
RICHARD WITHERSPOON
Rockport
Stand up for teachers
I want to recognize and applaud educators in our region during Teacher Appreciation Week. There are countless ways in which our teachers are taken for granted, under-resourced, and scapegoated. We need to stand up to the bullies who demean and undermine the professionals dedicating their lives to educating the next generation.
For years, it seemed a handful of billionaires rigged the rules with lobbyists, special-interest groups, and elected officials to defund public schools and attack public school educators. As a result, teachers have had to do more with less, all the while trying to create the best learning environment for their students to succeed.
Now the same wealthy CEOs are backing a Supreme Court case to divide teachers' power in numbers to speak up for smaller class sizes, adequate textbooks and supplies, and other investments our kids and communities need.
And when people like Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos say that teachers' job is to "serve" students, they ignore a brutal reality: Many teachers struggle to make ends meet. Until Oklahoma teachers went on strike, they hadn't received a raise in a decade.
It's inspiring to see educators in Oklahoma and West Virginia stand up and walk off the job to demand an end to corporate tax breaks, unsustainable jobs, and disinvestments in our schools. We have to unite with them and all of the teachers who are fighting on the front lines and behind the scenes for quality public schools.
I am proud to stand alongside those walking off the job and pushing back against the relentless attacks on their profession.
GUY AMSLER
Little Rock
Journalists necessary
I like a good story sometimes. Journalists are very necessary now, whether we vote for a complete nutcase or well-experienced person for president.
Congress does not know how to handle D.J. Trump, so journalists and special counsels have to.
To those seeking the truth, I say thank you.
STEVE WHEELER
North Little Rock
An unlikely invention
Steve Foster, in his letter to the editor, asserts that he knows of no evidence that Jesus Christ ever really existed. What would count as evidence for Steve Foster? My own approach has been to start with some difficulties that the Gospel writers encountered in dealing with source materials about Jesus.
For example, the writers of the four Gospels accept Nazareth, in the district of Galilee, as Jesus' hometown, the village where he was reared. But John, in his Gospel, writes that some contemporaries of Jesus held that he could not have been the Christ (Messiah) because the Christ was not supposed to come from Galilee but from Bethlehem, where the great King David had lived. Perhaps with that difficulty in mind, Matthew and Luke in their Gospels write that Jesus grew up in Nazareth after being born in Bethlehem. It seems to me that if Jesus had never existed, if the Gospel writers had just been making the whole thing up, the material about Jesus growing up in Nazareth would have been an unnecessary complication. It would have been much simpler for them to write that Jesus had been both born and reared in Bethlehem, leaving out any mention of Nazareth. So I conclude that Jesus was not a mere figure of human imagination but someone who really lived in Nazareth many centuries ago.
For other examples, consider the material in the Gospels about relationships between Jesus and John the Baptist, reflecting debate between their followers about which of the two was the greater religious leader. All of that material is an aside from the central message of the Gospels, and it strikes me as unlikely that the Gospel writers would have felt that they needed to invent it about an imaginary Jesus who had never really existed.
RICHARD FROTHINGHAM
Little Rock
Checks and balances
It wasn't coincidental that President Trump appointed people who disliked the agencies they control. I think it was done intentionally because he wanted loyal henchmen in charge of every government agency. He knew they would make indiscriminate budget cuts and indiscriminate deregulation.
The people Trump appoints do not work for the president. They took an oath to uphold the United States Constitution and they work for us, not Donald Trump, who seems to have no understanding of how an open representative government functions, or doesn't respect the rule of law.
I believe he conducted his personal business in a deceitful, repugnant fashion in spite of the law and wants to run the country likewise, and has tried every way he can to turn us against a free press and our open government.
This is what happens when all three branches of government are under one party; no checks and balances--the very thing from which our founding fathers tried to protect us.
MILLIE FOREE
Bella Vista
Editorial on 05/03/2018