He's not a Democrat
Some of my reasons for voting for President Trump: He is pro-life; has gotten three conservative justices added to our Supreme Court; moved our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; has brought Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates into agreements with Israel; is sanctioning Iran; erasing Obamacare; is not in the same party with Bill and Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, Barack Hussein Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff, Jerrold Nadler, Maxine Waters, et al. In other words, he is not a Democrat.
If there were no other reasons, the last one is plenty good enough for me. I didn't mention Joe Biden because somehow, to me, he is nothing at all.
JACK MAYBERRY
Sheridan
One haunted island
Just a 15-minute boat ride from the Bronx section of New York City lies the Island of the Dead, a perfect place to spend Halloween evening. Except you can't. Visitation to the island, officially Hart (Hart's) Island, is strictly regulated. No Halloween parties allowed on this final resting place for over a million or so souls, about half of them children. Only one body has an individual grave marker. It reads "SC-BI, 1985," and marks the grave of New York's first infant AIDS victim.
This is New York City's "potter's field," where the homeless, unclaimed, indigent, or simply unwanted are buried, about 1,500 each year. Located at the western end of Long Island Sound, it is about one mile long and one-third mile across at its widest point. From the air, it resembles the hindquarters and leg of a dog. A drone video taken in winter shows a stark landscape of dilapidated, deserted buildings and stunted trees. Not the sort of place most people would want to spend a night alone. A boat usually arrives on Thursdays with the latest arrivals, accompanied by a grave detail which, until recently, was composed of prison volunteers from Riker's Island, but now a private contractor handles the gruesome task. Coffins are stacked three high, two across, end to end, in a long trench and covered with sand and dirt. I suppose that means they have to be shipped over in multiples of six.
If allowed, I expect some sinister entrepreneur would conduct tours of "Haunted Island" and host morbid Halloween gatherings there so that a hip New Yorker might say to a friend, "Where did you spend Halloween?" And the friend might reply, "Spookish party on Haunted Island, of course." Hip New Yorker: "How ghoulish!"
How ghoulish indeed.
JOHN McPHERSON
Searcy
How is it her fault?
I would like someone to tell me how state Sen. Joyce Elliott, a member of the Democratic Party, which has been in the minority in Arkansas for the past several years, could raise taxes in Little Rock or Arkansas.
If this could be true, things have certainly changed a lot since my civics class in 1954. It seems as if people running these ads think that we, the voters, are just too stupid to care if they are selling us untruths.
BETTY GRIFFIS
Little Rock
What's in our future?
Worried about our nation's future? A nation in which health care, higher education and housing are beyond the reach of the average pocketbook has no future. A nation with a private and public debt overhang of tens of trillions of dollars has no future. A nation in which corporate elites brazenly enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else by buying politicians, manipulating tax law, cannibalizing acquisitions, sending jobs overseas, rigging prices and sponging off government subsidies has no future.
A nation that betrays its allies, cozies up to its enemies, and subverts its own intelligence services has no future. A nation that does not value public service has no future. A nation that invites foreign interference in its elections has no future. A nation in which every racial, ethnic, and religious group hates the others has no future. A nation that can't get its act together to deal effectively with pandemics and environmental degradation has no future.
A nation that can't tell fact from fiction has no future. A nation that punishes those who seek and speak the truth, while rewarding criminals and liars, has no future. A nation in thrall to its own trigger-happy lunatic fringe has no future. And a nation presided over by a deranged, self-dealing scofflaw-in-chief--you guessed it--has no future.
There actually is no future worth contemplating unless a vast majority of voters can put the nation back on the rails again in time. And if they can't, we'll all just be singing "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie ..."
ALEX MIRONOFF
Fayetteville
Actions speak louder
I find it laughable that the Democrat-Gazette's endorsement of French Hill describes him as a fiscal conservative in light of his support for the deficit-exploding tax cuts of 2017. Actions speak louder than words.
I guess old habits die hard as the paper continues its streak of "any Republican will do" endorsements.
French seemingly has been running against Nancy Pelosi in his last two races, and now has stooped to Trump-like tactics of misleading and outright false ads as he faces a strong challenger in Joyce Elliott. I believe Hill has accomplished nothing in his previous terms, and Arkansas would be far better off with a voice in the majority party in the House of Representatives.
JOHN BARTON
North Little Rock