Not everyone wants it
I'm so happy for Mr. Bledsoe that his life was so wonderful in the 1950s. I mean that sincerely. I hope he realizes that not every American had his experience.
It is interesting that the LGBT community was brought up. I wonder if they remember the 1950s the same way. Do you think they would like to go back to a time when they had to hide who they are, couldn't marry the person they loved, were taunted, had their civil rights taken away, and were even murdered? What I really don't understand is why LGBTs having to live this way made anyone happier, and why it seems to make them unhappy now.
Black Americans had very similar experiences in the 1950s. I think race had a whole different meaning for them other than speed, especially with signs everywhere saying "Whites Only," "White Water Fountain," "Colored Water Fountain," "White Bathroom," or "Colored Bathroom." There was similar treatment of the American Indians, and Chinese and Japanese Americans. All this took place in a country where we say we believe all men are created equal.
Since then we have been trying to make changes to live up to our stated beliefs. However, we now have a government that wants to take us back to those wonderful days. Surprisingly, not everyone wants to go there.
SALLY MAYS
Roland
Tragic, not surprising
Republican members of the U.S. Senate provided anticipatory obedience for a nominee to the nation's highest court without knowing who that will be or examining the person's qualifications. Like puppies in obedience school, they have adapted to the whims of their master. That Senators Cotton and Boozman appear ready to willingly acquiesce is not surprising. That a majority of this nation's Grand Old Party is submitting to the tyranny of Trump is tragic. Their justification for doing so is convoluted and transparently fabricated, but the damage to our democracy is less apparent.
Call, write, text or email disapproval, then use the right to vote these people out of office before you lose it.
L.D. BARNEY
Bella Vista
Shameful hypocrisy
The hypocrisy of the Republicans is astounding and shameful. Even more shameful are the evangelicals who support them. The Gospels teach us that Jesus had a scathing opinion of hypocrites and liars, and warned people to not listen to them. If evangelicals don't abide by the Lord's teachings, then they have no moral right to criticize others or expect anyone to join their churches.
Instead of watching Fox News, read Jesus' teachings, which tell us to take care of the poor and disenfranchised. Sounds like what the Democrats are trying to do. What is so wrong and horrible about making health care available to everyone?
KAREN WOODS
Flippin
If astronauts can do it
The first astronaut to cast a vote in space was NASA's David Wolf while he was aboard the Russian Space Station Mir in 1997. Now ballots are sent to the International Space Station. The only big difference is that when astronauts fill out their ballots, they list their address as "low-Earth orbit."
You'd think voting by mail on Planet Earth would be a piece of cake!
BETTY HUNT
North Little Rock
Parrots the Kremlin
Brad Gitz has long specialized in straw-man attacks against what he calls "the left," denouncing Democrats for holding ideas he deems out of bounds. Universal health insurance as the advent of communist dictatorship, that kind of thing.
He rarely, if ever, descends to particulars, telling his readers who holds these dreadful thoughts, and how he knows it. If I graded his columns like freshman themes, I'd write "Be Specific" in the margins. Gitz's seeming inability to do so often renders his work pompous and unpersuasive.
However, his Sept. 21 column questioning Joe Biden's mental acuity descends to a new low. Gitz repeatedly mocks the Democratic candidate's inability to think clearly or express himself without citing a single concrete example of his alleged incoherence. Not one.
By so doing, Gitz doubles down on a theme repeatedly expressed by Donald Trump, whose constant lies and personal attacks he pretends to scorn. Also by Russian propagandists employed by Vladimir Putin.
Recent news reports have documented that the Trump administration suppressed a U.S. intelligence report demonstrating that raising doubts about Biden's mental ability has long been Job One at the Kremlin. A copy of the censored report obtained by ABC News quotes Russian propaganda websites denying Biden's lifelong stuttering, "instead arguing these verbal miscues are symptoms of dementia."
It's not surprising to find Trump repeating Russian dirty tricks, although in light of Biden's effective public appearances, he's now pivoted to alleging that his rival took a stimulant before a recent nationally televised town hall.
It's hard to believe that Professor Gitz doesn't know these things. At minimum, if he insists upon parroting Kremlin propaganda, he owes it to his readers to say so.
GENE LYONS
Little Rock
Cotton working for us
I am writing this letter to say that I am voting for Tom Cotton. He has been a hard worker for the people of Arkansas and all of America. He helped secure $25 million to complete Interstate 49 near the Arkansas-Missouri border, and we all want to see that project finished. Senator Cotton has worked to make the price of prescription drugs more affordable for us by getting legislation passed that makes it easier to get generic drugs to market.
Now, he has presented legislation that should put a dent in--if not a stop to--the violent rioting that our country has seen lately. These bills will make it more difficult for the rioters to get bail, while making it easier for the victims to sue those who have destroyed the things they have spent their lives building.
It had not occurred to me that while these "peaceful protesters" are busy protesting, they are probably not gainfully employed. So are they collecting unemployment checks? Should our tax dollars go to fund such activity? I think not! Neither does Tom Cotton. One of the bills that Senator Cotton has presented will cut off federal unemployment checks to anyone that is busy destroying America.
Please join me in keeping Tom Cotton working for us. Vote for him in November.
HELEN MEDLEY
Fort Smith