Need viable solution
On May 11 a Honduran migrant, Marco Antonio Munoz, was taken into custody near the Texas border and separated from his wife and 3-year-old son. He was 39 years old and seeking asylum for his family. Agents "had to use physical force to take the child out of his hands." That's when he "snapped" and ended up in isolation at the Starr County sheriff's office. After two days in isolation he killed himself. His wife and son were later released from Border Patrol custody, destination not given.
He was detained as a result of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' "zero tolerance" policy on illegal border crossings.
Characteristically, Donald Trump is blaming the Democrats for the separation of families, reportedly 1,800 of them between October 2016 and February of this year. Trump is lying about the Democrats' role in this practice. He and truth seem to be strangers.
My query to your readers is what would you do if someone was trying to take your child from you simply because you were trying to find a better life for your family in "the land of opportunity?"
I don't know what the answer is to the illegal border-crossing problem. I know it's not a wall for which taxpayers would have to foot the bill and the effectiveness of which is questionable. I do know that separating families is not a viable solution or who we are. "Give me your tired, your poor," indeed.
JANET NEILL
Little Rock
None can cast stones
It seems that some in the Legislature are demanding that "Senator A" resign because he is causing harm to the reputation of the rest of the legislators. He hasn't been indicted or charged but the rest of the club wants to get ahead of any damage. I think it is a little late to start worrying about their public perceptions.
In recent years, several legislators have either pleaded guilty or been convicted on charges involving voter tampering, misuse of funds, bribery and fraud. And let's don't forget the continuing misuse of the General Improvement Fund process.
They doubled the legislative sessions--now meeting every year instead of every other. And they have committees that meet almost continually, meaning that we are paying per diem to many of them all year long. Oh, we also found out that some legislators were traveling to Little Rock and collecting daily to sit in on committee meetings when they were not even members of the committee.
There is also the constitutional amendment a few years back that was intentionally written to mislead the voters regarding term limits. The ballot title referred to establishing term limits as if we didn't already have limits. Buried deep inside the text of the amendment was wording that extended limits, giving the politicians more time on the gravy train.
For this year's election, the oh-so-ethical legislators added a tort reform issue to the ballot. But in their usual methods of underhandedness, they've tacked on a provision that would give them control of many of the state's court processes. A slimy power grab hidden in what they perceive as an issue that might pass even though the court takeover would not if it had to stand on its own.
The Arkansas Legislature has engaged in deceit, deception and dishonesty on a grand scale. Perhaps before they spend a lot of time calling out one member, they might engage in a group gaze into a mirror and discuss what they see.
MARK BARNHARD
Little Rock
Someone has to pay
The U.S. and China both manufacture automobiles which are shipped back and forth between them. If the U.S. puts a 30 percent tariff on automobiles produced in China and sold in the U.S, the price of these imported autos can be expected to rise by 30 percent. Since the ability of the Chinese manufacturers to compete on price is thus reduced, the price or profit on sales of autos produced and sold in the U.S. can be expected to increase, up to 30 percent.
No wonder Wall Street is doing so well.
LEN WHITE
Fayetteville
Can leave the country
I received notice that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette would not be delivered in my area after the end of June.
Personally, I could not care less. I was about to cancel the paper anyway. Little things about the paper have upset me, publishing Wumo instead of Mallard Fillmore, for one, and allowing John Brummett to continue to lambaste our president.
Brummett is a bully, attacking POTUS at every opportunity. It seems the president has defused a very hostile situation in Korea but we will never hear a positive comment from Brummett. Trump is not a clown. When you look at the positive things he has accomplished, you have to admire him in doing exactly what he said he would do. That's why he was elected president.
Brummett should leave the country if he is so unhappy with our president. I am sure he would be happy in Venezuela, Cuba, or some socialist country he admires.
Or he can wait around another six years for Bernie Sanders, or Hillary, or the like ...
NICK GOODRICH
Mountain Home
Window into persona
I read the entire John Brummett online column Wednesday. Usually I read one sentence and take a deep breath and move on. Wednesday his column about Sarah Huckabee Sanders offered a bit of a window into his persona.
Guess I might try for two paragraphs today ...
GWEN FULLEN
Arkadelphia
Gosh, what a tribute
Kudos to John Brummett! In his June 5 column he writes, "Sixty-three million Americans, give or take, voted for Trump for president. It seems entirely plausible to me that some of those 63 million were not racists nor haters nor resentful primitives."
How charitable can he be to us knuckle-dragging conservatives that don't ascribe to Brummett's elite and arrogant scribes. Why, if he continues with this thinking, he might even astonish us with an estimate of maybe 200 or 300 out of the 63 million are decent individuals.
Two words to describe Brummett's writings--disgusting and insulting.
JERRY B. JACKSON
Heber Springs
Enemy of civilization
One picture is good for a thousand lies.
Has John Brummett delivered as many diatribes against Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Khrushchev, combined, as he has against President Trump?
I'm sure Russia's Gorbachev, of course, would be exempt from Brummett's bile, while Reagan would be the main enemy of civilization, per Brummett.
GERALD HOLLAND
Bentonville
Editorial on 06/14/2018