Liberals are out there
I would like to respond to Tim Irby's letter decrying letters to the editor from "northern liberals" in Hot Springs Village daring to voice their opinions on the Voices page. I was born in southeast Missouri, grew up in Jonesboro, went to college in Kansas, and now live in Arkansas. I'm that rare bird, a southern liberal.
We are out there, Mr. Irby; get over it.
RITA JOHNSON
Little Rock
Nothing but excuses
I almost choked on my toast while reading the news Saturday morning on my new electric newspaper.
After wiping the jam off the screen, I read that U.S. House Rep. Rick Crawford had gallantly surrendered his position on the hot-seat House Intelligence Committee to a fellow representative from Ohio, a more aggressive apologist and attack-dog for the president.
The article was overall pretty funny, but it was the last section that almost did me in: Representative Crawford started by accusing his committee chairman of being a 'liar' (good start to re-establishing a working relationship there, Rick), and excused his not attending the committee hearings regularly by calling it a "dog and pony show," and providing all the excuses under the sun for why he couldn't do the job we sent him to Congress to do.
The final sentence of the article was delivered like a Good Republican with a bad case of Alzheimer's and certified short-term memory loss: "If Democrats are 'weaponizing' impeachment, it sets a precedent for future presidents and future Congresses, Crawford added."
Can we perhaps recall Benghazi, the endless investigation of Hillary Clinton--that magically disappeared after her defeat--and the Star Chamber investigation of Bill Clinton? Can we please re-evaluate the history of "weaponizing" committee investigations?
But perhaps my representative just decided to be like Huckleberry Finn and duck out the back and lay low for a while. While you're out fishing on the river bank and another man is doing your job, you should have time to come up with some more excuses for the real estate salesman who accepts no constitutional limit on anything he wants. All the other excuses haven't held water for long.
Oh, our president does so love the crowds' roar, but if he could but love our nation and moral principles a little more ...
DANNY HANCOCK
Lonoke
Keeping us informed
Recently you ran an article about a Manhattan bakery named Fabrique and featured a picture of cardamom buns. The article was such a success story about opening a business in a tough neighborhood (now gentrified and expensive) that I emailed my daughter about it. Saturday morning she went to Fabrique and enjoyed a bun and cappuccino. When I visit in the spring that will be my first morning's stop.
Thank you for keeping up on interesting events in other areas.
MARILYN RUSSELL
Bella Vista
Progressive letters
Two recent letters to the editor bemoaned the increase in progressive letters appearing lately, wondering why there are not more from conservatives.
Perhaps more letters from progressives are appearing because more letters from progressives are being submitted. And perhaps that is because public opinion in Arkansas is changing.
Culture changes in cycles. When it swings extremely left or right, it eventually swings back, and then repeats the cycle again. The swing in recent years has been toward the left, and we are seeing a hard-right turn again. Same-sex marriage, transgender transitions, Black Lives Matter, medical marijuana, #MeToo, etc., have been too much too fast for many people. Now increased immigration has prompted a right-wing resurgence of white supremacy. It was predictable, and it won't last; the cycle will swing again.
We will always have a hard core at both extremes, but it looks to me like each turn of the cycle is moving the middle slightly to the left, both nationally and in Arkansas. Harsh, vindictive attitudes are becoming more humane--on criminal justice, the death penalty, and drug usage, among others. (The fact that the opioid epidemic is affecting mostly white people is probably helping that last one.)
I don't know if letters to the editor reflect Arkansans' opinion in general, but if they do, I'm glad to see the trend toward progressive attitudes. Keep those letters coming!
MAYA PORTER
Johnson
End the experiment
Well, Wally, you got your wish and the experiment is over. However, I think you picked the wrong experiment.
The one we really need to end is trying to compete in the Southeast Conference. Our only competition there is to see if we can have a better record than Vanderbilt. Ol' Houston Dale did the best so far, and he only won a little over 50 percent of his games. Despite all your hopes, wishes, dreams and fantasies, we will never be a power in the SEC. We should probably join Conference USA. Oh wait, we can't beat them either.
Another question: Would you let the administration at the Razorback Foundation and the UA Board of Trustees manage your money? And finally, Geaux Tigers!
EDWARD COBB
Rogers
Editorial on 11/13/2019