Cannot re-elect him
I continue to be baffled by supposedly intelligent individuals who cannot objectively separate truth from fiction and continue to support our president. Donald Trump is a liar: a well-documented established fact. He has not improved the economy measurably. He has built three new miles of a border wall and has not made Mexico pay for it. He has worsened the international trade deficit, reduced job creation and massively increased the national debt. All before Jan. 1, 2020. Mr. Trump's negligence and incompetence in the management of the covid-19 pandemic has worsened the consequences of his failures.
Recently it has been disclosed that the president considers men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the service of our country to be "losers" and "suckers." According to Mr. Trump, if you are shot down over enemy territory and must endure years of captivity and torture, you are not a hero.
Presently he is openly spearheading an extensive disinformation campaign aimed at suppressing the vote in the coming election. All the while his administration is suing in the Supreme Court to take away health care for millions and millions of Americans in the middle of a pandemic.
He has appointed two associate justices to the Supreme Court.
Finding ways to make Mr. Trump's characteristics and achievements palatable enough to justify re-election seems an impossible task.
PETER CORRY
Little Rock
Should be on ballot
I was saddened to see that the proposed amendments regarding primaries and redistricting were stricken from this year's ballot by the Arkansas Supreme Court over a technicality unrelated to the merits of each amendment. Whether or not the canvassers have been background checked is really irrelevant. Someone who has a crime in his past should not be categorically disqualified from taking voter signatures on a ballot petition, though there are admittedly some whose record would make contact with the public inadvisable.
Though I am presently undecided on each issue, I and thousands of others would like to have had the opportunity to vote on them. This decision denies me that chance. I find it interesting that the effort to keep these amendments off the ballot was so strongly supported by Republicans. Their efforts to suppress the vote and gerrymander have drawn national notice. Their claim that the redistricting amendment was an attempt to undermine their officeholders was laughable. They currently hold all the state constitutional offices, and all six federal offices, a situation not likely to change significantly even with a more even-handed redistricting next year.
The Republicans can't win on ideas or message; witness the raving at their convention about how a Biden administration would bring the nation to ruin, but with no clear plan for governing. This year's platform is "whatever Donald Trump wants us to do," so they have to rely on chicanery and dubious legal maneuvering. Perhaps they'd prefer a change in the state motto from Regnat populus to Regnat non populus: The people don't rule. Or maybe more colloquially, the public be damned.
THOMAS BECKETT
Siloam Springs
Socialism confused
The writer from Conway extolling the virtues of socialism serves to remind me again that socialism is misunderstood by many Americans.
The writer promotes socialism as people pooling their money to provide for public infrastructure, education, housing, and all other needs. We must ask: Who determines how each contributes to the pool? A socialist government is funded through wealth redistribution, not a graduated tax system as we have now. This punishes ingenuity and invention. The government makes all the decisions affecting the people. This is what Americans object to.
Socialism is a system where the government owns all of the means of the production of goods and services in the name of collective ownership. A committee determines what production will be for the year. This happens with no consideration of the wants and needs of the people, and there is no accountability for poor decisions. If demand is greater for an item than the committee planned to produce, the people go without. Or, if they have any money, they may turn to the black market.
A couple of months ago people were unable to buy enough toilet paper. Imagine that as a normal way of life. In a socialist economy, without a free market, the government determines prices. Wages, too, are controlled by the government. In a socialist society the only people who enjoy the freedoms we all now enjoy are the elites in power. They eat the steaks and lobster, and the people eat whatever the government decides to produce. This is well documented throughout history.
The writer may confuse democratic socialism with pure socialism. Leftists in our country are promoting more government control in this election. That points out we must be informed to exercise our vote wisely.
MICHAEL SANDERS
Little Rock
Not the cheerleaders
The current president now seems to take great pride in his role as a cheerleader, keeping American citizens upbeat by downplaying the severity of the rising number of covid-19 infections and deaths during this pandemic.
Considering the maladroit response of the U.S. relative to other developed nations, it might be constructive, if not enlightening to some, to remind ourselves that difficult and challenging games are won not by an upbeat cheerleading squad, but by the knowledgeable and competent leadership of the coach and the diligent effort and concentration of well-trained, skilled team players.
JOSEPH LOMBARDI
Greenbrier