OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Not cure for state ills | Troop train tragedy | Pick up a newspaper

Not cure for state ills

Rex Nelson is one of the most capable political observers in Arkansas. When Trent Garner picked a political fight with Rex in a guest column on May 24, he embarked on a fool's errand.

Mr. Garner touts the fact that 62 percent of the voters in Arkansas preferred Trump, whom he sees as a national savior. It's sobering to see what kind of creature our voters prefer. The Siena College Presidential Poll is the work of 157 top presidential scholars, historians, and political scientists. The most recent poll places Trump in the bottom five of U.S. presidents. In some of the qualities of leadership, he's dead last.

Trump came to the office with virtually no knowledge of government and left pretty much the same way. He demonstrated that he was a narcissist and a purveyor of racism, anger, hyperpartisanship, division, and dozens of other negative behaviors that we strongly discourage in our children. He knew nothing about the Bible and religion--and it showed. He's now under intense investigations for a lifetime of alleged criminal behavior.

Rex Nelson is right to be concerned about the downward trajectory of Arkansas and how the General Assembly has made us a laughingstock across this land. Mr. Garner, his fellow Republican legislators, and Donald Trump are not cures for Arkansas' ills. They're the disease.

SANDY WYLIE

Bella Vista

Troop train tragedy

I remember and salute the 33 Pennsylvania National Guardsmen of the 109th Infantry Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard who were killed in a train wreck near Coshocton, Ohio, in the predawn hours on Sept. 11, 1950, en route to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for training prior to shipping off to fight in the Korean War.

They were all my neighbors and friends from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area of northeastern Pennsylvania. This was the first day of active duty. Some did not have a complete uniform, dog tags, etc. Some were underage, only 15 and 16 years of age. All were volunteers.

JIM PADDEN

Jacksonville

Pick up a newspaper

Picking a topic for a letter is tough these days with so many things to be upset about: the frightening Arkansas legislative session, Republican efforts to destroy democracy, people who won't take the covid vaccine or who still believe Trump won the election, Judge Parker on the comic page. My list could go on. Recently on this page, however, I read something that shocked me: the claim that only 6 percent of Arkansans subscribe to the paper. I have been reading a daily paper since I was a teenager and assumed this was something respectable people did. It is disturbing to find myself in such a small minority.

Since most of the people reading this are in the same minority, I urge we take on a task--missionary work, so to speak. Let's try to convince our non-subscribing friends to sign up, maybe give subscriptions as presents, make references to content in conversations and give disappointed looks to those expressing ignorance.

We are plagued by an increasingly large group of fellow citizens who are woefully mis- or uninformed. There seems to be a belief that we are entitled to believe any silly nonsense we want, and it is costing us. Reading a newspaper on a regular basis may be the best fix.

We are blessed to have a local paper better than we have any right to expect given our population and economic standing. For a reality check, look at the Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

My wife and I have cycled through looking each morning at who was getting married, having babies, getting children married, divorcing, and now checking the obits for who has died. We need to keep an eye on the follies of local and state government, and, of course, the comics. TV news does well with local shootings, but it takes a newspaper to treat topics with detail and depth. Let's get to work and get the subscriber numbers up.

ROGER WEBB

Little Rock

Don't rename bases

Renaming military installations just removes the connection current veterans have to their past service. Probably 99 percent of people have no idea to whom the names on the installations' gates refer. Names on the gates are not associated anymore with a person, but with the decorated, combat-tested units like the 82nd Airborne (Fort Bragg), the 101st Airborne/Airmobile (Fort Campbell), the 1st Infantry Division, better known as The Big Red One (Fort Riley), Basic Training (Forts Polk, Leonard Wood, Benning).

Why is time being wasted on trivial pursuit when we have runaway deficit spending, illegals surging across our borders, a worldwide pandemic, and on? Can we not have sanity anymore?

RICHARD HARRIS

Conway

Quote brings comfort

Capt. Steve Ritchie was a USAF pilot in the Vietnam era. He retired in 1999 as a brigadier general and the last Air Force Ace. He carried a quote with him as he flew combat missions that I carried as well. It seems to bring some comfort to me and other Vietnam vets, so I would like to share it to honor all the vets who were not welcomed home.

"For those who fight for life, life has a flavor the protected will never know."

ALBERT HART

Jacksonville

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