Nothing but cowards
We all know Trump's Big Lie, the alpha of the over 30,000 he told during his time in office. The bigger lie, the one that truly threatens our democracy, is the support of the 90 percent of Republicans who lack the courage to stand up to the "big liar" and tell the truth about the 2020 election, considered the most secure in U.S. history.
Arkansas' six representatives have sworn under oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; to bear true faith and allegiance to the same. So help me God." Most of them have taken that oath on several occasions. These are smart men, they know the truth, and it begs the question: What is their agenda? It is not America's best interest.
They do not deserve our admiration or support, they do not deserve to hold their offices. They are cowards in the truest sense of the word.
RICK ARMELLINI
Eureka Springs
Show truth of virus
It's time to get real with the news. We now know that covid-19 and its variants are a pandemic of the unvaccinated. It has permeated every aspect of our daily lives including our health-care providers and their support, our economy, schools and families. Seniors have had valuable years stolen.
I don't want to see another front-page photo in your paper of someone being vaccinated or swabs stuck up another nose. Responsible people have already been vaccinated and boosted. This is a public health crisis and time to be honest.
Show the effects of the choice to avoid the vaccine. Show the hospital beds, ventilators, the exhaustion of the doctors, nurses and housekeepers. Show the pain of those left behind, the funerals, and the graves as they show in India. Show how it really is, honestly.
Watching the polio epidemic when I was very young, we saw iron lungs with mirrors attached so that patients could read or visit with family, leg braces and wheelchairs. When I saw the iron lungs again as an adult in the old Baptist hospital, I was confident those would never be used again; now they're called ventilators. Thankfully, polio virus has been mostly eliminated due to vaccines.
Covid-19 is a new virus that will continue to mutate for many years. We have vaccines and boosters that will minimize symptoms in most people. Take responsibility and be accountable for your community. Protect someone even if only yourself. This is public health management.
KELLI WESTBROOK
Little Rock
Please, get the shots
When you're 71, still working, but with a long list of "comorbidities," you try to pay more attention to your health. In "the time of covid," however, it's harder. Like the ubiquitous prairie dog, you become much more reticent about sticking your head out of your cubby hole, and into the miasma.
If, like me, you believe in science, and come from an upbringing in the '50s in which vaccines put an end to childhood monsters like polio, diphtheria, and smallpox, you thank God for the shots, and you take them.
You don't consult every faith healer and political opportunist on the giant, anonymous "party line" of social media; you just get the damn shot. In so doing, given the nature of the disease, you know you're not guaranteed complete protection, rather the enhanced chance for survival, but that beats the alternative.
And so it came to pass that I was triple-vaccinated on New Year's Day, and sufficiently emboldened to perform a small wedding for an old friend.
All eight folks were vaccinated and I brought my mask, but, unknown to anyone at the time, the bug had broken through the bride's defenses from contact with an unvaccinated well-wisher prior to the ceremony, and alas then, to me. I tested positive on Jan. 5.
That's the bad news. The good news is I skipped most of the symptoms save for a bad cough. That was addressed when my one kidney qualified me for monoclonal antibodies. The infusion was administered by overworked, under-appreciated medical providers who aren't getting much sleep these days. I'm much better. Waiting out my last few quarantine days before returning to my job.
The point: I'm not dead, nor on a ventilator. Even though I'm not a picture of health, science (shots and medical treatments) saved me. I, luckily, chose the medicine over misinformation. In short, the vaccinations worked.
There are those who say at this late date in the worldwide pandemic, "leave the naysayers and charlatans to Darwin." My religion doesn't allow me that choice. Pardon its form, but my prayer for all my unvaccinated brothers and sisters is: "Get the damn shots!"
CHIP WELCH
North Little Rock