Rethink your support
To all supporters of the former president: What happened? Where is the law and order you claim to covet? Where is the love of country you once had? Where is the truth you once coveted?
I am confused by your continued support of a man who openly had his thugs attack our Capitol and beat our Capitol police in an effort to overturn the election, thugs who constructed hanging platforms to hang Nancy Pelosi and the vice president, who ran through the halls yelling, "Hang Mike Pence." Do not tell me this would not have happened.
Why is your loyalty so strong for a despot who said he would refuse to leave the White House under any circumstances and when told it is not the way it works said he doesn't care? He doesn't care, about you, about freedom, about the Constitution or this country. Can you not hear that? He says that at every rally. Are you deaf? Is winning worth losing our democracy for an autocratic government? Are you really wanting an autocratic president? Do you really know what that means?
Where is your respect for law and order? Do you not know that he has 91 charges against him as well as four very serious indictments for criminal activity? Criminal activity, for God's sake! Do you really know what that means?
And for all the members of Congress who are election-deniers, they cherish their jobs too much to tell the truth so they try to appease you with the same lies and make you believe that they are right. He lost the election, period. Any fool who says anything other than that knows nothing about how elections are conducted.
Our sacred right to vote is our right as citizens of this great country. It is at the core of our democracy. If this man wins again, then this country may never survive. I implore you to look at the facts and reconsider supporting this demon in man's clothes. He is a rich, spoiled brat who has always gotten his way and doesn't believe he should ever lose anything because he is privileged.
MICHAEL RADICE
Fayetteville
Heard this one before
"We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country."--Donald J. Trump, Nov. 11, 2023
Trump isn't the first leader of a movement to refer to political opponents as "vermin" who must be "rooted out." But I doubt much of his audience in New Hampshire last weekend would have been able to understand his comments had he delivered them in the original German.
MAGA = domestic terrorism.
DREW JANSEN
Little Rock
Retaliation expected
In February 1945, RAF and U.S. bombers obliterated the heart of Dresden, Germany, with high explosive and incendiary bombs. Modern historians estimate that at least 20,000 civilians died in the firestorm that resulted from the bombings. Military targets were the reason given at the time.
Everyone seems to have forgotten that if Israel really wanted to wipe out the Palestinians in Gaza, it would be doing something similar rather than just using explosives. When Hamas raided southern Israel and killed all those Israeli civilians, what did they expect was going to happen? Thinking that Israel was not going to retaliate would require that you play with less than a full deck.
JOE WHALEN
North Little Rock
Issues divide parties
Of all the issues that divide Democrats and Republicans, there are clearly two that head the list. Current and continuous events highlight these issues. These two issues can be said to polarize the parties. One issue involves a woman's right to make decisions about her body. The other decision involves gun control. Neither issue should be stated in one simple sentence. Both issues are complex, involving multiple sub-issues.
Pro-life and pro-choice religious and health sub-issues explode exponentially. The gun control sub-issues expand to billowing police/crime complications and involve our Constitution.
Of course there are other major issues perplexing both parties, like border control and immigration. Neither party has a good answer. Pick an issue where one party blames the other ... consequential differences.
Will you study the facts and make qualified decisions on the issues? Do you have strong morals and make chaste decisions? Will you vote with intelligence and conscience?
Will you vote?
P.L. GUSTAFSON
Hot Springs Village
Hymns for funerals
For burial hymns to be played at my mother's or my celebration funeral, we choose a traditional Dixieland band, the farewell song ("La Golondrina") as seen and sung in the motion picture "The Wild Bunch" in Spanish, and "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum.
We are proud supporters of the Jewish country of Israel; may their tribes excel as well as all the brave enduring peoples of the Jewish faith worldwide. Without Jewish people, we would not be where we are.
REBECCA TARVIN
Jacksonville
Holiday approaches
Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but for some the preparations have already begun. What do you do to make the holiday special? Tell us if you haven't had a letter printed in the 30 days preceding Nov. 23, and we'll do our best to get it in.
Keep it under 300 words, and send it by email to voices@arkansasonline.com; or through our Voices form at arkansasonline.com/contact/voicesform. The deadline for Thanksgiving letters is 5 p.m. Tuesday.