Academic snobbery
Dear editor:
In a recent letter, a writer referred to Mary Robinson's ninth-grade education, stating it explains how she resolves all our nation's problems. Such a statement might be pretentious if it were not from a liberal. The writer might consider that Benjamin Franklin had only two years of formal education, which according to the writer explains how Mr. Franklin solved our nation's problems.
As to Mr. Obama's bringing us back from bad economic times, it was the weakest and slowest recovery from a recession in the history of our nation. During this recovery, our national debt, $10.6 trillion in January 2008 (39.4 percent) of GDP surged to $19.9 trillion in December 2016 (75.4 percent) of our GDP. Further, if you deduct from the national debt the debt we owe to ourselves it went from just over $6 trillion in 2008 to over $14 trillion in 2016, a remarkable increase of 233 percent. Truly a record to be proud of.
Hillary Clinton, lawyer, U.S. senator, secretary of state, claimed she did not understand the classification of government documents. On leaving office, bleach bit her servers and destroyed her cellphones with a hammer. The FBI investigation revealed she was "extremely careless with classified documents," instead of grossly negligent, which is prosecutable, sort of like it depends on what the meaning of is is. She ran an ad during her presidential campaign picturing a darkened night stand with a ringing phone and the caption who do you want answering the phone at 3 o'clock in the morning? In Benghazi, it was probably anyone! Later, in testimony to Congress on her actions, she stated, "What difference at this point does it make." Leadership, truthfulness, transparency you can count on.
Abortion -- in 2016, 2,538 abortions occurred every day. Eighteen percent, 457, were Hispanic, 36 percent, 914, were black, 36 percent, 964, were white. Last year, more black babies were aborted then were born. Twenty-five years ago, Hillary Clinton said, "Abortion should be safe, legal and RARE."
Recently, eight children have died at the southern border. In 2008, there were 5,000 applications for asylum at the southern border. Last year, there were 97,000, a 2,000-percent increase, driven by families and unaccompanied minors. The liberals in Congress will not consider a change to the laws that create the flood or fund the effort to handle it.
Hatred brought on by Trump -- it takes two to tango; hatred goes both ways. As Don Quixote by Miguel Dr. Ceventes taught us, hypocrisy is the pot calling the kettle black.
Larry Bailey
Hot Springs
DJT's attributes
Dear editor:
DT is a brilliant person! He has claimed the most powerful position in the world, has massive real estate holdings gained through a dozen bankruptcies and by not paying small business contractors or any taxes, and he has used his personal connections with underworld power brokers to make his deals.
He has put together and owns a top-notch collection of attorneys, politicians, accountants, PR wizards, and other slime experts to keep him isolated from any enforcement of laws. He rules with bribes, hate, fear, lies, and deceit; his oratory skills match Hitler's; his personality blends well with his friends Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un; and he successfully served his career by dodging the U.S. military draft.
Those of you who think DJT is a sore on the behind of the world, a disgrace to a proud country of honest people, a bully, a coward, a racist; you are correct! His supporters blindly/deafly cannot, or will not, see the truth. He is bringing our beloved United States of America down to the gates of hell.
Jim Pumphrey
Garland County
Newspaper 'musts'
Dear editor:
I have considered what a newspaper can be at our present time by thinking of a very old newspaper that I found in an attic. That newspaper was fascinating! The writers used excellent vocabulary so that readers could learn. The stories were gripping; they weren't sterile news, instead delving into the lives of those involved. A section of the paper was dedicated to new authors who submitted chapters that kept readers glued and looking for the next part; that way, authors could be proven even before they had contracts with publishers. Authors could be of any age. Humor was a vital part of articles. (Even very serious articles can include humor without being insensitive.) Articles weren't written by "reporters;" they were written by invested storytellers who told the truth from very different angles.
A newspaper must provide readers with what seems like an indispensable service, being unique from all other newspapers. Meanness must not be permitted; diplomacy must be required. Anyone who submits anything to the newspaper must be held to standards of propriety so that even disagreements are voiced in diplomatic and gracious ways, since one article that is unkind gives the entire newspaper the 'feel' of unkindness. No newspaper should be known for favoring one political party over others; instead, all perspectives that are graciously written with intensity, non-cutting humor (when humor is possible), and circumspect consideration of opposition should be accepted. Articles that focus on good things that citizens and groups have done must be a large portion of the newspaper, including where police officers and firefighters have shown true kindness and heroism, where those who were helped are the submitters of the articles. Awards must be given from the newspaper for the best (most touching) articles in various categories in that year, where the articles are reprinted.
A newspaper must include articles from all the cultures in the area, including culturally written language and definitions where needed. Again, so much humor can be part of such writings, as well as giving an understanding of those cultures. If an article isn't in English, a side-by-side translation would be helpful.
Advertisers are the lifeblood of the newspaper. A newspaper that will be unique will have advertisements that show excellent cleverness (like Superbowl ads, like Geico). An award for the best-submitted ad can be awarded at the end of the year at a banquet hosted by the newspaper.
Very well-written articles on the history of the area can attract tourism. Those articles must again have humor as well as very touching events. Articles on relationships (like that explain what love is -- not a religious view, but a practical and secular view that also fits with faiths) would attract many readers. All these things can be supplied by local persons and wisdom.
Arkansas is the butt of many jokes, and even Arkansans laugh at some of them. Yet, it would be just like Arkansas to produce the highest-quality newspaper in the country, attracting faithful readers from many states.
James Wilson
Hot Springs
Editorial on 06/09/2019