Politician, not leader
Dear editor:
It is amazing that the local TEA Party ex-leader is so animate that Trump is not responsible for anything, except for the former uptick in the economy. It doesn't matter that he and his staff had over seven national conferences/warnings (from 2017 through all of 2019) that a possible/probable pandemic was a severe threat to our country but he only worked on getting businesses and the rich a huge tax break. His favorite son, Tom Cotton, now says it was not Trump's fault; it was the impeachment hearings and the Chinese who only informed the world of dangers on New Year's Eve, 2019.
During his administration, he has fired countless advisers and staff who had the courage to tell him the truth, not what he wanted to hear. That happened several times during the impeachment trial and now the security agency IG was fired for faithfully doing his job. Recently he fired the Secretary of the Navy for not doing what he wanted for SEAL Gallagher and most recently he had the acting Navy Secretary to fire a Navy Captain for having the courage to try to protect some 6,000 sailors on their aircraft carrier.
Trump is not a leader! He is a self-serving politician, always playing to where more money and attention comes to him. He has said that he could shoot someone in the middle of Times Square, at noon, and get away with it. Today that appears to be a rare true statement from him.
We desperately need a real leader who will put the people's needs above his own, as in U.S. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier.
Jim Pumphrey
Garland County
Freight rail 'critical'
Dear editor:
As we all come together in the face of an unprecedented challenge, the critical role of the supply chain has become even more apparent. Front line workers of all stripes are working tirelessly every day to keep the economy moving and bring us the goods we rely on in the face of COVID-19.
Central to this effort is the multimodal network of trains, trucks, planes and ships that moves 54 tons of goods for every American each year. Freight rail is one of those foundational industries -- hauling over 167 million tons of goods throughout Arkansas every year. Trains deliver everything we rely on, from essential consumer goods and food to the chemicals used to make medicines to the fuel that generates electricity.
Like other businesses, the freight rail network is appropriately deemed "critical infrastructure" by the federal government. Thousands of railroad employees and contractors are working 24/7 to keep the supply chain running in support of our communities.
Please join me in recognizing the railroad men and women, along with all transportation employees, who work on the supply chain front lines to keep society and the economy moving during this critical time.
Brett Sebastian
Arkansas state director, GoRail
Editorial on 04/09/2020