LETTERS
Posted on Tuesday, September 2, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Editorial/236148/
Complex view preferred
After watching Barack Obama and John McCain participate in the Saddleback Civic Forum, my conclusions were very different from syndicated columnist William Kristol’s. Obama’s responses were thoughtful, deliberate, intelligent and complex. McCain’s answers were crisp, clear, certain and overly simplistic. To him, the only wrong is a national security threat. He didn’t even come close to identifying the evil that exists on our own doorstep.
Although members of the audience were polite to both candidates, they seemed to prefer McCain. I’m convinced that his overly simplistic answers were the reason. Why worry about Darfur, street crime or child abuse when you can wipe out all evil by winning the war in Iraq ?
At the end of the forum we were left with two entirely different views of the world. One is complex and real, the other is simplistic and imaginary. Obama’s world is harder to master because it is multidimensional; involves complicated relationships and judgments; and requires intelligent analysis and action. McCain’s world is easily grasped in the palm of your hand because it is onedimensional, simple to understand and black-and-white.
After listening to McCain, it seems feasible to conclude that Osama bin Laden, Islamic extremists and Vladimir Putin are responsible for all our problems. Crank up the defense budget, destroy our enemies and all will be well. Despite a limited perspective and vocabulary—fight, kill, destroy, win—people like McCain because he does not make them think. EDRENE McKAY Bella Vista Lax laws must change It is a sad day when a person must lobby for what should be standard practice in a civilized society. However, that is the case in today’s times, when it comes to animal cruelty and the laws set up to prosecute the offenders. It is currently a misdemeanor for animal cruelty offenses in Arkansas. This clearly represents backward thinking toward humane treatment of animal life. I think we are seriously behind the times when legislators and the general public are more concerned with copper wires being stolen off of air-conditioning units than they are over living creatures. This needs to change. Please write your state representatives and congressmen to let them know these lax laws are unacceptable. ELIZABETH HAMRA
Hensley Announcement all hype The announcement for a Democratic vice-presidential running mate has been treated as an announcement that the circus is coming to town. The hype that surrounded it was as if Barnum & Bailey was bringing in the Big Top, but had not said when; everyone should anticipate it. Finally, it came, and the ringmaster, Barack Obama, enjoyed every minute of it and all the free publicity. If the Democratic Party wanted a showman as president, it should have nominated Jay Leno or David Letterman. RUTH TURNIPSEED
Jacksonville Fuel efficiency overdue It’s time for auto and truck makers to get their corporate heads out of their corporate sandboxes and produce vehicles that get better than 50 miles per gallon on the highway. Back in the 1970 s, we had a gas shortage only until the gas prices went up. The car and truck manufacturers had a chance to produce vehicles that got more miles per gallon, but that didn’t happen. They kept making the big gas-guzzlers. Now more than 30 years later, the gas prices are out of sight and the gas-guzzlers are still being produced. I have the money to pay for the gas I use, but why should I buy a gas-guzzler that gets less than my 1986 Madza did ? My Madza averaged 40 mpg on on a 2, 500-mile trip through the mountains, both ways, fully loaded with people and luggage. I also had a Pontiac V-8 in the 1970 s that averaged 22 mpg, again completely loaded with passengers and luggage. Now why in the world would I waste $ 30, 000 or more for a gas-guzzler that is advertised at 20, 28 or 32 mpg just to make some corporate ostrich millions of dollars while millions of others can’t pay their bills because they need gas to go to work ? It’s time for the automobile makers to produce the high-mileage cars we need. They’ve already had 30 years to do this. How much longer do they need ? The technology is there and has been for years. It would be nice to get back to some form of normalcy, but, of course, this would be the right thing to do. DONAVAN NEHLS
Calico Rock Hope won’t be enough It’s an impressive list: Over the past year, Sen. Barack Obama has stated that he’s been to “57 states”; stated that he didn’t need to wear a flag pin to show his patriotism and then started wearing one; dishonored his white grandmother by calling her a “typical white person”; and insulted a whole class of people by saying that they were bitter and clung to their guns and religion. He opposed the surge, then, when it proved overwhelmingly successful, refused to acknowledge its success. This refusal is noteworthy because of Iraq’s transition from chaos to fledgling democracy, hardly an unimportant detail. Why all the flubs ? Whether this confusion is a recent development due to a grueling campaign or a longer-term inability to focus on and retain important details is beside the point. It’s alarming. We need an intelligent leader who has the mental flexibility to keep pace with our rapidly changing world. He must be able to grasp details, integrate historical perspectives and correctly analyze courses of action. Above all, he needs superior judgment. Hope and change alone no longer cuts it. Where will his inexperience lead us ? I’ll take a chance on that “experienced” fellow, John McCain. Give me someone with good judgment over someone with no experience who would lead us in the wrong direction. We can avoid the worst choice for president for the third consecutive time. LONNIE HILL Fayetteville Denial is not a deterrent As an otherwise relatively intact personality, Meredith Oakley goes over the top—or maybe over the edge into the deep is a better analogy—with her column, “The new patriotism.” I can sit in silence no longer as she prates on about the “Bush administration’s latest plan for turning America into a police state.” This is totally out of touch with reality, worthy of the best conspiracy theories that the paranoid continually assert. I am thankful that our security agencies are vigilant in seeking out those who would do us great harm if left to their own craven aspirations to destroy us as a nation of free people. Freedom has always required the diligence of individuals to act responsibility in the best interest of the whole community, particularly now in the face of declared home-grown and foreign terrorists. Denial is not an acceptable deterrent. A watchful government is not the bad guy, it is our only hope of surviving these nefarious thugs. CLARENCE RICHMOND
Searcy Two points of interest No. 1, there are three markets on Wall Street: bear, bull and chicken. No. 2, Sen. Barack Obama has chosen an old, white guy as his running mate. Interesting. SHARON KORNAS Morrilton