Letters to the editor
Posted on Saturday, October 11, 2008
Definition of a stable home varies I am opposed to Initiated Act 1 because there are so many children in this state who need loving homes. This act will prevent child welfare professionals from deciding on a case-by-case basis which homes are suitable for Arkansas' children. I have worked in Child Protective Services for the state of Arkansas. I know from personal experience that there are many children who would benefit from having a loving, stable home whether or not that home has two parents or not. Just because someone is single does not mean they don't have good parenting skills.
Kathy Benton
Fayetteville
It's time to retain our freedoms
The most patriotic action taken by any citizen in a democracy is to vote; and a major responsibility of the government is to guarantee both an honest election and that every vote be counted in the manner as cast by the voter. The John McCain campaign is so sure of the six Arkansas electoral votes that they are pulling their resources out of our state, which to me is strange given the fact that in 2006 the voters bounced virtually every Republican and voted Democrat.
Do they know something that we should know ? Purging of voters lists,"caging" (disenfranchising ) including overseas military personnel and college students, phony absentee ballots, contesting the eligibility of people whose homes have been foreclosed on, faulty voting machines such as we saw in Benton County in 2006, or something else that we haven't even heard of yet being used by the Republi-cants in an effort to steal the presidential election on Nov. 4, 2008, as was done in 2000 and 2004.
These un-American, Third World-style tactics are being committed all over the country and there is no reason to believe that they are not occurring in Arkansas as well, especially when its recalled that one of Karl Rove's buddies, Tim Griffin, a major architect of voter suppression, was once the federal prosecutor in this area before being bounced.
Benjamin Franklin, shortly after the U. S. Constitution was drafted, was quoted as saying,"We have given you a nation, now it is up to you to retain it. "This requires constant vigilance, citizen participation and massive political activism, all needed more now after the past eight years than possibly any time in our history.
As has been shown numerous times over the past three decades, we can no longer trust or simply leave it to the government to protect our freedom or the future for our children, grandchildren or descendants yet to be born, even in the area of assuring honest, verifiable election results.
Consequently it becomes the obligation of every true patriot to protect their precious right to vote and thereby be able to actively participate in the process. No excuse is acceptable or justifiable for non-participation; either you are a part of the solution or a part of the continuing destruction caused and still being offered by John McCain, the Republicans and their "blue dog "Democrat allies, including all the congressional incumbents in Arkansas.
It is imperative that every qualified voter be registered and check their voting status and that of their family members, specifically those in the military or college. Talk to their friends and family to make sure they do the same. Who you ultimately cast your vote for is your choice, but the act of voting is not. It is a required obligation needed to retain freedom. Again, to quote Benjamin Franklin,"people who would sacrifice a little freedom to acquire a little safety gain neither and will lose both. "
Lew Huddleston
Fayetteville
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