COMMENT
Trump, Christianity and decency Considering how many appeals Arkansas’s Republican leaders have made to the religion of Christianity over the years, how can they justify continued support of the least Christian person in the presidential race? Rich Hutson Cabot After watching the Michelle Obama speech from Oct. 13, I felt good inside and comforted that the first lady stood up for me. She has a sense of decency that Donald Trump and his followers — Mike Pence, Mike Huckabee, Tom Cotton, Governor Hutchinson, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and half of the Arkansas legislature — will never understand, because they lack it in themselves. She didn’t let Trump get away with his horrible remarks about women. I would vote for her if she ran for president. She has more class, courage, humanity, intelligence and integrity in her little finger than the whole Arkansas government has. Governor Hutchinson and other state government officials were either silent or made lame excuses for Donald Trump’s sexual predator remarks
4
OCTOBER 20, 2016
ARKANSAS TIMES
about women. Some politicians protested the crude remarks for media attention, but these same politicians vote against women when it comes to equal pay, equal health care and violence against women. Look at their voting records. The Arkansas legislature is known for making disrespectful remarks about women when they are passing discriminatory, unequal women’s health care laws, so I am not impressed with the few who said they were offended by Donald’s sexual assault remarks because of their female family members. I guess they aren’t outraged on my behalf, since I am not part of their family. In my opinion, if you are still a Trump supporter after the sexual assault remarks he made, then you are no more a Christian, or conservative, or patriot, or decent human being than Donald Trump is. When you wave that family values, conservative flag at me, I will just call you what you are: a liar. Women in Arkansas deserve better state government representation than what we have. It is wrong for our state government to act like it is normal to use women as sexual punching bags, and this attitude is part of the reason that so many women are raped in the United States of America. Sexual preda-
tor Donald Trump and excuse-making Mike Pence do not deserve to represent America. Strangely, it was two Arkansas women, Leslie Rutledge and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who made fools of themselves on national media shows when they failed miserably in their defense of Donald Trump’s sexual bragging and ended up sputtering and talking in circles. There is no defense. Why would they want to defend him? Money? Were they promised a job in the White House? Are they mentally unstable and need help? If you weren’t offended by Trump’s sexual assault remarks, what does that say about you? Young girls and boys heard a man running for president make excuses for himself for bragging about sexually assaulting women’s bodies. It is not OK for his supporters to excuse the disrespectful, vulgar way he talks about women, in the past and in the present. People like Trump create a culture where people accept rape as normal, instead of being outraged by it. The first lady said, “Strong men — men who are truly role models — don’t need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful.” Shineon Libby Little Rock
From the web In response to the Sept. 29 Arkansas Reporter, “Democrats’ last stand in NE Arkansas”: I was tickled to death to get this much valuable information about a Senate race outside my own district, until I started reading Brandt Smith’s positions. There’s just something wholeheartedly discouraging about the demise of the political talent and common sense in this state, and the voters are to blame. Don’t get me wrong, I share Nate Looney’s admiration and recollection for common sense and sometimes even fairly conservative Democrats. Bumpers, Pryor and Clinton were names that garnered national respect. Why do we never hear anything about Arkansas politicians on the national stage any more, unless it is the embarrassing craziness of Leslie Rutledge or Mike Huckabee twanging it up for Trump, or Tom Cotton trying to start WWIII? Here are a few reasons: 1) Looney cites a study about the value of pre-K funding from one of the foremost institutions of higher learning in the country, and somehow Smith associates the findings with the urban problems of the city where Arkansas State University is located? What is maddening is that so many voters probably see his (lack of) reasoning. 2) In one of the poorest and most disadvantaged states demographically in the entire nation, Smith is citing the availability of air conditioners and cell phones as some measure of economic comfort and security for pre-K children? What? And as for the value of full-time parenting of the young, that may be fine for many, but does he not realize that the best thing to do for immense numbers of children is to get them into a safe learning environment at as young an age as possible? I guess it would be too much to hope he had read Plato’s “Republic.” 3) And enough with this need to establish Christianity as the official state religion. Honestly, is the threat of Sharia law really a common problem in Jonesboro? This is just another example of local Republicans listening to conservative radio or watching Fox News to get guidance for solutions to problems that don’t exist. 4) And yes, by all means, let’s fund efforts to stop immigration or the flow of people into our state. That shouldn’t cost much since it is doubtful anybody would want to come to Arkansas with policymakers like Smith setting the standards. Godspeed, Mr. Looney. redeemed626