More positive stories

Thanks for continuing to run columns written by Steve Straessle. He seems to always be looking for examples of love, patience, mercy, family and God in Arkansas. We need more positive stories.

I’m not surprised that Steve has crossed paths with my former Pastor Ben Crismon at St. James Church. They both are very good men.

I do hope that Steve will consider showing us again his column about his family’s fishing trip with their almost-grown children. It paints a beautiful picture of a lifetime investment in what truly matters in life.

STEVE ALLINSON

Benton

Their rightful lands

God’s election of the Jews is empirically demonstrable in the ongoing saga of prodigious accomplishments in the full spectrum of human endeavor–law, medicine, philosophy, literature, science, and even (Harold Abrahams and Sandy Koufax) sports.

A principled consideration of the more recent unfolding of their history, juxtaposed against contemporaneous secular phenomena, leads one to the firm–nay, decisive–conclusion that the historic emergence of the American empire was largely (if not exclusively) the providential protection of the emergence and flourishing of the state of Israel.

From these premises, it is fair (if not imperative) to conclude that the ongoing cacophony of support for the so-called “Two State” resolution of the Middle East turmoil is both dysfunctional and immoral. Indeed, it is dysfunctional precisely because it is immoral. Genesis 15 and Exodus 23 make crystal clear the right (and corresponding duty) of the Jewish people (i.e., Israel) with respect to the administration of the referenced territory–a right and responsibility that is non-delegable and non-alienable.

J. FRED HART JR.

Little Rock

About that ballroom

I’m not a big fan of President Donald Trump, but this is one time he is absolutely right. The White House needs a ballroom capable of hosting a 21st century state dinner. Holding one in a tent is tacky. A major power like America looks cheap when they do something like that. Sure, it would be nice if Mar-a-Lago or Asheville’s Biltmore or even William Randolph Hearst’s San Simeon estate was located in Washington, and they could hold a state dinner there. Unfortunately, that’s not possible.

The only thing that I wonder about is with Trump in charge of building that new ballroom, is it going to end up looking like you are at Versailles?

JOE WHALEN

North Little Rock

Real work still ahead

Democrats won big on Tuesday in the New York City mayoral election, governors’ elections, and the California redistricting vote. The celebrations were in order, but the real work is still ahead.

More Republican states are considering gerrymandering their districts at the request of Donald J. Trump. The National Guard is in the streets of many Democratic cities already. Gov. Sarah Sanders, in a show of solidarity with Trump, is sending Arkansas National Guard troops to Washington. There’s no need for them there as the mayor has told the press many times. However, the Republicans show very little logic in the bills they pass and the things they accuse the Democrats of doing. They could end the government shutdown by simply agreeing to restore Medicaid for approximately 10 million people that they kicked off it in their “big, beautiful bill.”

Polls show that more American people blame the Republicans for the shutdown since they control the House, the Senate, and the White House and are unwilling to negotiate with the Democrats at all. What the recent elections did show is that voters are tired of Trump and his tariffs, and are mad about the price of groceries. Republicans know that the Democrats are going to win big in the 2026 midterms, and that’s something Trump can’t stand, so he and his minions are trying to figure out a way to cheat in the midterms.

Gerrymandering is a way to disenfranchise many minorities, but it alone does not guarantee a win. Nor do I think that putting National Guard troops around key voting locations would stop determined voters from casting their ballots. So, I can’t tell what Trump will come up with, but I do know that he doesn’t want to lose his power or his chokehold on the Republican Party. He can’t be impeached in 2026 when he hasn’t even built his big, beautiful, golden ballroom, right?

STEVEN TRULOCK

Fayetteville

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