Name change

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For some time now, I have been concerned by our new senator-elect, John Boozman, and his apparent confusion about the pronunciation of his name. I know of no word in the English language containing two contiguous letters O which are pronounced as if there was only one such O. Yet, that is exactly the pronunciation used by Mr. Boozman.

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If he’s unhappy about his name, why doesn’t he just change it? To Bozeman — or Smith or Jones? Or he could change his given name to match it — say “Bob,” but spelled with two Os?

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Ronald A. May

Little Rock

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Grievous wound

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A dark and sinister veil of fear has been drawn over the face of our land. What a grievous wound to bear as we bid farewell to Vic Snyder (D-Integrity),  and feel the darkness and deceit of Tim Griffin (R-Mendacity).

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Buddy Slate

Little Rock

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Wall Street fought financial regulation and was supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber fought hard against health care reform also, not caring about out of control health costs or pre-existing conditions. Candidate Tim Griffin was glad to have the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Steve Wheeler

North Little Rock

Something blew

As a nurse, I think you should check Bob Lancaster into the nearest mental hospital for evaluation. His rambling Nov. 4 reminds me of some of the patients on the psych unit. I think something blew in his brain after the election. I couldn’t follow anything he said in his article. Didn’t you even read it before you printed it?  

Deborah Bowman

North Little Rock



Politics

First, I make no apologies for being a true liberal progressive. As such, there are a number of President Obama’s domestic and foreign policy positions that I do not fully embrace, but my position is based on facts, not emotions. I find the anti-Obama rhetoric related to the economy, health care and a wide range of other issues to be simply emotional. The facts are very clear.

The facts are that Ronald Reagan ran up enormous deficits; the Clinton administration paid the debt in the amount of $600 billion. The George W. Bush administration ran up deficits to unprecedented levels, deregulated financial services and a number of other vital services, and handed out tax cuts, paid for by borrowing, to the wealthiest people in our country. He also presided over the disastrous invasion and occupation of two countries. Every president (and congress) in history, prior to President Obama, has essentially turned a cold shoulder to the fact that Americans die every day because they have no health insurance.

The current political atmosphere looks and sounds like the Jerry Springer Show — an emotional, irrational approach to conflict resolution that is sickly entertaining but will never solve anything.

Ora Barnes Stevens

Little Rock



Confronting hatred

Recently, a Ugandan magazine released the names and address of 100 gay and lesbian residents, situated next to a bolded message “Hang Them.” People have been attacked, with several fired from their jobs, and many more now in hiding for fear of losing their lives.

With the most recent slew of publicized deaths resulting from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender bullying, the very real effects of hatred and prejudice have been reintroduced into the American dialog. But too many people have looked to this atrocity — the preventable deaths of our fellow humans — and responded, “But I would never hurt anyone.”

To these folks, I ask, “Is prejudice and hatred really any different when the results are the same?” Homophobia is homophobia, even when dealt with a healthy dose of Christian love. Gay and lesbian citizens of Arkansas—children even—have died because of homophobia. Homosexual citizens of Arkansas are still fired from their jobs because they lack basic worker protections from homophobia. And don’t kid yourself into thinking homosexual citizens of Arkansas aren’t in hiding—they just haven’t told you yet. Uganda and Arkansas don’t seem to be that different after all.

When staring hatred in the face, I challenge everyone in this state to act with true compassion and love, not engage in pitiful and meaningless self-gratification.

Cody Hooks

Little Rock


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