Aims of the religious right
The religious right isn’t satisfied with its constitutional right to speak out against ideas with which it does not agree. The religious right wants no less than to possess the legal means by which to condemn and punish those with whom it disagrees. The exercising of First Amendment rights, such as marching in protest or publishing articles as a means to influence others, is not enough. The religious right wants to take it to another level and bring about the means to legally sanction and penalize any behavior not in line with its own dominionist worldview. This can only be accomplished through establishing some form of theocratic government. This is the dream of the religious right: a country with laws that are based on its interpretation of an ancient religious text. In this sense, the religious right is not different from ISIS.
R.L. Hutson Cabot
From the web
In response to Max Brantley’s Aug. 3 column, “Crisis at 60” about the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Central High, the state takeover of the Little Rock School District and the threat of charter schools to schools like Central:
You are definitely making me think. Now if we could just get this story covered by “60 Minutes,” “20/20” or some other national program. Bow ties are back in style
Have we learned anything from the 1957 crisis in Little Rock?
Coreen Frasier
There is nothing cathartic about the 60th anniversary of Central High. The de jure and de facto laws that attempted to maintain segregation at Central High and schools in the U.S. are not anachronistic; the rules are revised modern warfare to have more devastating effects.
Phyllis Brown
In response to Benjamin Hardy’s Aug. 3 article, “State still holds reins over youth lockups”:
This is a good article, as always, by Benji. I have always been an opponent of the state privatizing correctional or juvenile services. This is a responsibility of government to see it is done correctly, and state government is dodging its responsibility in putting the responsibility in the hands of for-profit corporations, which are more interested in the bottom line than they are in rehabilitating youth or criminals.
plainjim
Please explain to me this: A Republican governor promises to streamline state government starting with the largest state agency, the Department of Human Services. Under Governor Beebe, the director made around $150,000 and had one, sometimes two low-level communications staff. The new Republican governor hired a director at over $200K and the communications staff has increased from 1 to 10! The newly created chief of communications, who by the way is the same person to whom John Selig wouldn’t pay a mid-level salary, now earns $100K a year. She has also hired 10 staff for her new communications team, most at salaries much higher than existing employees with years more experience.
Clem Hooten
In response to the Aug. 6 Arkansas Blog post, “Cotton figures in New York Times roundup on 2020 presidential race”:
Here goes the failed N.Y. Times masturbating over some fantasy they conjured up. Typical of the fake news articles they pump out day after day in their battle with The Washington Post to see who can be the most outlandish.
71909er
Deny it all you want, Pence (Pence has already issued a statement about the NYT article) and others see the writing on the wall. Trump is seriously damaged, and if he lasts four years, they know he shouldn’t be a candidate. Meanwhile, slimy Cottonmouth has been sucking up to Trump in order to get his name in the news. Perhaps they think that after Trump, any Republican will sound sane and have a chance. Even George Bush looks good about now!
NeverVoteRepublican
Is this the same Rotten Tommy Cotton who is deathly afraid to face his constituents in a live public setting? How chicken can a career politician be? He’s it.
Sound Policy