Thursday’s thumbs

From truckers to retailers, a lot going on in Arkansas

Can you believe it’s June already? It’s one of the best times of the year to be in Northwest Arkansas, just like the other 11 months of the year. We give them all a thumbs up, just as we do most of the recent news items below:

From the “you never know when inspiration is going to hit” category, we loved the story in the Business Section the other day (see, you should really peruse the entire paper) about trucker Sue Weisse of Prescott, who years ago was moved to do something helpful in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But what? She didn’t know, so she did what people of faith do: She prayed, and an idea started to develop. The hurricane displaced a lot of pets and many of them needed new homes. She asked other truckers if they’d be interested in helping. Now, the effort is called Operation Roger, and the nonprofit has transported more than 900 pets since 2005. And they do it for free, with a cadre of volunteer truck drivers. What an incredible answered prayer for these animals and the individuals and families who got the benefit of their company. A big thank you to all the truckers involved in this worthwhile effort.

In a similar vein to the unexpected opportunity described above, football Coach Ray Keller at Oakdale Middle School seized the moment when some young men were being unruly in the school cafeteria. Instead of just taking lunch duty to monitor their behavior, Keller began the REAL Man program. Its goal is to teach these developing young men how to behave like gentlemen by showing everyone, especially women, respect. The program teaches about the meaning of success and living lives that matter. In other words, character development, something young people all need.

In the controversy over comedian(?) Kathy Griffin’s horrible photo in which she holds a fake decapitated head of the nation’s 45th president, perhaps the real news is that anyone really doubted she could be unfunny. Griffin has been doing it for years, but somehow making a living at it. That’s all well and good. There’s a market for just about everything and she found hers, but even she developed an idea of a line that should not be crossed after the reaction to the image wasn’t embraced as she imagined it would be in the echo chamber in which she lives. It was a disgusting display that no president deserves. She watched Wednesday as CNN terminated its agreement to have Griffin co-host its New Year’s Eve coverage, which she’s done for several years with Anderson Cooper, and an advertiser who signed her also withdrew.

When a Trump critic crosses a line of decency as Kathy Griffin did and gets pummeled in social media for it, it’s almost inevitable to see other reactions that fall into this category: “Well, were you so concerned when someone put a picture of President Obama on a gun target?” Or when someone raises a question about President Trump’s actions, one of his hardcore supporters will respond with “Well, where were you when Hillary Clinton was letting those people murder our ambassador in Benghazi?” It’s a pathetic defense. Are Americans supposed to forgo any deserved criticism today simply because there was some allegedly worse behavior in the past by someone on the “other side” that didn’t get resolved to their satisfaction?” No, some behaviors, decisions or policies are deserving of either praise or criticism on their own merits or lack thereof. The fact someone can go back in history and find another example that may have been overlooked or ignored says nothing about a current issue. Today’s policies and behaviors can be supported or opposed on their own characteristics, not on how they compare to some past act.

Fans of the Razorbacks get the benefit this week of the team’s hard work. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, will be one of 16 sites hosting NCAA regionals. The Razorbacks will join four other SEC schools to host regionals, the most ever from a single conference. Northwest Arkansas will welcome teams from Oral Roberts University, Oklahoma State University and Missouri State University. The first game of what promises to be a great weekend of college baseball begins at 2 p.m. Friday. We welcome visitors here to catch their teams in action. But of course … go Hogs!

Speaking of visitors, we say “welcome” to the shareholders and the Wal-Mart associates from around the globe who have come to Northwest Arkansas for the extravaganza known as Wal-Mart shareholders week. It’s always an exciting time for those folks, coming to the birthplace of a great American success story that became an international retail behemoth. It’s also an interesting time for locals, as we get a chance to counter some of those bad stereotypes about Arkansas perpetuated by people who know little about our great state. We hope everyone enjoys their stay and has a great experience. Safe travels back home.