Repeating the past
Dear editor:
I’m perplexed by what’s going on in the United States these days. Living in a Red State gives you a front-row seat to socioeconomic stupidity. With the recent decisions made by the Supreme Court and Republicans, and the Democrats with their head in sand. Why are we trying to go back to the 1950s?
It hit me when I saw a list of banned books. Why are we still banning books? Why are we banning “To Kill a Mockingbird”? This was required reading when I was growing up, along with a dozen other books. It really got me thinking about the course America is taking. What’s the plan? Roe v. Wade is gone which will send our country into a social welfare state. Much like Arkansas, which still has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates, poverty rates, and education is nonexistent. So we want to add to that? How does that make sense? They told us it wasn’t constitutionally protected, as it’s not a privacy concern to make it simple. OK …
So doesn’t that mean that the Second Amendment isn’t needed anymore as the states don’t need a well-armed militia? As we have the National Guard? I’m just going by the court’s logic. Gun laws should be decided by the states. Again, going by what the court said on Roe v. Wade, it’s a logical conclusion.
Oh, then we have hate speech … who decides what hate speech is? Shouldn’t everyone be able to express how they feel without fear of repercussion from the government? Like it or not, everyone should be able to march around and say stupid things. It’s what the country is built on.
We are also blurring the lines of church and state thanks to the court. Yes, we have Freedom of Religion. But we need Freedom from Religion for some people in this country. Thoughts and prayers are not for everyone.
The Republicans claim to be the party of the people, smaller government and staying out of our business. But they take more freedoms away than any other party and seem to be in everyone’s business. Why are Republicans so concerned with what people do in their bedroom? Last time I checked, that should be one of the most private places an American should have. Then Trump … one of the original famous for no reason “celebrities.” Everyone forget all the stupid stuff this guy has done since the ’70s? How did an ex-democrat party boy, who was on Epstein island, become the poster grandpa for the Republicans? He’s that uncle at Thanksgiving that says the dumbest things, and when the kids ask about him, you tell them, “Oh, he’s just old; just ignore him.” We all have that family member. But you act like he’s the second coming.
Everything being done right now is the reason our ancestors got on boats and left England. It’s the reason we had a Revolution. It’s the reason the Founding Fathers wrote our Constitution. But here we are again, a group of political and religious zealots trying to dictate how everyone else should live according to them.
Ron Swanson Hot Springs