Believe Trump
Not to worry citizens — Trump’s massive deportation plan won’t be nearly as illogical and expensive as it sounds. He has promised his followers to reduce their taxes, to build a wall along the border and that Mexico will pay for it — but that they just don’t know it yet. And he’s not kidding.
Trump’s a shrewd businessman and his plan likely goes something like this: If all these Mexicans and others are now paying coyotes virtually every cent they’ve got to get them into the U.S., imagine how much more they will pay Trump’s hired thugs to let them stay here! And, the beauty is they’ll have to pay again and again every month — just like rent or mafia protection.
Otherwise it’s back over the border after all their property is confiscated. Those who can’t pay and have nothing of value to sell will be immediately thrown into privately run corporate prisons and maybe waterboarded a little bit until their relatives in Mexico or elsewhere send money for their release.
They could be held there indefinitely, since there is no room in our federal- and state-run prisons. To avoid this hell, the rest of the Mexicans and others without papers will likely run for the border — as Romney suggested they would do — and simply “self-deport.” So, when Trump tells us he’s going to do something appalling, unjust, hateful, insane and what most of us think of as un-American, believe him!
Mady Maguire
Little Rock
What the aginners really think
OK, let’s be real. Those opposed to medical marijuana aren’t concerned about its benefits or health risks. Opposition to legalization rests in one thing. For a shrinking, yet highly influential segment of society, marijuana is still associated with minorities, hippies, homosexuals and other “undesirable” types. What else explains it in the face of overwhelming evidence proving marijuana’s potential as a therapeutic substance?
Richard Hutson
Cabot
From the web
In response to the Sept. 1 cover story, “Million-dollar Thursday,” about Sherwood District Court, which an ACLU lawsuit has likened to a debtors’ prison:
Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the fine or you’ll end up doing time.
Conservative Arkansan
Conservative Arkansan: Sometimes you don’t do the crime yet can’t prove it (stolen checks, etc.), sometimes you just screw up a bit on your addition and subtraction, sometimes your employer doesn’t pay you on time and it bounces your check, sometimes shit happens.
Sometimes people live from payday to payday. Sometimes people can’t hold their jobs because of b.s. like what’s happening in Sherwood, and has been happening there for decades.
Bouncing a check is something that happens to most people at some point in their lives, unless they’re wealthy. For most of us who live near or below the poverty line, we’ve had something bounce. Particularly on these older cases before banks regularly offered overdraft protection.
You should be able to pay off the check, with a reasonable fine, and then move on. It shouldn’t follow you for years and be thousands of times costlier than the original check amount.
Keeping these people from being able to hold jobs only hurts their chances of being able to pay off these absurdly high fines. It’s a system rigged to exploit the poorest of society.
And anyone who reads this article and reacts the way you did is part of society’s problem. Holier-than-thou, empathy-less asshats, who lack any ability to put themselves in anyone else’s shoes, and thrive on being judgmental toward those they consider beneath themselves.
Samantha Wesley
Conservative Arkansan: If you get a chance, please read the Jewish carpenter’s parable in Matthew 18:23-35 concerning the attitude and fate of those who wish to hammer an individual who commits petty crimes. See if you can pick out the character that most resembles you in this homily.
theBMC1
In response to Gene Lyons’ Sept. 1 column, “Boris and Natasha”:
Lyons’ tiresome tirades about Boris and Natasha are becoming salacious. We get it, we get it, OK? So why repeat their increasing vulgar comments on and on and on? Makes one wonder how many times did he gleefully read these two buffoons’ postings, for heaven’s sake. Hmmmmm? Stop sputtering, Gene. Odd. And beneath you.
Investigator of both sides
I hadn’t heard about the story out of Stockholm nor knew of the extent that Putin’s people were influencing policy through fake stories on social media.
imjustsaying
In response to the Sept. 2 Arkansas Blog post, “Arkansas hires former Bush Medicaid director”:
All these people on the government payroll as representatives of a party that hates government. But what the heck, contradictions in statements and in actions mean nothing, of course.
Cato
Just how in granny’s drawers is this dude worth $300,000? Oh, wait, the fedrul gub’mint (us) is paying half of the “state nut” and the state (us) is paying the other half. Now I understand.
Ozarkrazo
Well, Dennis Smith is a Certified Teapublican, so a little bit of marital hanky-panky ain’t no big thing! And I’m sure he opposes Obamacare, but has figured out a way to live with it!
RYD
So, cool, Arkansas has hired a “small government” benefit cutter at near $300K a year, half of whose salary will be paid by them evil feds.
Where are all of the ledge Medicaid expansion agin’ers who screamed about the burden of debt laid on our children cuz medical care?
I just luv the sound of crickets.
tsallenarng
Correction: In last week’s arts and entertainment feature about The Rep’s production of “Spamalot,” we mistakenly said that the Arkansas Repertory Theatre rents costumes to individuals to support its productions. Though the company has historically held costume sales featuring wardrobe pieces and props from past Rep productions, costumes are not available for rental to individuals.