The least we can do: Remember

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

June 6, 2019

“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” So said President Abraham Lincoln while commemorating the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Likewise, no words on an editorial page can do justice to the sacrifices made during the D-Day invasion 75 years ago this week, or to the sacrifices made during the rest of the war, abroad and at home.

World War II involved great men like Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and evil men like Adolf Hitler. But mostly it involved common people of uncommon valor. Those are the ones we rightly remember at times like these.

One of those was Wallace Eldridge, who crossed the English Channel three days after the initial D-Day invasion, if my memory is correct. Mr. Eldridge was my friend. He built a tennis court in my hometown of Wynne where my brother and I and some friends often played, often with him.

We played a lot, and we talked some – mostly about tennis, but we also talked a couple of times about his World War II experiences. My memories unfortunately are sketchy, but I believe he was the only original member of his unit who wasn’t killed or wounded. He once mentioned advancing hedgerow to hedgerow across the French landscape. And I remember him saying that he had wondered back then why he and his fellow combatants were out there killing each other. Continue reading →

Disasters happen. Let’s budget for them.

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

June 4, 2019

Congress and the president are passing a $19.1 billion federal disaster package that has one glaring problem: As usual, we’re paying for it by credit card.

The bill passed the House Monday, 354-58, after passing the Senate last month, 85-8. It was headed to the president, who will sign it. It will be used to respond to recent natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods in the Midwest, and wildfires in California. It includes additional money for Puerto Ricans – American citizens, it should never be forgotten – who are still recovering from Hurricane Rita in 2017.

The package includes $3 billion for military bases and Coast Guard facilities, $3 billion for farmers, and spending that’s meant to reduce the effects of future disasters. It started out as a $7.8 billion package last year.

All six members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted yes, as most did. Members of Congress don’t like to vote against disaster funding because they know their state might be the next to need help. Arkansas’ turn surely is coming after this spring’s historic flooding. Continue reading →

‘A flood of historic magnitude’

By Steve Brawner

© 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

May 30, 2019

When your state’s governor can make this statement – “This is a flood of historic magnitude. It surpasses all Arkansas River flooding in our recorded history” – then that’s what you write about, even on the opinion page.

If you live in one of the affected areas, or if you’ve seen any of the pictures or footage, you know why Gov. Asa Hutchinson is calling the flooding “historic.” It brings to mind the Flood of 1927, when the Mississippi River overflowed and the state was hit with tumultuous rainfall. Thirty-six counties were affected, and some areas were 30 feet underwater, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

The amount of damage this year isn’t known because the damage is still being done. We’ll have to wait for the water to recede. As of this writing Thursday, the river isn’t even finished cresting. Continue reading →

Cold War’s end: No parade, but maybe a museum

By Steve Brawner

© 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

May 28, 2019

One of the United States’ greatest military successes came after it barely fired a shot at its enemy, and now the city of Blytheville has decided somebody ought to mark the occasion.

That success came in the Cold War, the defining conflict of my generation.

For more than 40 years, the United States and the Soviet Union stared across the oceans at each other, missiles at the ready. As a boy, I had nightmares about nuclear war.

We’ll never know how close it came. One example: In 1983, a Soviet computer system mistakenly detected a launch of five U.S. missiles. Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov’s skepticism (Why would the Americans fire only five missiles?) may have saved the world from accidental nuclear war.

Arkansas had its own near-nuclear accidents. As reported by historian Tom Dillard in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the state was home to 18 Titan II missile complexes. One complex near Pangburn burned in 1965 in an accident that killed 53 of the 55 contract maintenance workers inside. The missile remained unaffected. Continue reading →

Hutchinson’s new team of not-so-rivals

By Steve Brawner

© 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

May 23, 2019

The book “Team of Rivals” by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin explains how President Abraham Lincoln appointed and led an often discordant cabinet through the Civil War.

What happened in Arkansas Wednesday was not nearly so dramatic, but it’s worth a newspaper column.

That day, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced his 15 cabinet-level secretaries as part of his transformation initiative.

The cabinet has been composed of 42 agency directors – 27 more cabinet officials than the United States president has. Plus, the state has had more than 200 boards and commissions floating around with no one above them except the governor.

It’s been an unwieldy arrangement, especially for a governor who likes things tidy. The 42-member cabinet can’t really serve as an advisory body. It only meets two or three times a year, because what could you hope to accomplish? Continue reading →