Missing Doonesbury

Yes, I miss Doonesbury on weekdays. For years I have started my day with coffee and Doonesbury at the kitchen table. Not finding Doonesbury in the paper each morning is like losing a beloved family member—you expect to find them milling around in the kitchen, but they’re not there. You look for them every day until you finally give up. They’re gone. The only memories are the strips taped on my kitchen cabinets alongside Christmas cards and family recipes.

I loved the Doonesbury retrospective starting at the beginning and seeing how the characters evolved. I smile recalling strips published 30 years ago that, with scathing humor, Garry Trudeau tried to warn us about Trump. Yes, thank you, Democrat-Gazette, for introducing us to Doonesbury.

One upside to my loss is I no longer have to endure Mallard Fillmore. Another for me is the money saved by the absence of classified ads selling things I don’t need. Best yet, I was able to purchase all of Doonesbury’s strips in a series of coffee-table books. It was pricey, but I calm my grief thinking the books could pay for themselves within the year if I would just cancel my newspaper subscription. I doubt I will, since I still have the pleasure of Doonesbury on Sunday, but the thought helps me hold on.

RON HUGHES

Little Rock record of Speaker Paul Ryan, specifically mentioning “fundamental tax reform.”

This is the tax bill that grants huge tax savings for corporations and the wealthy which result in a huge increase in our national debt. Sorry, Mr. Greenberg, but Speaker Ryan could have done better.

Even more disturbing is the information contained in the article “Group urges House immigration votes” in the same issue of the Northwest edition of your paper. There I read that Mr. Ryan has publicly stated that he doesn’t think this vote is the best way to handle immigration because, according to the story, “it gives the majority party—and congressional leaders—less control over the outcome.”

BOB BRYANT

Rogers