Mark Cuban, have you forgotten the system that let you become a billionaire?
Working together for prairies
Members of the Fort Worth chapter of the Native Prairies Association of Texas were thrilled to read the extensive Jan. 31 coverage of efforts to save and restore our North Texas prairies. (1A, “A passion for prairie: Group aims to save state grasslands”)
We aren’t toiling alone in this important work. The North Texas prairie conservation community has also benefited from the efforts of partners such as the Great Plains Restoration Council, which for years has advocated for a Fort Worth Prairie Park near Benbrook Lake. The Texas Master Naturalists, Native Plant Society of Texas and Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area also share in the effort.
We make progress because of the collective vision of the conservation community.
- Kate Morgan, Paradise
It takes money to recover
Kudos to President Joe Biden for showing bold leadership to help poor and middle-class Americans struggling during the pandemic. As the 2009 recession showed us, when disaster strikes, it takes big spending to dig out of a big hole.
Of course, Republicans are suddenly concerned about spending but were fine with trillion-dollar yearly deficits from tax cuts that mostly benefited the wealthiest and corporations. Republicans are fake populists, while Democrats are real populists who actually care about people more than money.
- Frederick Gregory, Arlington
I don’t see it as incitement
The author of a Feb. 9 letter asks Republican senators whether they would have voted to convict Barack Obama if he had said the same things while president as Donald Trump did. (9A)
If I were a senator at any president’s impeachment trial, I would vote to convict only if he or she actually had told people to riot and invade the Capitol. Trump said he sympathized with the frustrations of those who stormed the Capitol, but I do not see his words and actions as inciting them to riot, nor do I see how anyone else could see it that way.
Would Democrats vote to convict Obama under the same circumstances? I think not.
- Judy Jones, Fort Worth
Biden can’t repeat Iran mistakes
Thank you for publishing the Bloomberg News story “Iran: US must move first on nuclear deal” in Monday’s Extra Extra eEdition section. While it was critically important that President Joe Biden moved to extend by five years the nuclear treaty with Russia, it is equally important that he move quickly during this very narrow window of opportunity to work with the existing relatively moderate Iranian government before radical Iranians take over this summer.
Unfortunately, Biden’s hard-line statements in his CBS interview before the Super Bowl made him sound more like Donald Trump than the president he could be. Trump initiated economic sanctions against the people of Iran that included bans on urgently needed medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Iran and Europe have acted in good faith in this years-long process, but the U.S. has not.
- Lon Burnam, Fort Worth
Mark Cuban did the wrong thing
Team owner Mark Cuban should be ashamed for eliminating the national anthem from before Dallas Mavericks home games. (Feb. 10, star-telegram.com, “‘Why does Mark Cuban hate America?’ Reaction to Dallas Mavericks not playing anthem”) I guess he has forgotten the system that allowed him the freedom to amass his fortune.
- Don Erwin, Kennedale
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Mark Cuban, have you forgotten the system that let you become a billionaire?."