Letters – Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Diplomacy Over War, AT&T – CBS Conflict, Freedom of Speech

Crenshaw takes us to taskRe: "Outrage incentive is dooming our politics - Cycle of controversy takes focus away from improving Americans' lives," by Dan Crenshaw, Tuesday Viewpoints.Rep. Crenshaw's comments resonated with me like no other in a long time. A politician with the directivity to "tell it like it is" is an anomaly! He pretty much took us all to task for the "circle of controversy" in which our beloved country finds itself. It is shocking to continuously read and hear the childish banter between our leaders, harking to our days on the school playground. To the former Navy SEAL, obviously of sound mind and body, I say "Bravo!" Thank you for your continuing service to our country.Anne R. Healy, RichardsonFair and well-balancedThis column by Rep. Dan Crenshaw is accurate, fair and well-balanced. What impressed me the most is that I can't remember whether Crenshaw is a Democrat or a Republican, and it's impossible to tell by reading the article. This is balance at its best!Gerry Jackson, PlanoWhy do Cornyn, Wright reply now?I experienced something intriguing this week. I had written to my senators and congressman some time ago expressing my belief that the Mueller report provided sufficient evidence for Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. This week, when Mueller is set testify, I, at long last received emails from both Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Ron Wright relaying their beliefs that Trump was essentially exonerated. Much of the verbiage was eerily similar.Much of our government is not being run well in my opinion. The disinformation campaign, however, is spot-on.Linda Johnston Arage, WaxahachieHow long will Trump's damage last?Re: "New Cold War brews with China - Niall Ferguson says U.S. must appeal to Chinese people with our values and democratic capitalism," by William McKenzie, Sunday Points.It is way too early to declare we are in a "Cold War" with China. They are a rising economic power with little regard for the rule of law. So just as we defeated the Soviet Union, we need to work with our trusted allies to develop international trade laws and alliances with stiff penalties for bad actors.It's called diplomacy and far more preferable than cold or hot wars. But we have lost some of our allies and cozy up to the likes of Russia and North Korea. The Chinese people know this and are unlikely to trust us when we speak about the rule of law.The real question is how long after President Donald Trump is gone will we be able to repair the damage done in our relations with our allies, much less with our adversaries?Jerry Frankel, PlanoInclude nonprofit CEOsRe: "Most execs brought home more pay in 2018 - Decor chain chief bumps AT&T executive from highest-paid spot," Sunday Business story. After reading this article, I wondered why only for-profit companies were included. CEOs at several nonprofit companies such as health care organizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are pulling down large salaries. They can range from $4.2 million to a little less than $1 million per year. Some would have clearly made your top 100 list. Since health care costs continue to rise faster than other goods and services, we need to hold them to the same level of scrutiny.Gary Prala, CoppellIt's not all about StephensonRe: "An open letter to AT&T chief," by Flora Cohen, Tuesday Letters.In response to Cohen's letter concerning AT&T and Randall Stephenson, I believe she does not understand the workings of a business. If AT&T starts paying more for the CBS lineup it will not come out of Stephenson's pocket, it will come out of ours. AT&T will not just eat that fee, it will pass it along to all of their television customers. That's how business works.Now, with that being said, I feel that CBS and the other networks and local stations are being greedy. Rebroadcasters are doing all of these stations a favor by providing a good reception of these stations and also broadening the audience by giving access to customers that would normally not receive good service. Now we don't have to fiddle with antennas and such in order to get reception. They used to make their money from advertising but now they get to add on the revenue of rebroadcasting fees. What that means is that we consumers are now paying astronomical amounts for television that we used to get for free, but we had to watch the commercials (which we still do on network TV). That's what supported the stations and networks.Also, I looked it up and some of the top executives with CBS pull down over $100 million per year. Ron Brock, ArlingtonAT&T's three-week service glitchI haven't seen any mention of AT&T's problem with e-mail. Last month, some of their servers were unavailable and we customers couldn't get to our e-mail. We'd get a "cprodmasx.att.com took too long to respond" error. When I just spoke with customer service, they said the problem had been ongoing for "a few" weeks. My experience was about three weeks.Isn't this a newsworthy issue?Paul Landfair, North DallasMilitary service ensures our freedomsRe: "What's their investment?" by Jim Vaughn, Sunday Letters.Thank you, Dallas Morning News, for allowing Vaughn to share his views on freedom of speech with us. I am a decorated veteran (air medal). Although military service today is all volunteer, many of those who served in the past were conscripts or volunteered because of conscription pressure. I know from experience many who serve do so for reasons other than patriotism. Some of the reasons are economic, a desire for adventure, career training and educational opportunity. There has always been an expectation that those who serve would be apolitical during their service. Yet their service helped ensure that we all continue to have freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Our current president enjoys freedom of speech even though he actively avoided military service. I support everyone's right to speak openly and frankly, including the four congresswomen and the president. I want everyone to be able to express their views even if I don't agree with them.Charles J. McRaney, Dallas  Continue reading...