Comments (0) | |

Monday, Oct. 12, 2009

Viewpoint for Monday, Oct. 12, 2009

Local control?

Your editorial “Unintended consequences strike school systems again,” (Oct. 9, 2009) argues that the Legislature has not improved “local control” in education. Recently passed laws allow school systems to exempt themselves from burdensome state mandates, allow every public school the opportunity to exempt itself from nearly all state regulations through the charter process, and give parents the ultimate control of choosing their child’s public school.

Reducing state regulations and empowering parents certainly sounds like local control to me. If the concern is that parents will choose private schools, the worst thing we can do is deny public schools the flexibility to innovate and improve. That denies parents more options — within the public school framework — to find what works best for their children.

— Kelly McCutchen

Executive Vice President

Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Comparing justice

Several years ago, I served as a juror in Bibb Superior Court on a vehicular homicide case with the late Judge C. Cloud Morgan presiding. It was an experience I shall always remember because of the serious charges and the manner in which Judge Morgan conducted the trial.

Judge Morgan was a scholar of the law and protected the accused and society equally at every juncture of the trial. He took all the time necessary to educate everyone there in the duties of a juror, and stressed fairness and equality before allowing the attorneys to choose a panel. Several potential jurors were excused when questioning showed the possibility of favoritism or bias toward the defendant.

After we were seated Judge Morgan spoke on criminal justice and said all defendants must be assured the court will provide (a) a speedy trial, (b) certainty of punishment if found guilty, and (c) fairness. He told us too much or too little punishment will not deter future criminal acts, nor does freeing the guilty or convicting the innocent.

Since that term of court years ago. crime in our community has increased many fold, and I ponder whether it is because we do not follow the wise counsel or Judge Morgan in administering criminal justice. Some arrests takes years to reach the courtroom and others never do. The certainty of punishment for the guilty is anything but a given: low bail bonds, slack plea bargaining, grudge prosecution, jury nullification and legal loop holes. Some miscarriages of justice are caused by outside influences and others by overworked officers.

I believe crime will continue to escalate here until such time the community demands a criminal justice system as described by Judge Morgan. If that is beyond our reach the alternative is for law-abiding people to live in gated communities and leave the remainder of the area to the disruptors of peace.

— John G. Kelley Jr.

Macon

Denial of care

I think Sarah Palin may have been on to something when she stated that Obamacare would deny care for the elderly and amount to “killing off old folks.” I think the bureaucrats have got a head start with Medicare — probably on-the-job training for the coming denial of health care for the elderly. Why would I say that? My wife recently had to have a significantly large cancer removed from her cheek. It took two operations to get it done. Medicare denied payment for the procedure, and also denied an appeal. I thought Medicare covered cancer?

My gut tells me it was because she is 78 years old. Had we been on the Canadian or British system of government managed health care, I would have been denied the opportunity to pay for it myself. Wake up folks. The 30 percent of us who pay 70 percent of the taxes, which will go up dramatically with Obamacare, had best wake up and remove the self-serving politicians who are trying to ram this down our throats without even reading the bill. Nancy, Harry, Barney and that crowd of liberals need to go.

— Bill Paschall

Warner Robins

Nobel winner

Barack Hussein Obama is nominated and wins the Nobel Peace Prize 12 days after taking office. He can point with pride to his major accomplishment, showing up. What’s next, Nancy Pelosi winning Playmate of the Year?

— Joe LaBeause

Lizella

Congratulations

I write only to congratulate President Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for only his words. The committee members who decide the award were impressed enough with his vision and hope for the future. Apparently, words do matter or many parts of the world had had enough of the bellicose words coming out of the Bush/Cheney administration

— Daniel Schlafer

Byron

Good intentions

In the same vein of President Obama’s Peace Prize award, I would now like to say the following: It’s my intention to develop a faster-than-light engine.It’s my goal to create a cheap energy source to replace oil.

I plan on developing a cure for cancer.

You may now present me with the Nobel Prizes for physics, medicine and economics. I’ll await the invite to Oslo... .

— Douglas Fingles

Warner Robins

Neglect

I’m a young man who loves his mother. I’m not rich, I couldn’t afford the best. I visit every weekend but she’s still distraught. I try to call during the week because I can’t afford the gas, and they play pass the buck with the phone.

I see it as a form of neglect on the nursing home’s part. You’d think they’d let the few people who have family get a telephone call.

One of the reasons I visit is that she’s mentally ill, and they have to put her in the secure ward. She has nothing right now but a busted portable radio.

— Ernest Bush

Macon