This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, February 13, 2018

A terrible slight to brave men and women

It took me sometime to calm down before writing this letter, and for good reason. MSNBC commentator Mike Barnacle said on the TV show "Morning Joe" in response to President Trump's suggestion of a military parade that members of our Armed Forces "parade around with salad dressing on their lapels." How utterly disgusting! How can any American denigrate our brave men and women in uniform and veterans in such a slanderous manner?

Mr. Barnacle, here is what that "salad dressing" means to the rest of us, men and women who serve heroically and proudly, and the ones that gave their lives on the field of battle or were wounded in combat from the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord, through all wars and today in Afghanistan and Iraq and hundreds of locations here and abroad. Many medals were also awarded for humanitarian efforts that have saved thousands of lives. These medals and ribbons worn proudly represent the recipients of the Medal of Honor, Army, Air Force and Navy Crosses, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, commendations for outstanding achievements, recognition of wartime service such as WWI, WWII, Berlin Airlift, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Mogadishu, Desert Storm and numerous other conflicts. Let us not forget the sacrifices of the families left behind. I wish I could order Mr. Barnacle to do one thing and that is attend every burial at Arlington National Cemetery for one week and require him to meet the families of our brave and heroic veterans being laid to rest. It might soften his cold heart. I doubt it, but it would be worth a shot.

Bad behavior all about

We learned this week that our president’s secretary, whose responsibility is to decide what information would be sent to the president for his perusal, had been denied a security clearance by the FBI. He has been on the president’s team for months. We also have learned that the president’s chief of staff was aware of spousal abuse for months by this man. Only after release of pictures by one of his former wives did the Trump administration take any action. We also learned that the employee was dating that president’s communications director. We now learn that the president at a called news conference did not even mention or have any condolences or express any sympathy for the women who was abused. I understand that the chief of staff was a general in the Marines. It is beyond my imagination that a Marine would condone such behavior.

Semper Fi.

A parade would be boost of pride

I sat here and read Carl Pirkle's letter to the editor (Feb. 9) with mixed emotions of amusement and anger. I don't think he knows that the President is the commander-in-chief, and is able to inquire of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as to the ability to have a military parade in front of the White House! When I was in the military, we marched as directed by our commanders, for whatever reason, and did so with pride! And, who says that our military parade will have our troops marching like North Korea? We have a different way that we march, and that is what our troops would be doing! I don't know what military Mr. Pirkle served in, but any commander that would be so brazen as to tell the president "what he could do with his parade" would be assigned to Iceland, or some other remote place, immediately! I don't even believe that Mr. Pirkle served in the military — he just thinks he did (my opinion)! I served proudly for 20 years, and followed orders that were given to me, no questions asked (unless they were immoral or unconstitutional)! I feel that a parade of our branches of service like this would be great for this country! our country needs a boost of pride!

What scandals?

Mr. Smith of Byron has been drinking that Kool-Aid again. He stated how scandal plagued President Obama's administration was.

There was not one criminal indictment for anyone in his administration over the entire eight years of his tenure. The current administration on the other hand with a year in office has had three indictments and counting. Also, the statement he made about Andrew McCade is incorrect. Finally, 70 million people in 2008 and 63 million in 2012 were all uninformed, according to Mr. Smith.

Protect Social Security

The Republicans in Congress agreed to a tax cut bill that will add over $1.5 trillion to the national debt over a 10 year period. Soon I expect under Speaker Ryan and Sen. McConnell they will say that Congress needs to make that up by cutting social programs like Social Security and Medicare. Ryan has endorsed the "fake news" that Social Security is on the verge of bankruptcy and needs to be saved by being privatized. The truth is that Social Security has a $2.84 trillion surplus and current projections are that Social Security will be able to pay full benefits through 2034. There are reasonable, solid, relatively modest adjustments that would ensure the viability of Social Security for many years to come.

One reason behind Social Security's funding gap after 2034 is that millionaires are exempt from paying their fair share into Social Security, Eliminating the payroll tax cap would require millionaires to contribute the same percentage of their income as everyone else. That would go a long way to shore up Social Security's long-term finances.

Social Security and Medicare are two programs that have helped make the middle class in this nation. If Republicans in Congress threaten Social Security and Medicare to deal with the huge debt that they created I hope that you will get involved and let your congressman know of your displeasure.

This story was originally published February 13, 2018 at 9:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, February 13, 2018."