This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016

Reparations

The United Nations recently recommended that reparations be paid for slavery. I am sure that pertains to the United States only and most particularly the South. When I heard this announcement, I was not surprised. I was, however, indignant to say the least. All that I want to hear from the U.N. is that they are vacating U.S. soil and that they never again receive a solitary American dollar. I would love to hear that we, as a nation, had resigned. American business is none of its business.

Secondly, I was a little surprised. Have not reparations been in effect for years in the form of welfare, public schools and affirmative action? Maybe not. Thirdly, I was enlightened. I did not know there were any living slaves left to receive reparations nor living slaveholders to shake down. Paying reparations at this late date is as unjust as blaming a son because his father murdered someone. Do they really think such a move will heal race relations? Are they intentionally trying to start a race war?

Even though slavery in this country started in the good ol’ Pilgrim-land of Massachusetts and her sister colony of Rhode Island, the South gets all the blame. It is clearer with each passing day that Southern whites are exceeded only by Jews as the greatest scapegoat in history.

Rest of the story

Arthur Brook in “Selective memory” reminds us of the Georgia governor’s race in 1966, somehow in an attempt to embarrass Georgia Democrats. But he doesn’t give the full story. Here is the rest of the story from one who was there.

In 1966 the election, the primary field for the Democratic nomination was crowded, including Jimmy Carter, Lester Maddox (a well-established segregationist), and Ellis Arnall (a former governor and a moderate). Arnall finished first and Maddox finished second, but since no one got a majority, a runoff was held between Arnall and Maddox.

It was at this point the Republicans conceived of what they regarded as a brilliant strategy: they crossed over and voted for Maddox in great numbers, reasoning that no Georgian would want an ax-handle welding segregationist to represent the state. Oh, how sadly they misread the tea leaves.

Maddox won the runoff and the Republicans began their victory dances. They strutted and preened and boasted about how they had assured Howard “Bo” Callaway the victory.

Arnall supporters began a move to mount a write-in campaign for him as an Independent to give the people of Georgia a choice. (In the spirit for full disclosure I admit I was a part of this group.) They took the Republican motto of “Go Bo” and made it “Go Bo and take Lester with you.”

Arnall’s write-in vote (a bit over 7 percent) kept “Bo” from getting enough votes to vanquish Maddox, and the General Assembly (controlled by Democrats before so many of them became turncoats) made Maddox governor. If the shoe had been on the other foot, there can be no doubt that Republicans would have done the same.

So the “brilliant strategy” proved not so brilliant after all. “Bo” was left out in the cold, and Georgia got the ax wielder. How sad that a rich boy who thought he ought to be governor didn’t make it. And while many laughed at him for four years, strangely enough Lester turned out to be not such a bad governor after all, especially in the areas of education funding and prison reform.

That is the rest of the story.

Listen online

The third-party candidate for president, Libertarian Gov. Gary Johnson, was deliberately excluded from the first presidential debate. He requested to be there but was rejected. Johnson is the only other nominee qualified to be on the ballot in all 50 states. Both Trump and Hillary have “strongly unfavorable” ratings in all polls, worse than any nominee in the past 10 presidential cycles. A large percentage of voters still say they want to consider voting for someone else.

The winners of the debate were media that made money on it. The losers were the people, who did not get to hear from all the candidates. This is especially regrettable because the American voters are the ones responsible to hire the president, not the politicians.

Intentionally silencing nominees chosen by the people stifles democracy and blocks fairness in elections. But thank goodness for the internet. If you want to hear the nominees they didn’t want you to hear, go to the Libertarian Party website, lp.org, and listen to governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld on video. You will learn more in two minutes listening to these esteemed governors than you did while viewing 90 minutes of hot air debate.

SNAP restrictions

As a weekly volunteer in my local church food pantry, I am often surprised how few of our customers actually receive food stamps. That is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). That’s because there are 44 million Americans in the popular program, and “on average they receive around $255 a month.”

A recent survey/study revealed “that those who receive SNAP tend to be more obese than those who don’t.” There are many who advocate different restrictions, often drastic, to promote healthy diets for those on SNAP. But the Department of Agriculture wisely favors incentives as restrictions, tending to cause potential beneficiaries to avoid enrolling in SNAP. Some of whom are often children. That would not be good.

Rigged?

Until the Electoral College is eliminated, there will never be a fair election. Remember, 270 people elect the president of the U.S.

Restrooms locked

Could someone at the Recreation Department or the city please tell me why there are restrooms at the Ted Wright Park on Moody Road in Warner Robins and they are never open? When we take our kids there to play we have to take them home or to a gas station to go to the restroom.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016."