This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016

Pet poor

People are using our area to put out their unwanted pets. We now have nine inside cats and a female cat outside that had five kittens, which we are feeding. We spent more than $450 on one kitten we took in. What are we going to do with so many cats? My wife is 70 and I am 73. We live off Social Security and my retirement and we cannot afford to get any more animals fixed and now the cost of living adjustment just announced will increase our Social Security by 0.3 percent, which comes to less than $10 a month for both of us. It would be a big help to us to stop having to put Social Security on our income tax

Demand rigor

It is with great interest that I read Walter Williams’ column “Dumb American Youth.” As a current teacher, “the dumbing down of American education” saddens me to the core. Williams took a look back in time and made what could be considered the most important statement in the column. “When I attended elementary school, during the 1940s, we were given blank U.S. maps, and our assignment was to write in the states. Today such an assignment might be deemed oppressive, if not racist.” Is this the real problem in the classrooms of America? Are our assignments or homework “deemed oppressive or even racist” by students and their parents?

Williams emphasized the dire need of our students to be well-prepared for the future. As our education process goes, so goes the future of our children. A watered-down educational system is dishonest, and it ultimately does a disservice to our children and nation. May God give the people of our country the courage to rise up and demand rigorous academics for our most precious possession.

Private gun ownership

Gun ownership in America is arguably vastly under-reported. Think about it: Any savvy gun owner, when contacted by a pollster, is hardly motivated to reveal the truth, because Hillary and the Democrats are so obviously out to get their guns, one way or another. I am told by two different gun dealers in this area that records of background checks on purchases are not being destroyed by the government as required in the law by which these checks are imposed. Why is the government keeping these records if not to form a database of gun ownership that is not authorized by the law? Nevertheless, gun sales are booming, both in response to increased criminal activity, terrorists, as well as the progressive administration’s obvious interest in banning guns. The same two gun dealers told me that the greatest gun salesman in America is President Obama. Weapons carry permits are also on the rise, but again, no media reporting of that either.

The liberal mainstream media would like to portray gun owners as a small, “fringe” group, making it easier to impose more and more restrictions on them toward their announced goal of “reinterpreting” the Second Amendment to in effect outlaw private gun ownership. Hillary has said publicly that the Supreme Court “got it wrong” in their 5-4 Heller decision upholding private ownership. Make no mistake, if elected she would surely nominate a judge who would vote with the current four liberal court members to reverse that decision. This is the most important single issue to ever come up, since it would disarm law-abiding citizens and leave them unable to protect themselves or their loved ones against criminals who do not obey the law. Witness the recent break-in of a gun dealer in Warner Robins, where several criminals used an SUV as a battering ram to gain access and steal guns.

Every police officer I have spoken with endorses private gun ownership to include proper training in self-defense and responsible gun ownership, which means being always in control of firearm access to avoid tragic accidents. The Warner Robins police offer such training and it is recommended. But the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to vote for a president who supports private gun ownership. That’s not Hillary.

Morality

Recently we have seen the Democratic Party mount their high horse of integrity and browbeat Trump with it. The Republican nominee may have given them plenty to use against him. I don’t know and I do not care. Democrats may ride that high horse of ethics long and often enough to ride it to death. This is the same tactic used several years ago on Herman Cain. Unfortunately, he quit rather than endure their absurdity, and we will see how much of their self-righteous nonsense Trump can take.

A good memory reminds us that the Democratic Party is the same body that championed the faithless Bill Clinton. Now, they want us to vote for his wife who stood by placidly during such disgrace. Do they think two terms of Slick Willie and two of Obama sufficiently lobotomized us to forget those shameful days of national history? Who are they to lecture anyone’s morality?

Pray for aliens

With all of the absurdity in the presidential race, the scientists are now insisting signals from certain stars are from a higher intelligence. Now compare that with the impeached former president (Bill Clinton) and accused sexual predator (Donald Trump), seeker of presidency. Mix that with Trump’s competitor (Hillary Clinton), the known violator of top secret information and married to Bill, and you have a circus. In a recent poll 70 percent of Democrats are voting Hillary due to her being a Democrat. Ninety-five percent of Republicans are voting for Trump for drastic changes. Hopefully the aliens will save us all!

This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016."