This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017

How to miss the boat

Thank you to all the protesters out there. The folks who continue to rant, rave, march and complain because they didn’t get their way, please keep it up. While you’re doing your thing, lots of us are doing ours. Right under your nose.

Notice the stock market lately? Seen all the new construction being built in Middle Georgia? Happen to notice new businesses openings? Lower unemployment? More shoppers in the stores?

You haven’t because you’re too busy missing the boat. But others have taken notice and are capitalizing on it. And thanks to your actions the competition for advancement is lessened. While you’re out there holding up handwritten signs, a lot of us are forging ahead, building up our bank accounts, improving our family life and securing the future. So, keep up the good work. We need you on the streets, not slowing down our progress.

Freedom

A couple of recent items from people “talking about freedom” but not seeming to really grasp its meaning caught my eye. First, there was the letter by Jack Mahaney in which he proudly declared himself “pro choice.”

Part of his description of being “pro choice” was the belief that the government shouldn’t be able to tell a woman or her doctor what medical procedure can take place. Yet, the very foundation of abortion, Roe vs. Wade, is based upon a Supreme Court decision basically making abortion a federal right. When there is disagreement about abortion actually being a medical procedure.

Mahaney goes on to mention access to contraceptives, pap smears, etc. If Mahaney wants to pay for someone to get contraceptives, he’s free to do so. But when taxpayer funds get involved, that’s not pro choice. When taxpayer funds go to places like Planned Parenthood, who offer abortion as a service, that’s not pro choice. That’s theft.

When it comes to supporting freedom, it would appear that the only standards some people have are double.

Why are we afraid?

Why are so many Americans afraid of refugees? Trump’s paranoia of Syrian refugees has led to his permanent ban on their entry here. No one else who comes to our country is screened as much as refugees over a period of two years by four government departments.

These include our State Department, Homeland security, the FBI, and our National Counterterrorism Center. These refugees are the most desperate ones who have endured countless acts and scenes of horror and terror and usually desperately in need of medical care.

The above refugees are the “most vulnerable” and certainly deserve resettlement in America. Fortunately Gov. Nathan Deal’s executive act banning the resettlement of Syrian refugees here was declared unconstitutional by his own attorney general.

There are “more than 65 million refugees and displaced people worldwide. Only less than 1 percent of all refugees are resettled in America. Turkey has 2.8 million Syrian refugees. We have resettled only 18,000 Syrians in our nation.

More than 32,000 Americans are killed with firearms annually — 50 percent in suicides. Our great nation needs to allow more Syrian refugees to resettle here. God only knows the sad and pathetic situations of millions of Syrian refugees. Our new president has a duty to help these desperate Syrian refugees who will be no threat to the rest of us.

Gun control

A story in The Telegraph, credited to the Associated Press, claims that Congress has blocked an Obama rule that bars the mentally impaired from buying guns. The story lacks detail for good reason; it’s a spin job that rightly should be called fake news. The truth is that it was a blanket rule that would have denied the right to own a gun to anyone on Social Security who doesn’t manage their own finances. It was yet another underhanded attempt to create gun control for a specific segment of society by then-President Obama without legislation by Congress. To characterize those individuals on Social Security who have others manage their finances as mentally ill is reprehensible. The story is also a good example of why the media is rightly considered biased and untruthful by a majority of Americans.

Chivalry not dead

Today I had the chance to observe chivalry first-hand. I was eating with a group of retired teachers at O’Charley’s. We get together ever so often to catch up with each other. Our waiter, Robert, had done an excellent job taking care of us and had taken our money for the checks. In a few minutes, Robert came back and said he could not take our money. He said Jeff at a table nearby had taken care of the checks and the tips for us. What a wonderful thing to do for a group of retired teachers.

Thank you, Jeff, for such an unexpected surprise. Thank you for the invitation to go boating at Lake Tobesofkee also. It was a pleasure to meet such a nice gentleman.

Tighten up

The article by Laura Corley titled “East Macon man arrested for 39th time in recent drug bust” indicates why Macon has such a high crime rate. “Possession of a gun by a convicted felon for the second time in a little more than three years” and “39th arrest” tell the whole story. When is someone actually going to be held responsible for such acts and taken off Macon’s streets? It pleases me that bond was denied, but the justice system needs to tighten up if they intend to fight crime.

Reasons for deportation

Those who are protesting the recent deportation of illegal immigrants do not know the facts. According to a statement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the deportees are: (1) Aliens convicted of crimes that threatened public safety and gang members; (2) Aliens who “reentered the country after being removed”; (3) Aliens who are “immigrant fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.”

It is difficult to understand the motives of those who protest the deportation of these criminals.

This story was originally published February 20, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017."