This is Viewpoints for Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018

Proud duty must and is being done

Mr. Hubbard’s “What will it take?” letter really rubbed me wrong. Vietnam is very real in a lot of our minds. Having served during that period, I have great respect for those who served their time in hell. Military members cannot be political; we swear to uphold our Constitution and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same. The military services of our nation are sent by Congress and the president to protect our interests and those of people less able to protect themselves. While this is not easy for us or our families, it is what we do. Yes, the war in the Middle East has been long lasting and while I agree it is time for an end to our involvement, the military will continue to do their duty regardless of what some people think. Mr. Hubbard, the war in Vietnam was to prevent the spread of Communism to a country that was completely overwhelmed by a much stronger enemy who had the backing of larger more powerful countries. Is it really any different than freeing the Middle East from terrorists? As far as South Korea goes, I served in South Korea preventing North Korea, ruled by a fanatical dictator from taking over the South if given free reign. America cannot stick its head in the sand as you suggest; if we do then you will get your wish we will be fighting at our borders.

A solution

This may seem like a simple solution that won’t work, but since there is such a epidemic of gun violence in our country and Congress seems to be frozen as to what they should do for fear that they won’t get elected or that the NRA won’t give them any money any more, it seems the next step is up to all the citizens to take over and do something about it. What should we do? Stop buying guns! If you already have a gun turn it into the police to dispose of and not resell it. If no more guns were bought where would the NRA be? I am sure no one with guns will appreciate my idea but what else is there to do. If someone else has a better idea, please step up and pass the idea to everyone.

Nothing to crow about

Just read in Thursday’s Telegraph that Bubber Epps was proud of his accomplishment helping push through the consolidation for Macon-Bibb County. If I was him, I’d not let on that I was responsible for that train wreck. If he thinks that’s an accomplishment he needs to retire, senility has set in.

A pitful lack of effort

Have you wondered how we can substantially initiate a “no fly zone” over hundreds of square miles, and yet fail in our attempts to sanitize a single school? Sad!

Making online ads accountable

In 2016, the Russians exposed how vulnerable our elections are to foreign interference. We now know that thousands of online ads and social media posts by Russian government-backed “bots” reached more than 125 million Americans on Facebook alone last year. Some of these ads and posts promoted then-candidate Donald Trump or attacked Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton; others disseminated a wide variety of phony “news” items, apparently to sow discord among Americans on a variety of issues or undermine public trust in the electoral process. Because there is no disclosure requirement for online ads — unlike print and broadcast advertisements — Americans have no way to know the source of the political messages they see.

There is a bipartisan bill called the Honest Ads Act which would write an online ad disclosure requirement into federal law. It would go a long way toward dealing with this problem. Please contact Georgia Sens. David Perdue and Johnny Isakson and Rep. Austin Scott and ask them to vote for this bill.

This story was originally published February 18, 2018 at 9:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018."