This is Viewpoints for Thursday, April 6, 2017
Mandatory drug testing
Some folks are saying that Republicans are pushing for mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients. What a surprise.
I have another suggestion. What about mandatory drug testing for all elected officials —local, state, national? If they have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear, and it is our tax money that pays their salaries. They do work for us, although many of them seem to forget that little point. I would also push for mandatory intelligence testing for elected officials but I realize that would be “a bridge too far.”
Charles J. Pecor,
Macon
Unnecessary war
The constant histories of the 48,000 troops killed in Vietnam are missing a lot of obvious facts. First and foremost their was never a plan to defeat the enemy, the folks who called Vietnam home. There was a total disregard for life. Many of those 17-20 year old kids died just months into their tours.
There is a memorial with details on the internet. Well worth visiting for those who would ever try to justify that war. Defective aircraft and friendly fire caused loss of lives. The wounded ran over 100,000. All during the war America was extremely hard on the troops as they returned home. Most of those generals went on to lead in Iraq and Afghanistan with the same disastrous results and continue to enjoy the good life.
Joe Hubbard,
Macon
According to the Defense Casualty Analysis System there were 58,220 in-theater deaths during the Vietnam War. However, only 47,434 deaths were due to hostile action.
Editors
Special prayer
The Macon Mayhem needs to read and put into practice “The Prayer of the Sportsman” by Berton Braley. In fact, I think all of our sports teams should put this into practice.
Ruby Jacobs,
Dry Branch
This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Thursday, April 6, 2017."