This is Viewpoints for Sunday, July 30, 2017

Zebulon Road development

I read the letter from Carol Frayne recently and would like to say that she is “spot on.” She has done a lot of research about vacant, rundown and property for sale in Macon-Bibb County. As I walk down Zebulon Road between Chick-fil-A and Bass Road, I have noticed that five of the six properties that face Zebulon are currently vacant and overgrown, (the seventh property is not visible from the road). I assume the owners have already moved on and probably out of Macon-Bibb County.

An interesting fact that has been forgotten is that the company that first tried to develop the 25 acres lost a court case. The majority of the funding for that case was the current developers, SPP and Sierra Group. Makes you wonder doesn’t it.

Carol is correct in her statement that the corporate bottom line is their main interest. Thirty million dollars could go a long way in revitalizing existing empty commercial buildings.

Capitulation

Over the last few months I have written into The Telegraph’s Viewpoints section to excoriate liberals in the same tone and ugliness they use on President Trump. Enmity doesn’t come natural to me. The idea was to let them feel what it’s like to be spoken of so cruelly. My hope was they would tone it down if they understood what it feels like to be hated.

My good intentions failed. There appears to be nothing to cure their myopia. If ignorance is bliss, then liberals prove it everyday with their ranting, raving and venom. I am losing hope they will ever regain balance.

But the sad thing is their hate is misdirected. It should be aimed at the majority of Americans who did not vote for Clinton. This is the group that gave Trump the presidency. He didn’t steal it. The Russians didn’t vote. Trump merely proposed to act on what these people were thinking. If the hate-filled mob were intelligent they would attack their neighbors, their relatives and their friends. But they don’t have the gravitas for that.

Some cared, some did not

As a retired health care professional, I am glad that an advocate for the consumer has announced she will be running for Georgia Insurance Commissioner. This is a major development that has not been covered adequately by the media.

Although I am a Republican, I know Cindy Zeldin, a Democrat. She cares about having superior health care for all Georgians. Georgia sorely needs someone who will really side with its citizens versus special interest groups.

I have also known Tim Ryles since the 1960s. As Insurance Commissioner, he was a force for good. It was a shame that he was defeated by John Oxidine in 1994, a major setback for consumer protection.

Ralph Hudgens was an even worse commissioner. He obviously cared very little about protecting the people he had sworn to serve. Hudgens mismanaged office finances, let insurance companies run rough shod over the public and fought tirelessly to make sure Georgians did not get insurance via Obamacare and Medicaid expansion. He was a total incompetent.

Amazingly, a significant proportion of Georgians remain clueless when it comes to Obamacare and Medicaid itself. First, 90 percent of Medicaid costs are paid for by the feds. Blue states like California and New York have expanded their Medicaid programs while we have not. Our tax money is going there; why not use it here?

Secondly, the people currently covered by the Medicaid expansion are the working poor, not lazy good for nothings. As a county commissioner, I found that tea party types were very critical of social programs, until they had to use them.

Precautions?

If main stream news is fake news as, President Trump says, then why does he and his associates need to hire multiple real lawyers? Also, if they are all innocent, why is the president checking to see who he could pardon? I would think that an innocent president would not need to know what associates he can pardon, as well as himself.

USS Fitzgerald update

After having read and heard the media report that the crew of the USS Fitzgerald, a guided-missile destroyer is at fault for the collision between it and the ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan, they are reporting on events with little or no knowledge and the reporting does not convey accurate picture.

As a sailor with experience as a Boatswain mate and sea lawyer (enlisted man who likes to argue; usually one who likes to twist the regulation and standing orders around to favor his personal inclination) maybe I can share a better understanding.

The Officer on Deck or day, has absolute control over the ship’s crew and ship safety during his watch as per Bluejacket manual. He’s responsible at all times during his watch for the safety and operating orders for the ship’s mission.

At his disposal is 1jv (a sailor with a radio handset relaying messages as needed) that is in communication with the Combat Information Center and all lookouts from the flying bridge to fantail are manned by personal on watch reporting hourly of conditions of their assigned area, plus bridge radar and messenger of the watch to advise the captain by voice message from the bridge of any hazard within 4,000 yards. Standard operating procedure. Note the ships log lists all transactions during each and every watch as per naval code whether in port or at sea.

My first question as a sea lawyer is, “do we have the enemy at the con?” We did at Fort Hood and several other duty stations. Please understand that all military personnel general order is you carry out your last order first and your first order last, in that order. So, could it be the crew or the command? With that I rest my case.

This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, July 30, 2017."