This is Viewpoints for Monday, September 11, 2017

Fake news

Fake news is causing problems for it’s purveyors. The more fake news getting reported the fewer people it resonates with. The reason for it’s diminished appeal is simple. People come to realize it’s untrue and promptly dismiss it. Fake news actually works opposite of its intentions.

By relentlessly lying on its broadcasts, CNN and ESPN have had to layoff staff. The New York Times, masters at twisting a story by omitting relevant facts, saw it’s third workforce reduction in two years. Recently, the paper began begging philanthropists to fund its journalists. Imagine that, the Gray Lady is begging for dollars. ABC, CBS, NBC, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Salon and The Blaze have all suffered the consequences that come from lying to their audiences.

Fake news put Gawker, albeit a third rate publication, out of business. And, ironically, the miscreant’s solution to their dwindling revenue streams? More fake news. Indeed, the media dinosaurs have become the architects of their own demise.

The New York Times stock is trading at a nine-year high and has a market capitalization of about $3.2 billion. Gawker was forced to file bankruptcy after it lost a court case brought by Hulk Hogan that resulted in a $140 million legal judgment.

From unity to division

Sometime in the 1990s I began seeing signs promoting “Diversity is strength.” We encouraged immigrants to be proud of their former heritage and show it. We glamorized the African-American’s African culture. Homosexuality was popularized as being a normal way of life and should be socially accepted, resulting in dozens of subsets of personality types.

While this was happening, Caucasian-Americans began to feel marginalized, as if they were being deprived of their own cultural identity, and some began promoting white pride events. Is it any surprise that they were castigated and maligned as racists and white supremacists by the multitude of diverse groups exercising their new-found sense of cultural identity?

Congratulations, to whoever dreamed up the original slogan. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. We are now culturally divided to the point we can no longer accept or tolerate anyone’s opinion or views if they differ from our own. America is no longer a melting pot, where we all strive to become one nation. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage, until you use that pride to deprive others of the same right.

I long for the days of, “United we stand. Divided we fall.” When unity was strength and we were all Americans, no matter where our ancestors came from.

And the point is?

On Wednesday, August 30, a group of protestors met at the Macon-Bibb government building. To get there, some of them may have crossed the James Brown bridge. Some may have come by way of Little Richard Penniman Boulevard or Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

They may have passed the Otis Redding statue, down by the river. A few of them might have even attended the unveiling of the eight-foot tall bronze statue of MLK Jr., the day before on the State Capital grounds. They probably parked their luxury automobiles adjacent to Rosa Parks Square or maybe along side the Willie Hill County building. They came to protest two generic statues that most people only view as symbols of bravery and sacrifice. The only hate attributed to them would come from the protestors.

Meanwhile, out in Texas, a bunch of good old boys were using their own boats to pull flood victims to safety. Many, if not most, of the victims looked a lot like the Macon “protestors,” only wetter and not nearly as well dressed. They were taken to shelters where other good old boys were using their personal trucks to bring them food and water. Nationwide, millions are donating in their behalf to help provide necessities and aid in their recovery. There are no ethnic limitations or requirements either expressed or implied.

While back in Macon, they protested. They seem determined to drive a wedge in the widening racial divide.

Too close to home shooting

A little over a decade ago, the Houston County Commission briefly considered adopting a stricter ordinance regarding discharge of weapons near subdivisions. It failed, but Houston County’s population and home building boom has accelerated to a point that it needs another look.

Certainly farmers need to be able to protect their land from invasive animals like hogs —and there’s nothing wrong with shooting well away from subdivisions, but a lot of the “fun” shooting is now taking place far too close to residences, posing both noise and safety issues.

The Second Amendment is important, and responsible gun ownership should be protected. But there are those who live on tiny slivers of county land abusing the privilege they have of shooting from their own property to the point of harassing neighbors, intentionally or unintentionally.

With so many jagged city/county boundaries and so much residential growth, it makes no sense that a house sitting on county land can practically become a shooting range even though it is within a baseball’s throw of otherwise quiet homes and city land where such ordinances would prevent the harassment.

Those who enjoy peace and quiet may not be as rabid about wanting stricter rules as gun lovers might be about protecting their opportunity to fire relentlessly, but some are taking it way too far. There’s still a little bit of rural Houston County left, and deep into those areas is where the shooting should happen. Growth has consequences, and it’s time to address this issue.

Different names

I have been trying to figure out why so many people are having such a problem with the name, Robert Lee, on a statue, but did not have a problem with the name Hussein for a president.

This story was originally published September 10, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Monday, September 11, 2017."