This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, August 12, 2015
Was It PMS ?
Erickson may not be pathetic but he sure is weaker and more liberals. Nearly everyone of the GOP contenders has called Trump names. He has been referred to as a bodily orifice and as a cancer that must be cut out. This doesn’t seem to bother Erickson. He must be petrified of women and of Trump. Above all, he wants to be PC.
-- J. Horne
Macon
Outside the lines?
I am always concerned when one voice makes an important decision affecting many. When Erick Erickson opted to expel Donald Trump from the Red State debate over previous statements that he made to Megyn Kelly, he was clearly coloring outside the lines and exceeded a path of wisdom. To be honest (and I love Megyn), she had to know her question would ignite the evening. This is analogous to the Beltway conduct we have experienced for the past seven years. I suspect Erickson is smarter than that, and by now has had second thoughts.
While I am conservative and flinch at the thought of Hillary filling the big chair, I have no favorites, not Trump, not others. But I do see the dangers of indiscriminately censoring the slate of speakers in this forum. Who else will weed out their personal enemy?
-- Daniel W. Gatlyn USN (ret.)
Macon
Blowing GOP’s cover
Most folks saw through it. Erick Erickson was trying to preserve the credibility of Red State by revoking Donald Trump’s invitation to speak to their 2015 gathering last week. Trump is getting too hot to handle and most of us understand the real reason. His “politically incorrect” rhetoric is revealing too many things those on the far-right believe privately and won’t say in public.
We’ve heard their favorite politicians’ code words for the unspeakable since the days of Watergate. We knew that socially acceptable words like “welfare,” “quotas,” and “states’ rights” were intended to provoke anger and hatred for the benefit of right-wing candidates. This is known as “dog whistle politics.” Now, Trump’s coarse words are blowing their cover. Erickson cannot allow that.
-- Tom Louderback
Louisville, Kentucky
Wasting time
I am a conservative Republican, but that pathetic bunch that’s running for president is not worth wasting my time to go and vote. Megyn Kelly tried to embarrass Donald Trump from the beginning. It backfired. All these so-called conservatives are handing the White House to the Democrats. Donald Trump will run as a third party candidate and destroy the Republicans chance to gain back the White House. Fools do foolish things. I will tell both parties to stick to the issues and stop the character assassination.
-- Louis Kitchens
Wayside
No Erickson fan, but ...
It is no great secret that I am not a huge fan of Erick Erickson’s political stylings. Understanding that, I have to commend him on, as Erick himself said, “doing the right thing” and dis-inviting Trump to his RedState confab in Atlanta.
Every four years (in this case fewer), the crazies come out and stake a claim to the greatest political prize in the world: The United States presidency. Whether it is a pizza salesman from Georgia, a banjo-playing buffoon from Arkansas or an affable, if addled, Libertarian from Texas, they suck all the air out of the room for just long enough to oxygen-starve the electorate into voting for the person that seems the least frightening.
For more years than anyone cares to remember, Trump has succeeded in bullying or bulldozing anyone or anything in the way of his “Great Vision.” That vision seems to include his image carved into a mountainside in South Dakota. As I sit here in Tampa, this week, I remind myself that I recently drove past an empty lot along a lovely riverfront in downtown Tampa that was supposed to support a grand “Trump Tower.” Kicked off with great fanfare and personal sales pitches by “The Donald” himself, along with whichever immigrant bride of the week was on his arm (his opposition to immigration does not extend to his wives evidently), many people were promised the experience of a lifetime. Of course, that is what they got, as hundreds of buyers and investors lost tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Experience of a lifetime, indeed.
Turns out Trump never had even a share of ownership in the condo operation. His name was all he invested and he went to great legal lengths to keep that fact from becoming public, reportedly suing the principals when it became known. As I write the last few chapters of my time here on this planet, I see a world, a nation and our little corner of it in Warner Robins, as full of promise as they are full of challenges. These are serious times and we need serious people to rise up to meet them. The longer we wait to put the Trumps, the Kardashians, the Duggars and the rest of their ilk in the compost pile, the less time we will have to spend on what matters.
-- Bob Carnot
Warner Robins
Tale of two counties
Houston County touts itself as “Georgia’s most progressive county.” Hardly. Much like Georgia consists of two parts -- there’s Atlanta, then there is the rest of the state -- Houston County is split into two parts. There’s Warner Robins and environs, then there’s the rest of the county.
Residents in Warner Robins enjoy modern conveniences, such as online bill pay for city utilities. Even the city of Perry has online bill pay available for utility customers. High-tech companies call Warner Robins home, serving both Robins Air Force Base and the general public; they’re able to access services necessary to their business. Warner Robins works to bring more jobs to the city, embracing technology and encouraging a vibrant, modern way of life.
Contrast this to the unincorporated areas of the county, where job growth is stagnant, convenience receives only lip service and the adoption of modern technologies is actively discouraged, even punished. The Houston County utilities system doesn’t have an online payment option. It’s not even possible to email your county commissioner. There are no email addresses published on the Houston County website. Does the county really want to continue projecting this 1980s image?
The Houston County Commission doesn’t seem interested in encouraging companies to invest in modern services, seeming to prefer the more “laid back, rural” lifestyle. If the county commissioners are happy to stick with the status quo, Houston County will continue to fall further and further behind.
-- Dave Stewart
Perry
Still can’t find them
OK, a crazy white kid poses with guns, knives and a Confederate battle flag before going on an awful killing spree. What is the reaction from Democrats, the liberal press and the gun grabbers (of course I repeat myself, but...)? Well, first we must burn the flag and eliminate all history of the racist South, then we must pass more gun laws that criminals and crazies both ignore.
In another city, a Muslim with an “Arabic” name (Do not say Muslim), commits an atrocity that initially baffled local police and the FBI as to a possible motive from this young Arab man named Mohammad Ramadama Azeez.
Americans have been effectively neutered when it comes to religious extremist based terrorism. If we speak out about this danger we are accused of being “Islamphobic.” A phobia is an irrational fear. Religious terrorists are real, not imagined. Phobia is not the correct term when someone actually wants to kill you.
There will soon be more than 6.5 million Muslims in this country. Many are here on the same type of visas the 19 9/11 terrorists used to enter this country. Guess what? Our government still cannot find visa overstays any better than we did prior to 9/11, so if a hundred/thousand/million immigrants with malicious 9/11 intent are here, we can’t find them. Our politicians learned nothing from the 9/11 attacks, and we will all suffer for that failure.
-- John Brogden
Warner Robins
This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 10:27 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, August 12, 2015 ."