This is Viewpoints for Friday, Sept. 18, 2015

Contradictions

In relation to John G. Kelley Jr.’s “Any Questions?” First those seeking contradictions in the Bible. There are 101 contradictions listed on one website identifying chapters and verses; however, they do not list the first one that comes to my mind.

In the Old Testament, Exodus 20:13 it says, “Thou shalt not kill.” In Ecclesiastes 3:3 it says, “A time to kill.” Could this be speaking of murder versus a time of war? However those who worry about any questions concerning the words of the Bible, I would like to mention a verse in the New Testament where the writer indicates the son of God speaks. Matthew 7:7 -- “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Therefore, I suggest for peaceful hearts and minds without understanding, accept Jesus Christ as your savior and go to him in prayer for any and all doubts. James 4:7 and “Submit yourselves therefore to God,” Romans 5:1. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

-- Faye W. Tanner

Macon

No money spent

Instead of buying land for whatever reason and dreaming up memorial fountains, the city should invest in a quality dictionary for the mayor. Debacle: noun. An abrupt disastrous failure. So says the Free Dictionary. Look now, no money needs to be spent. Thank you, Mister Collins.

-- Jim Huber

Centerville

High wages, more prosperity

Charlie Adams is apparently among the many Republicans who take ideology to be more valid than reality. The exemplar of Steven Colbert’s “truthiness.” Economic history shows that higher wages do not reduce employment.

In 1914 Henry Ford, no left-wing “pinko,” raised the pay of workers on his assembly line to $5 per day and lowered the price of the Model T. Predictions of his bankruptcy and the loss of those workers’ jobs were widespread. In fact, his move was the foundation of the Ford fortune. He said the workers who made them should be able to buy a Model T, and they did.

The national minimum wage was established in 1938 at 25-cents per hour. It reached $1 in 1960 and is now $7.25. In the 77 years since its creation there have been ups and downs in the labor market. The lows do not correlate with the increases.

For instance, in 1996 President Bill Clinton pushed through an increase. Unemployment fell every year through 2000 when it reached 4 percent. Under the next administration, which adhered to Adams’ theory, it began to rise, reaching 5.8 percent in 2002. Since the Bush recession, all states have gained in jobs, but states that have raised the minimum wage above the federal level are among the leaders. These include California, Florida, Colorado, Washington, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and New York (See www.ncsl.org and data.bls.gov).

In another view, 1929 and 2008, respectively, the kickoffs for the Great Depression and the Bush recession, came at the end of extended periods when wages were stagnant even though profits were high. Most economists think that declining consumption due to lack of wage increases was a major contributor to these economic catastrophes.

-- Fred and Mary Ann van Hartesveldt

Fort Valley

A possible scenario

I work at Robins Air Force base. Consequently, I am not allowed to carry a weapon on me or in my car when going to work. I do possess a Georgia Weapons Carry License, which I obtained after 26 children and adults were murdered in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012. While at work, I decided to take the afternoon off to ride my vintage motorcycle. I arrived home at 1:30 p.m. to find two men in my house. The first man to see me panicked and shot me three times resulting in my death. I only died because I was defenseless due to one or more morons who decided my life and my rights weren’t worth the paper the United States Constitution was printed on.

If this were a true account and I had died, people would probably say, “Too bad, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” This perspective is dead wrong (pun intended). Americans need to stand up for all of our constitutional rights and stop politicians and other idiots who think they are smarter than our Founding Fathers. They are not.

-- Mike Smith

Warner Robins

It’s the Democrats’ fault

Foreign policy decisions by Democratic presidents from 1945 to the present:

Harry S. Truman (1945-53) supported the Yalta and Potsdam agreements that divided Europe and created the Cold War that led to today’s Russia. After the war Truman gutted the military. When North Korea invaded South Korea, he was unable to respond militarily. American-led U.N. forces eventually occupied North Korea. Threatened, China launched a counteroffensive that drove those forces out of North Korea that divided the country that created the North Korea we have today.

John F. Kennedy (1961-63) altered the Cuba invasion plans (approved by outgoing Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower) and that led to its failure, the Cuba missile crisis and Cuba today. Kennedy started financially and militarily supporting South Vietnam in violation of the 1954 Geneva agreement. His “strategic hamlet” strategy angered a great many South Viennese peasants turning them against America.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69) initiated Plan 34B that sent mercenaries into North Vietnam, which led to the attack on the USS Maddox, which led to the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which led to Operation Rolling Thunder, which led to the Tet Offensive, which led to a massive escalation which eventually led to our withdrawal.

James E. Carter Jr. (1977-81) signed the Panama Canal treaty giving the Panama Canal to the Panamanians. On his watch Iranian extremists sent the American-backed Shah of Iran into exile. Anti-America revolutionary Ayatollah Khomeini returned to replace him as Iran’s supreme leader. Iranian students seized the American embassy taking 52 hostage. Operation Eagle Claw launched to rescue the hostages crashed and burned. Events that created the Iran we see today.

William J. Clinton (1993-2001) removed all troops from Somalia leaving the country in a state of anarchy that exists there to this day. Clinton did little to stop the genocide in Rwanda that killed 500,000 to 1 million. The World Trade Center bombing killed six and injured thousands. The attacks on two U.S. embassies in East Africa killed 250 people and 12 Americans. The attack on the USS Cole in Yemen killed 17 Navy sailors. Each orchestrated by Osama bin Laden under Clinton’s nose. So it’s no surprise the planning and preparation for the 9/11 attacks, by bin Laden, that killed 2,977, began on Clinton’s watch.

Barack H. Obama (2009 to the present) continues to create division, chaos, death and destruction with every decision while invigorating and emboldening our adversaries by dismantling restraints placed on them by former Republican presidents. Ironically, the very adversaries created by his Democratic predecessors.

-- Travis L. Middleton

Peach County

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 10:05 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Friday, Sept. 18, 2015 ."