This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 5, 2016

“Institutional racism”

Vice President Joe Biden is concerned that “institutional racism” is the main reason why minorities economically lag way behind their white counterparts. Institutional racism is a term manufactured by social activist because white privilege did not achieve its desired affect. They need a term they can use to identify racist activity even if there is no proof of racism. Minorities economically lag way behind the top 10 percent of white wage earners because these individuals have advanced degrees and are trained professionals. They save their money and invest it wisely. That is why they can live in affluent areas and buy luxury items.

According to Biden, institutional racism is the reason why minorities have difficulty in obtaining a mortgage to purchase a house in an affluent neighborhood. There is no proof of his accusation. The ability to obtain a mortgage is based on an individual’s ability to finance a mortgage, pay property tax, buy adequate insurance and pay any homeowners fees.

Activists use terms like institutional racism and white privilege to justify their claims that racism is prevalent and it is the reason why minorities are not doing as well as whites in education and wages.

Artist tryout?

What’s up with the comic strip artists? Are they just messing with us? Last week, Mary Worth aged 30 years in one day and then the next day she was back to her normal age. Dilbert seems to be having different artists tryout as every day the characters look different from the day before.

Third party?

Excuse me, but if one of the current party leaders become our president, we’ll get either Hillary, who says she supports current policies, or Donald, who is all over the map on his policies. We are heading down the road to socialism rapidly. Our president just raised the overtime pay to those making less than $46,000. That will lead to loss of jobs. Government is our biggest problem.

There are several outstanding individuals in the private sector that would possibly stabilize America. It will take years to reverse the damage. God must be returned to our schools and the Ten Commandments should be common place. Stopping all involvement in Middle East conflicts. Deport all illegal immigrants ( they take jobs from American citizens).

The man or woman chosen must be an outsider. Zero political affiliation and without all the questionable baggage the two current apparent party choices have.

Looking for an out

I have a question: If people are allowed to freely use a public bathroom corresponding to their mental gender, which is opposite from their biological gender, what is to prevent a sexual predator from claiming they are transgender in order to enter a bathroom for the purpose of spying on and possibly victimizing children or adults in that bathroom in order to satisfy their perverted desires? Any man, for example, could dress as a woman, enter a woman’s bathroom, even though he is not a true transgender person. The only redress would have to occur after a victim has been targeted and reported the incident to authorities. The damage would have been done by then. Seems there should be some law to discourage them from trying this, other than the risk of being caught after performing their spying and/or confronting their victim(s). This would seem to be a public safety concern, not a religious concern at all.

Must we wait until there is a victim before doing something to prevent it? By the way, yes, I realize this threat has probably always been with us, but it would seem that stating a policy that transgender people can use the bathroom corresponding to their mental gender could encourage predators, giving them an “out” if suspicious behavior is seen.

Commissary funding

I request your action now to stop the military commissary funding cuts repeatedly advocated by some national leaders. In recent years, Congress and the administration have harmed military purchasing power by cutting annual pay raises, targeting housing allowances, cutting health-care benefits, etc. Approval of any change to the commissary or exchange systems would certainly be viewed as just one more step on the part of national leaders to callously harm those who fight and die for this nation and loved ones who support them. As a member of the Air Force Sergeants Association, which represents all current and former Air Force members, I feel that approval of these cuts would be harmful and irresponsible. I urge you to support full commissary funding and to take a stand on behalf of service members. They have earned and need this benefit program. As a voter and one of your constituents, I respectfully request a response to the letter so that I can fully grasp your intentions on this matter.

Token blacks

Why does seven out of every 10 TV ads have a token black? This is attempted racial integration via psychological subliminal programming at its most dishonest. At least the Partnership for a Drug Free America was explicit and above board in what they were trying to accomplish. I could make the point that since Hispanics form a greater minority in the U.S. now, they should appear in a proportionately greater number of commercials, but this is not the case. Manufacturers should at least feign a degree of competency in what they are attempting, For example, there is one ad of an outdoor cookout with 30 whites and one black. In another car sales ad featuring a wedding, there are 25 whites and one black, in both ads the blacks stick out like a sore thumb. This kind of covert, deceptive advertising with a social agenda by a widespread corporate coalition is plainly bad business ethics.

No difference

Do not be deceived by the dishonest campaign talk. There is not a dime’s worthy of difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. If I must vote for a Democrat in November, I will vote for the one who admits to being a Democrat not the one who pretends to be a Republican.

This story was originally published June 4, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 5, 2016."