This is Viewpoints for Friday, June 17, 2016

Drive up mailbox

A while back I called a few post offices in Houston County about getting a drive up mailbox placed in the Hwy. 96 and Houston Lake Road intersection area, maybe at Kroger or the old Winn-Dixie parking lot. I was given the old runaround about them being so underfunded and how they didn’t have the personnel to accommodate the extra pickup site, etc. With the population around this area, I think we deserve a drive-up-to mail drop box. There are some things I mail that I do not like to leave sitting in my rural mailbox for security reasons. If there is anyone who can help get this done please respond to this letter.

Correct information

I would like to correct some inaccurate statistics mentioned in the Monday June 13 edition. A letter on Muhammad Ali’s death talked in part about mortality statistics in Vietnam. According to the United States Archives and the Census Bureau, the number of African-American deaths in Vietnam numbered 7,243 out of 58,220, or about 12.4 percent of the total U.S. deaths. In 1970, African-American males represented approximately 5.3 percent of the total population. White males in the same year represented about 42.9 percent of the total population, and their total deaths of 49,830 out of 58,220 represents about 85 percent of the total U.S. deaths in Vietnam. This information can be found at the archives.gov and the census.gov websites.

Voice of animals

In a recent letter to the editor, Ned Dominick complained about bond being set lower for an individual accused of robbing a convenience store and destroying property verses bond set higher for a man arrested for beating a puppy to death. If Dominick cannot make his point of “injustice” by making “beating a puppy to death” as inconsequential compared to robbing a convenience store, I suggest he go back to his drawing board and come up with something intelligent to write. Dragging one subject down to raise another has never worked. It only shows the incompetence of the endeavor the person was trying to make.

We are the voice of those animals who cannot speak for themselves.

Patriotic voters

I tried to read David Mann’s letter but got confused about what he was talking about in regard to unpatriotic Republicans. His inane statement about “finger on the nuclear button” is straight out of Hillary Clinton’s playbook. There is no such thing. No one man can launch a nuclear strike, despite all of the science fiction and Hillary fiction. The majority voted for someone else, then how did he get elected? Of course that didn’t happen with the patriotic Democrats, they only had one real candidate, so they just joined in, lockstep, and want to lead us to a more socialistic state of mind.

But then how can we be sure of what someone is saying when he simply bleats George Will and Hillary Clinton. Mann really needs to get an educated view of politics and issues, otherwise he should stay home in November. It is “patriotic” voters like him that helped us get into the mess we are in now.

Straight flush

In response to David Mann’s sadness about Donald Trump supporters, he failed to list one of the smartest men in America when it comes to politics and that is Newt Gingrich. Why didn’t he list him? He has forgotten more about politics than most of those in political office even think they know.

As for me and my finger we will be hitting the Trump button come November. It has already been said that Obama has put America in the toilet and if Hillary is elected she will just pull the lever to flush us.

Change the Second Amendment

A nation that does nothing about the rising tide of gun violence within its borders is not a great nation. Despite all of our God bless America pleas, God does not bless nations where hate and greed trump love.

Should any citizen in our country be allowed to buy a military assault weapon? Who really needs one? It is time to amend the Constitution and change the outdated Second Amendment and update it to meet 21st century needs.

What a mess

I know many of you are keeping up with the comical dialogue and the barnyard custard the presidential candidates are providing us. But, if you really need a laugh, picture in your mind, Hillary Clinton as commander-in-chief, in front of a group of generals and admirals telling them what to do.

Does the assemblage of liberal aka Democratic voters really believe this military-hating person is the best choice of the two to run the most powerful military in the world? How did we get into this mess where our choice of president is limited to a nitwit crook or a borderline nut?

Here we go again

Once again, after the Orlando shooting, we are seeing another outpouring of emotion about banning guns. The media loves to drag out the stories about these horrible events. But do they ever report the instances where a law abiding, responsible gun owner protected themselves or their families from a thug, thief, mugger, rapist, or otherwise criminal attack? No, but it happens all the time, and one can find out this truth by proper research.

Self-defense is an inherent right of all humans. But to enforce that right requires some means of overcoming the disparity of size and strength that frequently exists between an attacker and his victim. That means is a legally owned firearm, in the hands of someone trained to use it. Yes, guns are deadly. They have to be to serve that legal purpose of self-defense.

In all the horrible stories of mass shootings, one thing is common, the attacker picked a “soft” target, a place where it is unlikely that there would be an armed citizen ready to thwart the attack. There are not enough policemen to have one on every street corner.

A responsible, trained gun owner cannot be dealt with by force. They have the means to combat force. If a thug wants something from them, they will have to use reason, not force.

Therefore, a gun really has a civilizing effect. If guns are banned, who do you think will observe the ban? Criminals? Hardly. They already disregard laws. Gun laws only disarm the general public, not criminals.

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Friday, June 17, 2016."