This is Viewpoints for Thursday, June 23, 2016

A bit confused

The enemies of all that is right and good have finally been identified by Travis L. Middleton in the June 15 issue of The Telegraph, and they are “Native Hispanics, African Americans, homosexuals, welfare parasites, chronic unemployed, marijuana activists, unions, atheists, abortion advocates, women, and bleeding-heart Christians.”

That is quite a list! Who is left off the list? Could it be Travis and those who agree with him? It must be a terrible strain to carry around so much hate and fear. The world must be a scary and hostile place for Travis.

One could attempt to deal with each category, but I only have questions about one — the bleeding-heart Christians. I thought the hearts of Christians were supposed to bleed for this broken world. I thought Christians were supposed to care for “the least of these.” Perhaps Jesus was “just kidding” about loving our enemies.

I could be mistaken. After all, Travis is the expert on religion and social change, and who knows what else?

Eagle Scouts

Your article on the five brothers earning Eagle Scout rank in California reminded me of Macon’s family of five brothers earning Eagle Scout rank years ago; the Elliott’s: Sewell Jr., Frank , Walter, Randy and Bruce. They were members of one of our historic Boy Scout troops; Troop 5, chartered in 1932, sponsored rather miraculously over the years, by the “Citizens of Ingleside.” Their meeting building was at Burns’ Park. Many young boys enjoyed the scouting experience through the efforts of men and families who volunteered over the years.

My memory bank has lost their names, I am sorry to say, especially those I knew so well during the two decades I volunteered. A plethora of boys earned their Eagle Scout award including our three sons, one of several families with three Eagles. (Although located in other cities, “Eagles” still soar as our sixth grandson will receive his award soon.)

Do something

After the latest shooting at the convenience store of Prakash Patel, there needs to be a reality check. There are some people who are not going to find a job and work for years and get a pay check and pay taxes and retire. With currency being so accessible to these type people, it causes tragedies like this. It is true that you can’t use anything but cash for the lottery transactions which most convenience stores have.

Whatever money was taken, it is not going to last. This was a temporary solution ending in a family man taken away permanently the day before Father’s Day.

Any business that handles currency could be a target. The same thing holds true for people using ATM machines. Something needs to be done to force these type people to go to work and not make it convenient for them to just go take what they want.

Age-based test?

There was a ‘lucky’ accident the other night. Lucky in that no one was injured, just a couple broken axles and a flat tire after a gentleman sideswiped a parked car when his uncontrollable vehicle rammed the curb in front of my house. He wasn’t drunk or otherwise under the influence of drugs, just old and confused.

I hate to bring up what is obviously a sore point for our elderly drivers but this ‘accident,’ among other incidences, forces my hand. We should have age-based re-certification to drive. That’s right, I said it. But I think I have a solution that will be equitable to all. Starting at age 40 and every five years afterward, you have to test your reflexes, attention span, and reaction time, against a 21 year old with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08. If you can’t outperform someone who’s legally drunk you shouldn’t be driving, right?

However, we need an incentive for people to voluntarily give up their licenses. If you drive to take this new test and fail, you get charged with a DUI because you were obviously impaired and a danger to everyone on the road. It’s no different if you showed up drunk. If we’re being objective about the threat to public safety we must take this seriously. Just like the gentleman mentioned above should have gone to jail, no different than if he were drunk.

Again, we’re talking about safety. A drunken young man and the confused old man pose the same threat to the public and should be punished the same. It’s only fair. They both willingly risked other lives knowing they were impaired. With that in mind and knowing the draconian punishment that comes with a DUI, you have to ask yourself a question: Would you catch a ride to the DMV to take the test?

Wait just a minute

Hold on to your SPLOST dollars. Look at the concrete walls going up on Forest Hill Road. Most of the walls have a stone-textured appearance. One has a blank, less attractive surface. Another wall will be poured in concrete soon. Will it be poured in a form blank or textured? The Telegraph editors agree with the citizens who say “at least make the walls attractive.”

I asked Mayor Reichert and the Georgia DOT field engineers and Commissioner Gary Bechtel for their comments, pro/con, about the walls. They all refused to comment. Where is their due diligence on this SPLOST project? How can our community trust them to act responsibly with more SPLOST dollars? They want us to vote for another SPLOST in November. I can’t support a new SPLOST until they tighten up management of current SPLOST projects.

More info at www.Macon-Bibb.com/SPLOST

Arm everybody

This guy in Florida knew how to get a bunch of people to gather who took life easy. If he had came to Georgia with that idea, he might have killed two people before being killed himself, everybody at these parties has a gun, just in case, one shot and all guns come into play.

In my younger days (I am 85 ) when you went to the party, the man at the door asked if you had a gun, and if you told him no he would give you one. Everyone had to be the same. My prayers go out to the loved one’s still alive.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Thursday, June 23, 2016."