This is Viewpoints for Monday, July 25, 2016

Don’t leave home ...

Thanks Telegraph for your report on Zika mosquitoes all over Georgia. I hope our politicians will act before a large number of children’s lives are destroyed. In the meantime, expectant mothers, a word to you. There is no better perfume smell than insect repellent when it comes to protecting your unborn child. Please don’t go out of the house without it. Telegraph, keep up the good work protecting Middle Georgians.

Why?

Why would The Telegraph’s Sunday columnist Bill Cummings take the words of Bishop John Shelby Spong literally? Why would anyone take the words of Bishop Spong literally? Bishop Spong, though retired now, was a bishop of the Episcopal Church for many years. Yet Bishop Spong is an atheist. Why would anyone take the words of a religious atheist literally?

Alligator hunting

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is encouraging people to hunt alligators not because there have been any human-alligator conflicts but simply because the animals are there? (“Alligator hunters wanted in Georgia,” July 19.) By that logic, we should also hunt butterflies, ponies and cocker spaniels. Alligators play an important role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. During droughts, for example, the holes they dig to concentrate water help many species of plants and animals survive.

Even worse, the DNR is suggesting that people hook, snare, harpoon, or gig the alligators, or shoot them with a bow, before beating them to death, shooting them with handguns or hacking away at them in an attempt to sever their spinal cords. That kind of torture would be punishable by imprisonment if it was done to dogs or cats.

And let’s not pretend that stalking alligators in their natural habitat isn’t going to result in human injuries or even deaths. Alligators seek to avoid contact with humans, but if we go looking for trouble, we shouldn’t be surprised if they give it to us.

Mistaken

Fred R. van Hartesveldt’s 19 July letter is sad. Clinton’s email server was not secure. She is either an idiot or so arrogant she thinks she can do as she pleases or both. She committed a crime clearly defined by law, and I believe someone got to FBI Director James Comey, possibly via the meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch. To say Clinton was not found at fault for her unsecured server is hysterical. In accordance with the law, allowing only one classified email to be unsecured is a crime just like stealing one car is a crime.

Clinton began her cover-up by deleting 30,000 emails before the FBI even got involved. Maybe those 30,000 emails were all classified. Politifact details all Clinton’s lies. As for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, our forces found Sarin gas bombs and talked with defecting Iraqi generals who indicated most of the weapons were evacuated by plane and truck to Syria. The growth of ISIS can be directly attributed to President Obama and Clinton’s poor policy decisions. We left Iraq and the vacuum begat ISIS. Let’s not forget Hillary Clinton was the secretary of state when our four Benghazi embassy personnel were killed. Trump isn’t presidential, but Clinton is possibly the worst person to ever run for POTUS. If she had a conscience, she would withdraw and hide her lying head in shame. If you support her, you are just as bad.

Dear Mr. Trump:

You have a confidence problem. No, not yours, but those of young people like my daughter. She is one of the hardest-working people I know, level-headed and smart to boot. She told me last night during the RNC she thought the GOP was out to “get” people in her demographic. She thinks Republican policies will hurt people who make less than $50k/year. I tried to convince her that is not true, that Republicans have always stood for those who work hard for a living, but she needs more convincing than my arguments. So, I’m asking you, Mr. Trump, to tell her directly how your platform will help young, hard-working people like her. Please tell her how you will help her save for the future, reduce her cost of living, and make her life a better one over the next four years. If you wish, you may contact her through me, or on national television — your choice. Thanks.

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 1:46 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Monday, July 25, 2016."