This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Sub South — no problem

I read the letter by Billy Hester in the July 31 Telegraph. I have been a resident of Sub South for almost 21 years. It has never bothered me for this area to be called Sub South. I have never really thought about it. I am happy that we are getting a recreation center in our area. In regards to naming of the center, maybe it should be named for a former recreation director such as Billy Kendall or Mott Patat.

My uncle James Furney was an employee of the recreation department for 30 years, and he had to medically retire in 1997. I think a recreation center or something should be named in his memory. He was very instrumental in the midget football program and also adult softball and youth and adult basketball programs. We should never forget the memories of those who have been a positive force in our city.

Apology coming?

Much flapping is currently going on about the Muslim parents who spoke at the Democratic National Convention about their son’s death. Somebody needs to give this guy some lessons about the “good old U.S.A.” First, when you go to a political convention and speak about your son with pride, that’s OK. You can do that on a street corner or anywhere else. However, when you stop talking about your son and start running off at the mouth about another political party’s candidate, you have stopped being a father and are now a political activist. You deserve to receive the harshest rebukes of any politician, not sympathy.

For him to suggest that he had read the U.S. Constitution and Donald Trump had not was political ignorance. He had absolutely no knowledge as to what Trump has or has not read. He has a right to remember his son with pride. However, any individual with one eye and half sense now knows he was being used by the Democrats for political purposes. He needed to learn to grieve alone at home instead of in front of a TV camera. Trump does not owe him an apology. He owes Trump an apology.

Words not lesson

I read what many preachers and other who say, that you must believe the Bible word for word. I consider myself above average in religious thought. I have written a lot about religion and God, if only for my own peace of mind. Each time I read a letter condemning Dr. Cummings, I wonder. That man questions every word in that good book. Then I think about radical Islam. They too believe in every word in the Koran, word for word. Because of their belief, thousands of good people have died at their hands. Do we study those books to better our lives or to carry out the dogma that can rule our lives?

The Bible, as well as the Koran, are guides to a better life and not meant to be a literal translation of half-truths and strict diets of religious doctrine. The only way we can learn is to question. If we fail to question, we have memorized the words and not the lesson. Will the truth elude our lives? Or will the truth set us free.

Blue line

I had never heard of a “white power rally.” I assume if was similar to the KKK rallies of the past, without the mystique and pyrotechnics. I probably would not have heard of the one held recently at Stone Mountain except for the riotous actions of the “protestors.” They provided far more notoriety than the dozen or so who attended the rally.

It is not my intent to debate the pros/cons of either group. With all the attacks on police officers of late, I immediately thought of the photo of the Stone Mountain officers who engaged the mob of violent protestors. I am sure not all, if any, of the officers were sympathetic to the cause of the rally goers. They put themselves in harm’s way to protect those exercising their constitutional right to lawfully assemble, no matter their agenda.

This group of officers should be commended for heeding their oath to serve and protect. This is a prime example of why we should support our local law officers. If the roles were reversed and this was a black power rally and the protestors were white, the protective line would still have been blue. They and the Second Amendment are all that stand between us and those intent on doing us harm.

Business time line

Donald Trump boasts that he is America’s savior; that he alone can “Make America Great Again,” and he will easily re-establish America as a wonderful and safe place to work and live. To ensure that a President Trump accomplishes his goals for America, I suggest the following:

1. Trump should immediately put $10 billion of his fortune (Trump estimates his net worth is over $10 billion) in an escrow account administered exclusively by the U.S. Treasury.

2. Trump should identify and assign a value to each of his most important and easily accomplished goals including a completion date. Some examples are: (a) build an approximately $8 billion wall along the Mexican border and force Mexico to pay for it. This goal will be accomplished by 1/1/19 and represents $1 billion of the $10 billion in escrow; (b) Identify and deport all 11 million-plus illegal aliens by 1/1/19. This goal represents $2 billion of the $10 billion in escrow. (c) Identify the number of jobs lost to China, Japan, etc., and return all these jobs to America. To be accomplished by 1/1/19. The goal represents $2 billion of the $10 billion in escrow. (3) OMB would determine if Trump has met his goals. Escrow assigned to each accomplished goal would be released to Trump. Escrow assigned to unaccomplished goals (e.g. only 10 million of the 11 million aliens are deported) would be forfeited to the Treasury.

Let’s see Trump put his money where his megalomania is.

No crime?

There was a story in the Telegraph last Wednesday about the Georgia Court of Appeals reversing the conviction of Brandon Lee Gary who was an employee at a Houston County Publix. He was caught taking a picture up the skirt of a woman in the store and convicted of invasion of privacy. A appellate court decided it was not a crime and reversed his conviction. So it stands to reason that in the future, if this sort of thing happens again, that it also should not be a crime for any woman to kick the pervert in the face, knee him in the groin and then take his picture as he is rolling around on the floor.

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, August 2, 2016."