Mock Trump if you like, but...

A reader questioned whether Trump is a leader or just a bombastic insensitive bully. Leadership comes in many faces. He may seem like all those descriptions but so what. Do you have to like a person's personality to elect him?

He has struck a nerve. He's saying what we all have been saying to ourselves. If he can produce what he says he can, who cares whether he's likeable? We have, at present, a smooth-talking, handsome, well dressed, likeable President. His campaign promises were wonderful brilliant even and he was elected along with total Democratic control of all aspects of government at his disposal. He could have become one of the greatest presidents of all time if he kept those promises. After all, who was there to oppose him? And he blew it. A likeable fellow, but ineffectual.

I believe that Trump, with his connections in business and within government circles around the planet, will be able to deliver on his promises, especially if he is also given a Republican Congress. Furthermore, he is the only candidate who won't owe favors to anybody else but "we the people" because he can't be bought.

I admire Trump because he is willing, standing alone, to take on the withering abuse and criticism from the media, some of the public and the whole political system, not for personal gain, not for recognition, but for the good of the country. When have we had a candidate like that before?

R.A. Valentine

Phenix City

Campaign of deception

The Union of Concerned Scientists recently released a comprehensive report on the distribution of disinformation on climate change by several companies in the fossil fuel industry:

Containing 85 internal memos totaling more than 330 pages, the seven dossiers reveal a range of deceptive tactics deployed by the fossil fuel industry. These include forged letters to Congress, secret funding of a supposedly independent scientist, the creation of fake grassroots organizations, multiple efforts to deliberately manufacture uncertainty about climate science, and more.

The documents clearly show that:

Fossil fuel companies have intentionally spread climate disinformation for decades.

Fossil fuel company leaders knew that their products were harmful to people and the planet but still chose to actively deceive the public and deny this harm.

The campaign of deception continues today.

The report, titled "The Climate Deception Dossiers," is available at the website of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

David Newton

Auburn

Abortion holocaust

According to the Right to Life Commision, there have been 54,559,615 abortions since Roe v. Wade in 1973. This a conservative figure now, since I read the numbers about three weeks ago.

I found 14 (before I stopped looking) references in my Bible regarding sacrificing children that repeatedly tell us that God absolutely abhors this. Ezekiel 16;20-21, Psalms 127;13-16, Jeremiah 7;31. I could go on and on. If God knew Jeremiah before he was formed in the womb, how much more does He know your child who is a living breathing human being in the womb? What could possibly give anyone the right to say that baby must not live?

We can get all in frenzy about a dead lion in Africa and without hesitation kill 3,000 babies the next day here in America, and it is not even considered newsworthy. This is the holocaust that dwarfs the Holocaust in Germany 74 years ago.

Wayne Miller

Hamilton

Jazz forever

I and so many others I know were so very happy that the new Columbus State University radio station, WCUG, 88.5, started playing jazz in Columbus. Never in the history of this city has any radio station had the guts to play jazz. Ever. The other stations here are afraid to play anything but the same old worn-out boring country, pop, rock, rap, hip-hop, alternative, metal, etc..

I have been listening to WCUG exclusively now while driving. I am still amazed that this is coming over my radio in Columbus, Ga. However, recently WCUG started running a promotion saying that they will soon start playing "All types of music." My heart sank. If people want to hear "all types of music," it is readily available on numerous other radio stations in Columbus. None of these other radio stations has the guts to play jazz. They simply cave into whatever they think advertisers will want when they purchase an ad.

WCUG, you have something unique here that no one else will dare play. Jazz is truly one of the finest American art forms ever invented. Great musicians naturally gravitate towards jazz for its wonderfully intricate and interesting musical forms and freedoms. Other types of music simply become boring to these musicians because of their formulaic, rehashed, same ole - same ole, worn out, repetitive nonsense. Compared to jazz, this other stuff is just noise. Jazz will serve a university well in that it can further educate musicians in how to handle their instruments with great dexterity and freedom of thought.

Please, WCUG, don't cave into lesser music. You now have the best radio station this town has ever heard. Don't become a carbon copy like the rest of them. Stay with jazz and your station will soon rule the airwaves.

Mark Young

Hamilton

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Mock Trump if you like, but...."