Troop reductions irresponsible
Congress (yes, all of you): What were you thinking? Or were you thinking at all? Cutting our troops with all the unrest in the world today borders on sheer madness. Go to your history books and read up on the events prior to WW I and WW II, and look at the massive draft that had to take place. In WW II we had to fight in Europe and in the Pacific. Learn about Jonathan Wainwright's adventures and survival, and his troops and what they want through. Patton's adventures may sound romantic, but to those experiencing them, they were anything but.
Everyone is watching the Middle East and Eastern Europe, but have you glanced at Korea lately? There's a war ready to happen in one or both areas, and the U.S. is going to be involved, but with what? Many of you have never served in the military; some even avoided doing so. Your children may not be so lucky.
It doesn't matter how well trained our troops are; if there aren't enough of them to do their jobs, we are, in the vernacular, screwed. And if we have no troops to train the troops, then what?
There's enough waste in government to cover this deficit. It's going to hit close to home one of these days, and you might not come out squeaky clean. If we are going to survive as a nation, we need a strong military force. It's up to Congress to see that we have one!
L.M. Tryon
Columbus
Civil vs. accountable
Is it possible to have transparency and accountability, and at the same time civility? I would hope so. But after 16 school board meetings this year of asking for honest dialogue, information and repeated calls for transparency, two dually elected school board members are still being treated as bullies. Not once have they called on anyone to be fired.
To be exact, they have not called anyone a liar. They have called for increased accountability, and transparency, and have stated they do not appreciate excuses, or being lied to. Accountability is easy when it's only being used as a campaign slogan. But when put into practice puts you at odds with everyone who enjoys the status quo. Lack of civility was not two board members' campaign slogan, accountability was. Hopefully everyone will push for transparency and accountability; I believe this is the only hope for real civility.
J. Nathan Smith
Columbus
Our games, our lives
When you take a look at the sports Americans grow up playing, in comparison to other countries, you see a big difference. Most people outside of the United States cannot throw a ball, and I am not talking about basketball. I am talking about softball and baseball
We grow up throwing rocks across water or at designated targets, sometimes at each other. We then play softball and baseball that requires a lot of skill throwing the ball.
Another sport is our contact sport of American football and it is played in high school, college and professional leagues. The game of rugby is popular in Australia (another rough bunch of people) and it is on a par with American football as far as toughness.
The most popular sport in the world is soccer, but it is not a contact sport as you can only use your feet or head to move the ball compared to our football, where you hit, get hit, tackle and block with your body to protect the ball. You just learn to do it and take the pain that goes with it. This toughness gives one a lot of confidence in themselves so they are not afraid to commit themselves to going after the other person when necessary.
Richard Tieken
Columbus
No support
Mayor Tomlinson was met with no fanfare or applause during or after her presentation to the Muscogee County School Board, but only silence by a large audience. In 2011 she wanted to impose a $500 service fee on all parcels of land she felt was not paying their fair share. Mayor Tomlinson was able to hand-pick 15 of the 25 Charter Review Committee members, the other10 selected by each councilor. These choices were filled with financial contributors and supporters of their campaigns.
The $500 service fee in essence would affect vacant lots, churches, parsonages, CSU, and all other non-profit land holdings.
I was the only one who spoke in opposition publicly at council and Charter Review Committee meetings. After the committee had voted to confirm this $500 service fee was going to be on the ballot, Mayor Tomlinson with unprecedented measures had a figuratively 11th hour meeting and convinced them to rescind this proposal.
Now Mayor Tomlinson wants to thaw the freeze and as I pointed out at the school board meeting, her proposal to grandfather in those already under the freeze; and new buyers not under the freeze would have the freeze lifted for all because it is an unfair tax. I obtained through open records request from City Attorney Clifton Fay the Georgia Supreme Court ruling that reinforced my argument. The Equal Protection Clause protects those who are disadvantaged based on cut-off dates and not those who are receiving preferential treatment. The Supreme Court ruled in our favor because everyone was under the same umbrella figuratively!
At the school board meeting I handed out a letter to the editor that I wrote four years ago: " 'Freeze' issue a political Trojan horse"!
Paul Olson
Upatoi
This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Troop reductions irresponsible ."