READERS WRITE: Obama and Europe

Responses to “Who cares what world thinks of Sen. Obama?,” @issue, Sept. 16.

The real issue: Do the math

Luke Boggs’ column reflects what many of us think about the world’s opinion about our choice for president but he fell short of the real issue.

A local talk show host cited a poll confirming Boggs’ assertion that the majority of Europeans would vote for Barack Obama for our president. The same poll also revealed that the majority of Europeans also want to see a weaker U.S. Do the math.

LEN CAYCE

Suwanee

Popularity doesn’t point to problem

Barack Obama’s popularity abroad makes Luke Boggs suspicious: If those foreigners like him, there must be something amiss. Boggs assumes a politician’s popularity abroad means he is “eurocentric” and not truly for the home team, the “good ol’ USA.”

But historian Walter Isaacson writes that crowds flocked to the streets of Paris in 1776 to see the superstar of the day, Benjamin Franklin, whose image was mass-produced on medallions, snuff boxes and signet rings. History does not conclude that an American politician’s popularity abroad reflects poorly on ability to lead our nation. One who argues such is merely a xenophobe.

GREG ROSS

Canton

Begging, homelessness different problems

Recently the Atlanta Police Department conducted a crackdown on aggressive panhandling that netted more than 40 arrests over three weeks. The police conducted more than 50 interventions to educate known panhandlers about the city’s panhandling code in an attempt to prevent additional incidences. These efforts are doomed to failure.

Panhandling and homelessness are not synonymous. If you follow any panhandlers at night you will see many of them go home. This is their means of acquiring money. This has been borne out by several investigations. If we really want to address these problems we can’t use enforcement only.

The city put together its current policy by taking parts of other cities’ solutions while trying to craft something that would stand up constitutionally. This is a first step. We need a comprehensive plan that also addresses the causes of panhandling and homelessness. Atlanta has been proud to be the “city too busy to hate.” Let’s become the “city not too busy to help.”

DAVID OATES

Lithonia

Bobby Cox not great role model

I agree that Bobby Cox, a future Hall of Famer, is a proven winner (“Successful bosses cover all the bases,” Business, Sept. 14) and that managers can “take some tips from the master [Cox] and others like him who’ve run successful teams.” But you should also note that Cox holds the record for ejections in Major League Baseball (143) for arguing with umpires.

Most of us managers would not still be employed by our organizations if we held such a record at work, even if we realized, like Cox, that teams “must be built around leaders who care about their workers.”

PATRICK SHAUL

Lawrenceville

‘Uppity’ excuse is doublespeak

Please excuse me while I choke reading these mealy-mouthed excuses. U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland did not realize that “uppity” had racial connotations (“Official response,” @issue, Sept. 10)? He must not be from around here.

Once again, I see the “sheeple” buying into the Republican/Rovian/Orwellian doublespeak. If Westmoreland didn’t mean it, then let’s give Sen. Barack Obama a break as well. After all, Sen. John McCain first used the “pig-in-lipstick” remark in reference to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

LINDA MYRICK

Ellenwood