Charen’s Cuba complaint falls flat
Mona Charen’s complaint about the mainstream media (“Respectable press delivered 60 years of fake Cuba news,” Opinion, Dec. 5) is an example of false equivalency, something the right wing is adept at.
Being “soft” on Castro is many steps removed from deliberately creating fake news. One example is the Pizzagate fake news story about the Clintons that’s reported, ironically, in the same issue of the AJC.
That fake news story resulted in a scary incident of a man with an assault weapon. So fake news is not just boys-will-be-boys mischief, harmless messages that you find in your computer inbox. No, Mona, fake news has consequences.
The AJC, which purchases your column, in yet another irony, is part of the “mainstream media” and carries your criticism of it. (Mona, that’s what freedom of the press looks like.)
And, when you criticize Castro, who undoubtedly did some horrific things, did you ever think about reporting on the regime that Castro replaced, on what happened to those who dared to oppose the dictator Fulgencio Batista?
I visited Cuba as a young man when Batista was in power and can report from firsthand experience that the Batista regime was ghastly.
GENE GRIESSMAN, ATLANTA
It’s best to stand when anthem is played
Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem doesn’t play well in Chicago. Amidst the boos last Sunday, he set an all-time NFL record with five sacks and just four yards passing. The Bears apparently decided he could watch the stadium flags wave from his backside. Had he not been benched in the second half, he’d likely have spent more time lying on his wallet. In Ditkaville, best to stand when the nation’s anthem is played.
BOB KENNY, ROSWELL
Closed hearings on streets a disappointment
What could possibly go wrong with letting a private company have control over busy public streets? This permission from a mayor that on average of two times per week uses emergency blue lights to go to meetings. Downtown resident Kyle Kessler noted his concern that “they (WRS) are biting off more than they can successfully chew.”
I would say that he needn’t worry because I’m sure that there is a clause in the contract that absolves WRS of any financial obligation should the project fail.
I’m very disappointed in the City Council’s not having public hearings and not limiting the control, if any, that a private company has over public streets. I believe that, like Lola, whatever Mayor Reed wants, Mayor Reed gets.
JOHN W. MCINTOSH, ATLANTA
Trump’s plans would make mess of our future
President-elect Donald Trump’s plans (and those of many Republicans) to substantially increase spending while cutting taxes substantially and not touching the major entitlement programs will produce many more trillions of debt — soon. Sound like the Republican “party” of 2001-2006?
In a Nov. 28 article, The Wall Street Journal said Trump’s plans would, in four years, increase the deficit to 6.8 percent of GDP while the plans of the Republican House would increase the deficit to 5.3 percent of GDP — compared to currently anticipated deficits of 3.2 percent. The CBO expects the economy to grow at a 2 percent rate. Trump says his plans will boost growth to 4 percent. If GDP averages $20 trillion and Trump and the Republican Congress compromise at 6 percent deficits, the net increase of 2.8 (i.e., 6.0 minus 3.2) percent would produce $560 billion of annual debt increases while the economy experiences annual growth of $400 billion ($20 trillion x .02). So, if we taxed the new growth at a 100 percent rate, we still wouldn’t cover the additional debt. This is a laugher (Laffer) for fiscal conservatism.
Simply put, we are making a mess of tomorrow — which does not hold a candle to today. But, tomorrow will soon become today. What then?
ALLEN BUCKLEY, FORMER LIBERTARIAN U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE
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