Praise the heroes of Forsyth County
The events of June 6 at the Forsyth County Courthouse should give us all pause to reflect upon the many heroes of that day. Events could have turned out much differently had the first responders not been properly trained and executed their job performance to perfection. We only have to remember what happened a few years ago at the Fulton County Courthouse, where several people lost their lives, to understand how just one minor mistake can have major consequences.
Clearly, Dennis Marx intended to do a whole lot of hurt and kill as many people as possible. But thanks to Sheriff Duane Piper and his extraordinary team of professionals , a major terrorist attack was thwarted. Of course, kudos go to Deputy Daniel Rush. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. He is a hero, but so are all those first responders. All risk their lives daily to protect residents of our community. They never know what is going to happen each day, and the events of June 6 clearly show that.
I am very proud of every member of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s office, along with the superb Fire Department and emergency 911 team we are privileged to have here in Forsyth. We should never, ever, take them or what they do for granted. When you see them on their beat or having lunch, stop and tell them “thank you” for their service. There isn’t any community I would feel safer in than Forsyth County. Our public safety personnel are the best. God bless them all.
PATRICIA BRANT, CUMMING
Put economic blame where it belongs
Reading recent AJC letters blaming either George Bush or Barack Obama for our recent economic travails (“Obama policies are unparalleled disaster,” Readers write, June 8, and “Which president caused disaster?” Readers write, June 10), one has to marvel at how untruthful statements by our presidents have been used to mislead the public.
New information from the Clinton Library, highlighted in a recent Investor’s Business Daily editorial, indicates that Bill Clinton’s 1990s subprime mortgage program actually catalyzed the crash. This program, which intentionally drew Wall Street, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the mix, ultimately created a flood of high-risk mortgages that predictably imploded when the next major downturn hit in 2007-2008 during Bush’s second term.
Though Bush can be faulted for inaccurately justifying a questionable war in Iraq, he was unfairly and disingenuously blamed — along with Wall Street — for the crash by Clinton in his 2012 Democratic Convention speech, which helped secure Obama’s reelection. More recently, both Obama’s intentionally misrepresented and costly Obamacare and the voluminous Dodd-Frank law have helped smother the recovery, by inhibiting both economic growth and hiring.
RANDY HOWARD, ALPHARETTA
Parties should look to voters on issues
U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s loss in Virginia confirms what electoral science knows: The important positions in politics are ones that voters feel are important and that there’s agreement on. These are the issues that will turn out voters, that laws should be passed about, that election campaigns can be won on. So why do political parties not conduct polls to find out what is most important to us and what we agree on? Important issues we do not agree on only merit more information collection, education and debate. Important issues that most Americans want some specific action about would be topics that would win presidential campaigns. Yet pollsters are not seeking to identify them. Why not?
CHRIS ROESEL, COVINGTON
