Cherokee on lookout for sign vandals
How filled with hate can you be to risk getting caught destroying a Tea Party sign that has a notice stating there is a $500 reward for the vandal and that the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office is watching? While picking up signs I put out on Bells Ferry announcing our tea party meeting, three signs had been torn to shreds and two were stolen. That’s the bad news. The good news is, it’s only a matter of time before someone catches the vandal/thief. Pulling over to pick up a damaged sign, I noticed a patrol car behind me. One officer said, we saw you pull over and thought you had car trouble, but from the sign on your car, we figure you are picking up your signs. One officer said, “I see they are still defacing your signs. We try to watch out for them.” What a great sheriff’s department!
CONRAD QUAGLIAROLI, WOODSTOCK
Cuba, U.S. should release worthy inmates
I have been marveling that Cuba would release a fairly substantial number of inmates in honor of the Pope’s visit and thinking how great it would be if the U.S. would do something similar. Couldn’t we just release certain prisoners, namely those who are serving very long sentences for no better reason than that politicians chose to show how “tough on crime” they were by enacting laws that demanded harsh penalties for minor drug infractions, especially for those with previous minor convictions? We should do this to show that we do eventually try to correct injustice that we perpetrate.
LINDA A. BELL, DECATUR
John Boehner can still make a difference
Seldom does history place a person at its crossroads as it has U.S. House Speaker John Boehner. Whether it was the influence of the Holy Father reminding the faithful to “do unto others” or some other set of unknown forces at work on his conscience, Boehner’s decision to step down at the end of October puts him in a position to make a difference in our world that could change America forever and help the GOP regain traction as a political party. His golden opportunity to do unto others is his prerogative as Speaker of the House to bring to the floor for an up or down vote on the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” passed by the Senate in 2013. Were it to pass it, it would give credit to GOP leadership for making it possible. Moreover, it would take off the table a divisive issue that Democrats have been and will continue to score Latino votes on for many elections. If the bill fails to pass, Boehner would at least be credited with bringing it to a vote, which in the end is all anyone who is governed by a democracy can ask.
JAMES CROWDER, BLAIRSVILLE
