Pardons and paroles
State board secrecy does Georgians a disservice
If consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, there must be a lot of hobgoblins on the Board of Pardons and Paroles because it’s definitely consistent. Its blanket policy of keeping the rationale and even the process of its decisions a “confidential state secret,” as quoted in the “Felons’ gun rights shrouded in secrecy by parole board,” (News, Aug. 26) is simply incredible. The Board is abusing its lack of oversight by excluding the public from its hearings; almost anything that affects the citizens of Georgia is the public’s business. One can only assume that by choosing to keep its rationale and even its process secret, the Board is at best negligent; at worst, downright untrustworthy. Begone, you goblins!
NEVA CORBIN, DECATUR
Luckovich’s attack on cops is wrong
Mike Luckovich has produced his most offensive and ridiculous cartoon yet. The illustration of the police officer shooting at the statue of Martin Luther King implies that police everywhere have somehow mounted an attack on the legacy of MLK. This should disgust police and law-abiding people everywhere. Luckovich has taken a situation (Ferguson shooting) in which the facts have not even been clearly established, and twisted it in into a broad-brush attack on police in general. And just for good measure and a misplaced sense of drama, he used the MLK image. Very poor taste indeed.
CRAIG COCHRAN, KENNESAW
Right-wing cartoonist is offensive
I would like to join the chorus calling on the AJC to drop Michael Ramirez as the regularly featured Right-wing political cartoonist. While his illustrations are wonders of detailed complexity, his increasingly strident subject matter ranges from boring at best, through silly irrelevance to occasional true offensiveness. His Aug. 24 offering (From the right, Opinion) is in the latter category, presenting President Obama as a Servant of Satan in the resurrected role of a servile Negro “boy”. His messages and your publication of them do a disservice to the politics of the Right and to your readers.
KURT OHBERG, ATLANTA
Common Core critics should look around them
I am very much appreciative of the supportive comments regarding Common Core State Standards made by the retired Army Major General “Spider” Marks, (Readers Write, Aug. 25). As his distinguished military background indicates, the general is clearly not an example of a radical extremist or a social engineer. Having said that, in my opinion, the critics of Common Core would have more credibility in their frenetic opposition of these standards if public education outcomes in Georgia were amongst the nation’s best. Report after report reveals they are not. Regrettably, this totally partisan and manufactured controversy has degenerated into a specious debate of not what is right for our students, but who is the loudest and most strident. One would think the desire to have our students as academically competitive as possible would be the goal driven by any means necessary.
THOMAS BLAIR JR., AVONDALE ESTATES
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