Medical center takes good care of veterans
Atlanta has a crown jewel that 95 percent of its residents don’t know exists: the Atlanta VA Medical Center. I recently wound up at the center’s emergency room. From the moment I arrived until I was released, I received the most astounding care anyone could ever expect — and more. From the staff doctors to the residents, interns, nurses, aides and support staff, I was treated with utmost respect and professional care. I commented to staffers about how impressive and genuine their concern was. They all told me the same story: “We owe the veterans of this great country so much for their sacrifice and service. We can never do enough to balance the scale, but we try.”
They do — from the janitorial staff to the transportation crews, pharmacists, technicians, office staff and chaplains, they make this center the model of how and what a superior hospital should be. Kudos to a class act and a group of people that make it all possible.
Michael Markcity, Cornelia
Freedom of speech ... what it really means
In a recent statement, Hank Williams Jr. claimed ESPN “stepped on the toes of the First Amendment freedom of speech.”
Apparently, Williams (and many like him on the left and right) is in need of another refresher of the nature of the First Amendment. Any individual’s right to free speech does not create a right to compel others to broadcast or print that speech.
Hank Williams (like the Dixie Chicks before him) has every right to express any opinion any time he wishes. And ABC and ESPN, like others before them, have every right to disassociate themselves from any artist for any reason they choose.
I hope this clears the matter up — until, that is, the next time that some other public figure says something that someone else considers offensive.
Ed Udall, Marietta
U.S. government can’t provide ‘justice’
The Occupy Wall Street movement indicates a tragic ignorance about the way the world works. Occupiers disparage capitalism and profit seekers. They would prefer that government step in and provide “justice.”
What kind of justice is expected? Should the government take from one group and redistribute to another? This is called “communism.” It doesn’t work. Maybe another option is for the government to provide more “stimulus” and federal jobs. The problem here is that the government does not have any of its own money. Funding for everything government does comes from taxes. The only real creator of economic value is capitalism. This provides the means for people to work hard and succeed. If not capitalism, what else? Anything else is wishful thinking.
Craig Cochran, Kennesaw
