ETHICS
Response to “Deal gets a perk, Delta does, too.” News, June 19
Delta’s chief executive officer should either be forced to tell the true valuation of the upgrade to Diamond Medallion status given to Gov. Nathan Deal and his wife or offer the public the opportunity to buy it at their estimated value of about $4,000 dollars per person. I would like to be the first one to buy the upgrade at such a bargain price. There are so many things wrong with this gift to the governor, but the valuation is the most obvious. The phrase “pants on fire” comes to mind.
Gerson Paull, Atlanta
Money speaks volumes to today’s politicians
Two stories from the front page of the June 19 paper drive home the same point.
“Deal gets a perk, Delta does, too” (News) describes our governor’s acceptance of “Diamond” status from Delta shortly after signing a tax break. In “Who was watching the banks?” (News), the banking commissioner brushes off of an interview request about his neglect of his regulating responsibilities.
The facts are clear, in the Deal administration and today’s Georgia government: The only way to get your voice heard is to write your request in the “comments” section of a fat check.
Ed Udall, Marietta
HOUSING
Encourage, don’t scorn, those living in hotels
How sad to read the objections of Lawrenceville City Councilman Tony Powell (“City sees no room for hotel living,” Metro, June 19) to people spending more than 45 nights at extended-stay hotels in his area.
I’m guessing Councilman Powell has a full-time job, a house, a garage, and perhaps credit cards and a bank account. How fortunate for him. How regrettable that he doesn’t want to extend similar opportunities for those who are struggling financially and emotionally, and need those rooms.
His observation that “this is a problem” isn’t even supported by his own Police Department. Most of the people in the hotels merit encouragement (not condemnation) for their efforts to survive and keep their kids off the streets. The councilman and those who fear hotel residents will cause their property values to fall would seem to benefit from a refresher course in Christian values.
Bill Starr, Dunwoody
Homeowners living dream deserve break
Regarding “Renting no longer a waste” (Opinion, June 19), this is another attempt by Cynthia Tucker to encourage a tax hike on responsible citizens, while at the same time give a pass to those too shiftless to put down roots.
And her claim that homeownership is not an American dream is contrary to adult reasoning. There’s no greater security than having a home that’s free of debt.
Jack Franklin, Conyers
POLITICS
‘Isolationist’ wrong term for candidate Ron Paul
A recent article comparing the GOP presidential candidates’ views described Ron Paul as “the isolationist” (“Shifts in the right”, News, June 19).
While Paul certainly believes in restricting the use of our military to defensive purposes, he is no isolationist. A much better term is “noninterventionist.” Isolationism is an extreme view calling for a complete closing-off from the rest of the world — not only militarily, but also economically, and even culturally. Such a policy would be disastrous for the United States, and Paul understands this. He simply wants to avoid costly military adventurism.
William Smith, Marietta
MIDDLE EAST
Religion still root of problems in Israel
Thomas Friedman is so naive in “Old dispute needs different approach” (Opinion, June 19). The war in the Middle East is a religious war — nothing more, and nothing less.
Only Israel is a beacon of light in that region, which is why many Arabs and Palestinians moved there. They are truly free to practice their religion, vote and even rile up the masses with their anti-Israel rhetoric.
Only when the Palestinian Authority and Hamas recognize Israel’s right to exist will peace have any chance in the region.
Leah Starkman, Atlanta
SUPREME COURT
Job discrimination hurts victims and families
Regarding Connie Schultz’s guest column, “Grim landscape in Wal-Mart nation” (Opinion, June 24), in 1917, my then-young grandmother was left a widow as a result of an industrial accident. She had four children ranging in age from 1 to 8. She eventually found work as a schoolteacher in order to support her family. For decades, she was deliberately paid less than her male colleagues. When she went to her principal and the school board to correct this injustice, she was invariably told that it was because “the men had families to support.”
Such thinking was recognizably asinine in the 1920s and 1930s. It is somehow even more asinine today.
Whether this event at Wal-Mart was the isolated action of one morally deranged individual (or the outcome of the corporate culture at Wal-Mart) is a matter for the lawyers and ethicists to sort out. I just know that such malicious stupidity is the kind of stuff that hurts families, and poisons the social and economic well from which we all eventually drink.
Jeff Coghill, Atlanta
