Readers write

Congress and Courts have become pawns for president

I served as an infantry captain in Vietnam. That war was a fiasco from its inception to our deplorable exit from Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, I believed serving a free nation carried sufficient merit to be worth risking my life.

Never did I dream the American public, be it out of desperation, ignorance, complacency or greed, would deliver our democracy into the hands of would-be leaders who care nothing for hard-won personal freedoms or the conscientious exercise of checks and balances required of the two non-executive branches of government by our founding fathers and our Constitution.

While our executive branch has become a quasi-dictatorship at worst, a non-regal monarchy at best, the judiciary and legislative branches have become shallow, toothless, hopelessly divided pawns in an undeclared war on our own citizenry! Those charged with the burden of protecting our freedoms from and ensuring the rule of law over Trump’s power-hungry, manic actions and undiluted dictates grow daily more incapable of acting in the public interest.

The longer we remain complacent, the longer we tolerate these intolerable forays against our freedoms, the closer we come to political capitulation and the end of the American dream.

STEVE MADDOX, ATHENS

Marines celebrate 250 years of service

Today marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the U.S. Marine Corps.

While the day may pass unnoticed by many Americans, we Marines know the history over the last 250 years. When America needed a highly versatile infantry to deliver the knock-out punch, the Marines answered the call.

When the French retreated in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood, the Marines stopped the Germans. Marine World War II battles are legendary. When over 100,000 Chinese surrounded about 12,000 Marines and a few thousand Army troops in the Chosin Reservoir, the Marines got out. In Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marines did their jobs.

The Marines’ spirit is the key. The strength comes from within. Leadership, integrity, initiative, tradition, competence, trust and care for each other, marksmanship, attention to detail, ability to adapt and maneuver, and accomplish the “impossible,” are Marine qualities. Someone said, “If there were not a Marine Corps, America would create one.”

Marine qualities are applicable in daily life. During the Reagan Administration, 40% of the Fortune 500 CEOs were Marines. Other than marrying my wife and having our family, I consider becoming a Marine my greatest accomplishment. Happy Birthday, fellow Marines!