Readers write

Festivals have made Midtown a living nightmare

Leadership is more than a vision; it’s execution. Leadership starts at the top and works its way down.

So, Gov. Brian Kemp, you are supposed to govern the entire state of Georgia, not only the people outside the Perimeter. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, I understand your position is that the festival guideline permits were met. But you have not addressed the traffic congestion these festivals create in Midtown. And right now, speaking as a 30-year resident, Midtown feels neglected, not led.

The gridlock and stalled projects (i.e., 14th and Peachtree) have made Midtown a living nightmare.

LYDIA GERZEL, ATLANTA

Big mistake for schools to stop handwritten essays

My 8-year-old grandson has been given a Chromebook by his Gwinnett County elementary public school.

Henceforth, apparently, all essays have to be typed and submitted. Basically, the school has gotten rid of children writing by hand.

This decision is so detrimental to the cognitive development of a child. The fact that handwriting fosters brain development in early childhood is well known. Why would schools do this to our children?

KISHORE RAMACHANDRAN, LILBURN

What it takes to survive Trump’s comedic tragedy

Every time Trump opens his mouth, the world either cringes or celebrates. Neither the cringe nor the celebration makes any coherent sense. In the end, his words eat up reality and leave the bones to be picked by crows.

On any given day, I have either lost a lot of money in my retirement account or shot the moon and feel I can last another few years in retirement. Saying he was going to destroy a civilization — oops! — cost me thousands. Then stumbling back away from such obscene Hitlerish talk — oops! — he made me a little richer.

The violence of such volatile shifts has finally made me burst out in hysterical laughter. I laugh when I lose; I laugh the next day when I prosper. On paper, to be sure, but what else can I do? I take Voltaire’s concept to heart and tend my garden. Worries are few (too much sun, too little rain, bugs, etc.), and consequences are not earth-shattering. Otherwise, I would have to trot out my ancient Greek tragic and comic masks and go nuts.

RICKS CARSON, ATLANTA

Trump’s rhetoric doesn’t represent majority

A “whole civilization will die tonight,” the deranged post heard by the world. Is genocide representative of what we as Americans now support? Is this representative of your values? I would think most people with any moral compass would be outraged that our country is allowing this to be our message.

Why has this rhetoric not been denounced by the majority of men and women we have elected to represent us? It’s time for all of us to say “enough is enough” and make our position known in every effective way available to us. We need to restore the respect people held for the United States.

TOM ELMLINGER, JOHNS CREEK

Threat to wipe out Iran could have expanded war

It is amazing that we sat here and listened to our president blurt out that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Our leadership seems helpless to stop him, even though it’s obvious he is deranged and in a different reality.

He planned to destroy Iran and kill untold numbers of civilians. He had no plans for what to do after that. It could easily have led to a long-range war in the whole region.