Readers write

Attack ads have become campaign norms

I’m tired of hearing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones state that he will not endorse Rick Jackson because Jackson’s campaign attacked him and his family. Jones’ campaign was just as guilty of airing attack ads.

Unfortunately, a majority of candidates running for office now use attack ads instead of stating what they plan to do. Jones needs to quit being a crybaby and support the candidate for his party or take his toys and go home.

KEVIN COYLE, BETHLEHEM

New CDC director should bring positive change

With the Senate’s confirmation of a new CDC director, Dr. Erica Schwartz, Atlanta and Georgia are broadly set to see a change in direction in public health policy. Ideally, that will mean a positive change. This director seems well-qualified but has refused to say that she will push back against administration officials (namely Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) when they try to force through plans that are not based on real-world evidence.

The CDC has an enormous impact in-state, domestically, and abroad in attempting to keep Georgians (and beyond) safe. Their efforts must be led by folks who are grounded in reality and work to stamp out public health threats. That is in opposition to those who allow the U.S. to continue experiencing resurgences of diseases that had been nearly eliminated, such as measles.

Right now, we are in the midst of a cyclosporiasis outbreak that began in the Midwest and has spread to the South, while our HHS secretary claims it is “under control.” Reaching further, this role will require her to grapple with an Ebola outbreak occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Uganda.

Under leadership that engages with reality, we would have the capacity to advance policies like the Senate Bill (S.4751) titled the End Tuberculosis Now Act of 2026 and work to keep these sorts of outbreaks under control. Those efforts, however, would require leadership at the CDC to hold firm against nonsense pushed by powerful conspiracy theorists who do not engage with evidence.

JOHN MCARTHUR, ATLANTA

Government’s pursuit of SPLC erodes democracy