Former Trump supporter says rule of law matters most
Re: “Many in Georgia want no part in Trump comeback” (News, February 6); the only Trump Train I would board is the one headed to oblivion. I voted for him twice - each time because of the poor choices of the Democratic party.
I do think DT did some good for the country, before he went off the rails totally in his second campaign and immediately following the 2020 count.
Enough is enough, Mr. Trump! Words matter; actions matter; adherence to the rule of law matters most!
BARBARA KRASNOFF, ROSWELL
Students losers as College Board bows to DeSantis
Maureen Downey’s column asks, “Did College Board capitulate to DeSantis?” Her question seems rhetorical. A few other verbs were available, such as “accede to,” or “acquiesce in,” or “cave,” but all seem to say the same thing: DeSantis put his foot down on the Florida Department of Education, which then put its foot on the College Board’s throat with the result that it scratched three main topics from its African American Studies AP curriculum.
Its explanation, quoted in Downey’s article, has a strong milquetoast flavor and a blind white face. The College Board is a loser, but students lose more: a chance to encounter factual details to be analyzed and debated in a structured academic setting. America loses the most: young citizens who can think and make judgments. DeSantis wins at most a pyrrhic victory, as the nation, on the whole, is moving away from bigoted demagoguery like his.
Downey ends her article with a potent quote from bell hooks: “All our silences in the face of racist assault are acts of complicity.”
RICKS CARSON, ATLANTA
Societal respect for police will lead to better hires
Re: “Amid soaring crime, Memphis lowered bar for police hiring,” (News, Feb. 8), what we have in Memphis is a “chronic shortage” of police respect.
And that’s no wonder in the face of demands to defund the police. No matter the crime or its handling, the problem always lies with the police officers. One of the first things they’re taught is to handcuff offenders if they resist arrest. They know that rule whether they’re fresh on the street or have years of experience.
And with no public or media support, their jobs become much more difficult: And unappreciated.
Finding qualified employees for any job is becoming more difficult since lowering standards in schools and colleges. It appears that schools are more interested in social order rather than teaching the essential basics of math and English. Teaching them to respect the uniform would be helpful.
JACK FRANKLIN, CONYERS
Desire to criticize overshadows facts
A telling carton combination appears in Tuesday’s print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. With his red elephant balloon “America’s Greatest Balloon Threat,” Mike Luckovich alludes to prominent Republicans’ swift criticism of the Biden administration.
As if on cue, cartoonist Michael Ramirez suggests Defense Secretary Austin’s head is filled with “empty space.” In other words, Ramirez precisely demonstrates what Luckovich is criticizing: lightning-fast, empty-headed public statements about complex national security issues.
We also see this elsewhere in Tuesday’s news: surveillance capabilities that improved during the current administration helped identify the balloon and choose a landing that best preserves wreckage for subsequent analysis. Sometimes, the desire to denigrate moves faster than the ability to stop and think.
BILL BROWN, ATLANTA
