Jan. 6 will never be forgotten, Tucker Carlson or not
To say that I am angered by Tucker Carlson’s inane remarks about Jan. 6 is putting it mildly. For those of us who watched it live that day, it will be similar to Sept. 11, when we will always remember where we were and what we were doing that day.
For me, I was getting my nails done and left the salon crying, “what has happened to my America?” What I witnessed, as it was happening, was certainly not peaceful. It was pure anarchy. But I suppose it could have been predicted inasmuch as their “leader” told them that day to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
FREDOLYN STITT, SNELLVILLE
School voucher bill is public welfare for the wealthy
Maureen Downey’s March 7 column on “school” vouchers is far more alarming when read closely. She writes that the legislation provides “scholarships” for students attending private schools in Georgia.
Close examination reveals an outrageous income redistribution from average taxpaying Georgians to Georgia’s wealthiest and most elite families. If signed into law, the fund provides up to $6,000 to children attending private schools in Georgia. The $6,000 can be used for virtually anything from doctor visits to computers to transportation and “other expenses.”
The average private school tuition is over $11,000, and the state is preparing to give families that can afford private schools $6,000 per child to use as they choose.
This bill is nothing but public welfare for the wealthiest families in Georgia — the 10% who can afford to send their children to private schools. There is nothing in SB233 that ties this aid to any financial need. The governor needs to veto public welfare for the wealthy.
BILL NEWNAM, ATLANTA
Legislators try to make health care decisions for others
Republican state legislators have decided they are qualified to make health care decisions for Georgians under 18 who identify as transgender.
They are trying to ban most gender-confirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for people under 18, even though more than a dozen studies of more than 30,000 transgender and gender-diverse young people show that access to gender-affirming care is associated with better mental health outcomes and that lack of such access to such care is associated with higher rates of suicide risk, depression and self-harming behavior.
These same legislators have already decided they are qualified to make health care decisions for women.
We males can look forward to learning what health care decisions these experts will make for us.
A friendly tip: Get your vasectomy now!
BRUCE MENKE, ATHENS
Atlanta’s music scene is fading from view
Your March 5 editorial suggested that our music scene is thriving. It is not. The scene here in the ‘80s was way more vibrant in the number of clubs and bands playing nightly.
I was part of that scene. A musician in the right band playing in the right clubs could make a decent living. I’m lucky enough to still be making a decent living, although adjusting for inflation, it’s a lot less money these days.
Many, many clubs went out of business because of taxes, fees, regulations and rent. We also have no record labels here other than hip-hop. There used to be 30 or 40 places to hear country music and a dozen or more rock clubs.
Any way you look at it, Atlanta and its vicinity do not support music and it is fading from view. For an example of a thriving scene, all one has to do is visit Nashville or, especially, Austin.
WILLIAM KAHLER, SMYRNA
