Ministers at Arbery murder trial seek vengeance, not justice
I have little respect for many of the Black preachers who have flooded into Brunswick for the Arbery murder trial. Many are not there to promote love, peace and forgiveness but are there to fan the flames of racial discord. A prime example is Jesse Jackson. I never saw a racial situation he would not exploit to his own benefit and his purpose in that courtroom is to intimidate the jurors. He is not the only one at Brunswick to use the title “Reverend” as cover to create more racial discord. I do not know of the guilt or innocence of the defendants, but I have no respect for those preachers who demanded not justice but vengeance even before the trial began.
ERNEST WADE, LOGANVILLE
Ways to adjust market to prevent climate breakdown
Like the current market, George Will in “Summit fuels climate hysteria” (Opinion, Nov. 14) ignores the costs and human losses caused by global warming. Instead, he asserts adaptation, not prevention, is all we need and that our climate is not in crisis. But it is.
In 2021 storms disrupted oil and vaccine distribution and caused subway flooding. Record Western wildfires hazed Eastern skies. Sea level rise continues to threaten islands and coastal areas. Excessive rain falls on every continent.
How do we adjust the market to prevent climate breakdown?
We invest in clean energy transmission lines, EV charging stations, sustainable agriculture and reforestation.
We also need to price carbon. A climate interactive tool demonstrates a carbon price best reduces emissions. Revenues could support low-income households and provide job retraining for fossil workers.
Join me in asking senators Warnock and Ossoff to add a strong carbon price to the Build Back Better Act. It fine-tunes the market for a better future.
BOB JAMES, ATLANTA
U.S. abandoning common good for political preference
Governments are created to advance civilization, and in the case of the United States of America, to provide for and protect our God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, we have abandoned our Founding Fathers’ goal and opted for the accumulation of political power, the advancement of foreign ideologies, political party preference over the common good and the selfish accumulation of wealth at the public expense. We have traded self-reliance for safety and compliance for freedom. We have even weaponized our justice system and tax code to further political ambition.
A country that abandons individual responsibility and treats its citizens differently because of skin color or political philosophy is bound to fail.
We, the people, can prevent that failure by using Article V of our Constitution. I believe it is the only answer.
JOHN MCNAMEE, ALPHARETTA
Banned books will be read by students anyway
Books, whether banned or burned, will continue to sell. Ban all you want; the students will read them anyway. I never went to a school in a system where banning took place, but there is a movement afoot in that system right now. There was an attempt to keep the students from reading one book in particular in high school, but that was unsuccessful. It dealt with sex. We knew about that anyway. It also dealt with swearing, but even elementary students do that when mommy is not around, for they hear it too much at home.
The American Library Association has a listing of the 100 most-banned books. Many public libraries have an annual display of banned books that most can check out to read.
There are things virtually everyone speaks about: race, religion, politics, and sex. People will find out about those things regardless of whether the books about them are banned or not. I worked for a major publisher, and I never missed a payday because banned books were not selling.
RALEIGH C. PERRY, BUFORD
