Applauded Efforts
I found Karen Smith’s Inbox comments regarding Dismas Charities inmates at the Louisville Zoo (LEO Weekly, Jan. 9) to be offensive, narrow-minded and misinformed. I would suggest she research what constitutes a felony conviction. Assuming this legal classification would automatically render inmates as a threat to children only shows ignorance. I applaud both Mayor Fischer and John Walczak for their efforts to work for the common good.
Gerri Reynolds, Clarksville
Update Your Numbers
In the Jan. 16 Inbox, Tim Retallack offers a distorted reply to a previous letter about deaths in various nations. Among the nations he lists is the Soviet Union, which has not existed for more than 20 years. For that nation, he cites (although not admitting it) the number of WWII deaths, some of which were due to starvation and/or freezing. He also cites murders for Germany. His figures are for Nazi Germany, which ended more than 65 years ago. His data for Cambodia is also from decades back.
The pertinent data for the contemporary United States should be compared with other nations with developed economies, not the entire 186 nations he mentions. In parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, police forces are largely ineffective. When one looks at data for nations with developed economies, the United States ranks at the top or near the top of homicides per capita year after year, although data sources sometimes vary.
T.P. Wolf, New Albany
No Fear
No matter where I look, I hear about the evils of the NRA and how they are preventing legislation to solve our gun violence problem. Prior to 1960, we saw very few mass shooters, and there is a reason for that. It is not because semi-automatic weapons did not exist, or the absence of the NRA — no, because both existed. It is an absolute truth that these shooters are being created by the absence of the third fear. In American culture, the fears are as follows: 1. Fear of wrath — in the case of the shooters that would be the police, this is why the ones who do not kill themselves calmly surrender when the police arrive. 2. Fear of punishment — in the case of the shooters, this would be prison and it’s why so many of these cowards kill themselves. It is the classic third fear these shooters no longer possess. The third fear is the fear of GOD and HELL. Many young men believe there is no God, no hell and no afterlife judgment.
It is not the NRA responsible for the destruction of the third fear, it is, in part, the ACLU. They have eliminated a widespread belief in life after death and instead replaced it with a belief that we all came from apes. What’s a monkey to do? A misinterpretation of the First Amendment has led to a reprobate state of mind, a thirst for murder and an absence of the third fear.
Mark D. Milby, Camp Taylor
Not Cutting It
Sen. Mitch McConnell says the “revenue issue” is over. That sort of sounds like a stand on principle, but it’s not really. It’s about resuscitating the GOP’s “starve the beast” game plan. If taxes are cut and cut again, year after year, the public is supposed to eventually agree to deep government budget cuts. That’s how the Bush II administration played it. Hardly anyone complained about the mounting deficits while the Bush tax cuts were being put in place. That was the bait. The next play is to wait until the public gets used to the lower taxes. Then, scream bloody murder that the deficits are going to wreck our economy.
But, the Great Recession intervened while the GOP was still setting up more tax cuts. That was a game changer. Unexpectedly, the public began to worry that extreme tax cuts might create profits for investors more than they create jobs for working people. Election prospects soured. So, McConnell’s team had to ease up a little on their tax cut play to avoid charging over the fiscal cliff. That move is played, now. It’s time for them to get back to the basic game plan.
Tom Louderback, Highlands
