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publish, and conceal not; Jeremiah 50:2
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ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
Turning boys into men
T he assistant principal at T.G. Scott Elementary
School in Forsyth has probably shot more guns in
more places than anyone in Monroe County.
In a previous career, Chad Sanders travelled
the globe as a hunting guide, sometimes filming
for popular hunting shows, and even hunting with come
dian Jeff Foxworthy. You don’t get gigs like that if you’re
not a pretty good shot. In Sanders’ new second career, as a
speaker at Wild Game Dinners, he shares incredible stories
about those hunts, including a harrowing encounter with
hippos in Africa. Ask him to tell you about it if you get the
chance. After that experience, Sanders can probably handle
third graders pretty easily.
Anyway, after 17 people were killed in last week’s school
shooting in south Florida, all sides are throwing out ideas
of how to stop this trend of kids getting killed in schools.
Some have opined that we should ban certain kinds of
guns to address this problem. But others rightly note that
the Second Amendment to the Constitution clearly forbids
Congress from doing so. Besides, many of the most violent
places in the country, think Chicago, have the strictest gun
control laws.
Others have suggested that we end the designation of
schools as gun-free zones. After all, most mass murders of
this kind have taken place in gun-free zones like schools,
theaters, university campuses and even (absurd I know)
military bases like Fort Hood.
After hijackers converted commercial airliners into mis
siles on 9-11, some airlines gave pilots the ability to carry
a concealed weapon on them during flights. Of course
pilots are already screened for moral and physical fitness.
So if they want to volunteer and are willing to take a law
enforcement class, they can carry a pistol that would pre
vent, say, Muslim terrorists armed with box cutters from
hijacking the plane. I don’t think we’ve had a hijacking in
the U.S. since.
Some have suggested such a policy for the schools. The
idea is to let teachers who are interested and have experi
ence with guns take a class, and the authorize them to
carry a concealed weapon.
Would Chad Sanders be willing to do it? I don’t know. But
when my youngest son enrolls at T.G. Scott in August, I
know I would feel really good if I knew Sanders was there
with a gun.
The alternative is what we’ve been doing. Some nut like
Nikolas Cruz goes into one of our gun-free zones with mur
der in his heart,. And he’s the only one armed. There’s no
deterrent. There’s no answer to his gun, and our children
are left defenseless, like sheep to the slaughter.
I whole-heartedly endorse the idea of letting teachers and
administrators volunteer to carry a concealed weapon in
our schools. I don’t know if the Georgia legislature has the
guts to allow it. But they should. Our kids would be safer. If
only we can put hysteria aside long enough to admit it.
Like gun control, other solutions to school shootings
also tend to run up against
our Constitution. Social media
seems to be giving more young
people a burning desire to be
famous, whatever it takes. But
how do you limit social media
without infringing upon the
First Amendment? You can’t.
But there is something we
can all do. You know, 50 years of
the feminist movement has left
boys in big trouble. If girls can
do anything that boys can do, as
the culture says, then what’s the
point of a boy? The truth is, boys
were made to do special things
well. What?!? I know, we’re not
supposed to say it. But boys need to be told they have a
purpose. They’re important. The feminist movement has
been so “successful” that many boys feel sidelined, like
they’re nothing but trouble. So in a day when more women
are going to medical and law school than men, boys need
to hear the message that they matter. They have a purpose
that no one else can fill.
So if we know any troubled boys — maybe a loner, the
kid with the rough family background, we ought to ask
ourselves: What can others, especially men, do to help that
boy find his way? Teach him to work on cars? Take him to
ballgames? We need to reach out to the thousands of boys
falling between the cracks. It’s important not just because
it might prevent another Parkdale High School shooting,
but because our families and our communities rise or fall
on whether we succeed at turning our boys into successful
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
PEACH STATE POLITICS by Kyle Wingfield
Why mass transit now on Ga.'s radar
A guy from Blue Ridge, a
guy from DawsonviHe,
a guy from East Cobb,
a woman from Johns
Creek and a woman from
Dacula walk into a bar — I mean,
a press briefing — to talk about a
bill. They’re all Republicans. Care to
guess what, the bill’s about,?
If you guessed “expanding mass
transit,” you deserve
an extra cookie for
dessert. And a trip
down memory lane to
recall just how radical
this scene would have
been even a few years
ago.
Back in 2010, as
lawmakers crafted
the measure creat
ing the ill-fated (in
most, parts of Georgia)
T-SPLOST referen
dum, “transit” might,
have been as much of
a taboo among con
servatives as “taxes.”
That bill passed with only grudging
acceptance that the metro Atlanta
region might, try to build some tran
sit projects. Five years later, a bill
to pump $1 billion more each year
into transportation infrastructure
included an unprecedented, yet
still relatively small, $75 million in
bonds for transit.
So the aforementioned group
this past, week — House Speaker
David Ralston and transportation
Chairman Kevin Tanner, Cobb
Commissioner Bob Ott, Fulton
Commissioner Liz Hausmann,
and Gwinnett, Commission
Chair Charlotte Nash — broke
real ground in the way the state
approaches transit as a mode of
transportation.
Tanner’s bill, HB 930, is the prod
uct, of that long evolution from 2010
and much earlier. (A similar bill by
his counterpart, in the Senate, Sen.
Brandon Beach, will also figure
heavily into the discussion.) There
is not a transformative amount,
of money connected to the bill,
although that, could change. But
both Tanner and Beach
aim to create a regional
board to coordinate and
connect, the 11 separate
systems currently serv
ing 13 metro Atlanta
counties, as well as plan
ning expansions of the
network they loosely
compose.
Tanner’s bill in particu
lar gives the 10 counties
not, served by MARTA
additional options for
funding and building
transit routes, while
leaving MARTA intact.
It’s designed to give
counties more flexibility in whether
and how they handle transit.
Given how distant, a possibil
ity this seemed within this very
decade, what, changed?
There are several answers, from
worsening congestion to shifting
public opinion. But four factors
stand out,.
First are the changes at, MARTA
under its board chairman, Robbie
Ashe, and recently departed CEO,
Keith Parker. MARTA no longer
bleeds money each year. That, along
with the agency’s efforts to rein in
what, Parker called “knuckleheads”
who detracted from other riders’
experience, gave it, and transit more
generally a better standing in legis
lators’ eyes.
Second is demand from business.
Nothing has driven the Deal admin
istration and the General Assembly
more than economic development,,
and prospects for relocations or
expansions have made it, clear they
want, more transportation options
for their employees.
Third is a shift in emphasis away
from heavy rail and toward options
such as bus rapid transit. Given
metro Atlanta’s lack of density and
everywhere-to-everywhere com
muting patterns, significant, addi
tions to heavy rail is not only time-
consuming but, cost-prohibitive. The
emergence of BRT as an alternative
changed the debate.
Finally, there’s synergy with the
state’s road-building plans. BRT
isn’t much cheaper than rail if it
involves building new, dedicated
lanes. But the state’s growing net
work of tolled express lanes, in
which cars can pay to ride but
buses can use for free, offers a plat
form for better, faster bus service.
Piggybacking off those projects
allows transit to expand not, only
cheaper but faster and further than
it, would otherwise, making it, more
attractive to policymakers. Not to
mention that, having roads double
as transit infrastructure allows
more flexibility if autonomous
vehicles become as ubiquitous and
transformational as forecast.
Put it, all together, and that’s how
we made the long trip from 2010 to
today.
Kyle Wingfield writes for The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the.
Monroe County Reporter and other
newspapers. Beach him and read,
more at www.bit.ly/KyleWingfield.
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Vietnam reminds us how NOT to fight
L ast, week, we reviewed
the history of the
Vietnam War (VW). This
Week, let’s review why
the United States got,
involved in Vietnam, and some of
the lessons learned. Looking back,
50 years later, most, would agree
that, our involvement,
in the VW was a mis
take. However, like
any historical event,,
the VW cannot, be
viewed in isolation. It,
must, be put, into the
context, of its time,
and of the larger geo
political picture.
OLIVER
EVERY WORLD
leader in the 1950’s
and ‘60’s well
remembered the hor
rors of World War
II - the deadliest, and most, terrible
war in history. However, in the
decades that, followed, evil still
existed in the form of the Soviet,
Union and communist, China. As
the 1944-45 Soviet Army defeated
the Nazis and advanced west,
across Eastern Europe, they occu
pied country after country - and
never left,. Eastern Europe came
under a harsh form of Soviet
communism. Tens of millions of
people were imprisoned behind
what Churchill called “an Iron
Curtain.” Gulags and re-education
camps were established for those
brave (or foolish) enough to resist
the Soviets. There was no escape.
The “domino theory” was used to
explain how if one country became
communist,, so too would its neigh
bor, and the next,, and so on.
THE DOMINANT geo-political
factor in the world, from 1945
to 1991, was the Cold War and
the ever present, threat, posed
by the Soviet, Union. The war in
Southeast Asia was a side show
to the main event,. Yes, tens of
thousands of soldiers were dying
in the jungles of Vietnam but, tens
of millions could die if “the main
event,” ever erupted into war.
Communism was on the advance
and most, Western Nations
thought, that, the Soviets and
China must, be confronted wherev
er they threatened freedom. Most
realized that Eastern Europe was
lost, to communism but, elsewhere
it must, be challenged. It was
feared that the Soviets and China
would do to Southeast Asia what,
they had done to North Korea.
The Domino Theory was playing
out. So, in 1954, when the French
pulled out of Vietnam, President,
Eisenhower thought, that, if a
few hundred advisers and some
military equipment, could pre
vent another country from falling
under communist rule, well, that
was a price worth paying.
SO, ADVISERS were sent, to
Vietnam, and the stage
was set,. The wisdom of
sending advisers was
confirmed when the
Soviets brutally put
down the Hungarian
Revolution of 1956. The
fear of Soviet domina
tion was very real,
especially after the
Soviet, Union launched
Sputnik, the first, satel
lite in orbit,, and after
they put, the first, man
into space. Fear of
Soviet domination was
further confirmed when they tried
moving missiles into Cuba in
1962. Not surprising, in the 1950’s
and early ‘60’s most Americans
remembered WWII and demanded
that, communism be confronted on
all fronts — especially when com
munists tried to conquer a coun
try. All of these events were fac
tors that, played into the decisions
to get, involved in Vietnam.
AFTER ANY war, there are
always lessons learned. The first
lesson learned from Vietnam is
that, the fighting men and women
were not, to blame for the war.
That, seems obvious now, but,
that, wasn’t, the case back then.
Vietnam War protesters, angry at,
politicians, took out, their anger on
the military. Returning soldiers
were spat upon, called “baby kill
ers”, and labeled as psychos and
drug addicts. All of these false
labels were hurled at soldiers by
cowardly protesters and a dishon
est, media. The soldiers who fought
in Vietnam displayed courage and
bravery that stand them well with
any generation of American fight
ing men. They won every battle
and displayed remarkable cour
age doing so. Despite the turmoil
back home, the soldiers kept their
morale high and their faith in the
greatness of America.
ANOTHER LESSON learned
from Vietnam was how to fight, a
war or, more correctly, how not to
fight, a war. The VW was micro-
managed from the White House.
Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon all
decided to fight, a “limited war”
that, handcuffed the U.S. military.
Generals had to get, permission to
bomb North Vietnam or to chase
fleeing NVA soldiers into neighbor
ing countries. The military was
not, allowed to “take the fight,” to
the enemy, in that, the military
was not, allowed to invade North
Vietnam. Imagine the difficulty of
winning our Civil War if Lincoln
had prevented Generals Grant
and Sherman from invading the
South. The South would have
won. Well, no surprise that we lost,
the Vietnam War partly because
the military was not, allowed to
invade North Vietnam. In future
wars, we must, fight, to win. Give
the generals a clear mission, and
the men and resources required.
Then, get, the “hang” out, of the
way and our military will defeat
the enemy.
PERHAPS THE largest casu
alty of the war was, and continues
to be, the federal government.
Prior to the VW most, people
believed the government, and what,
the government, told us. The Tet,
Offensive and the release of the
Pentagon Papers confirmed that
the federal government had been
lying for decades. We’re still feel
ing the effects of those lies and
still being lied to.
ONE OUTCOME of the VW
has been the all-volunteer military
(AVM). The AVM has served us
well for 45 years, largely because
military engagements and wars,
since Vietnam, have been rela
tively small. The downside of the
AVM is that, only a small percent
age of Americans ever serve in
the military. In many parts of the
country, there is a huge discon
nect, between those who serve and
those who don’t,, with many people
not knowing a single person who
has ever served in the military.
This disconnect, was highlighted
recently by the comments of
California Democrat, Gregory
Salcido who called the military,
“lowest, of the low” and “bunch of
dumb s—-.” Salcido’s comments
were despicable but not, surpris
ing when one considers the overall
attitude of American leftists, and
many Democrats, towards the
military, the flag, and the National
Anthem.
WEEKLY Quote: Vietnam
veterans, ‘Thank you for your
service.” I’d love to hear some of
your Vietnam stories and lessons
learned. Please email.
Sloan Oliver is a retired Army
officer. He lives in Bolingbroke
with his wife Sandra. Email at
sloanoliver@earthlink. net,