What good is the Fayette County Animal Shelter? To this Fayette County resident, I feel the question should be restated to say, “What good is an irresponsible pet owner?” Though you did not state the reason or circumstances for your wanting to leave a 1-year-old dog at the shelter, how about the issue that your son-in-law failed to do the responsible thing and spay his beagle before she produced a litter of puppies and was, then, no longer wanted? “Trying to do the RIGHT thing,” you proclaim? ”Treated like a criminal?” How about the fate of these dogs and puppies? What do you think they’d say if they could speak? I don’t think they have a fighting chance.

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As a retired veterinarian I’d like to comment on the Free Speech contribution last week, “What good is the Fayette County Animal Shelter?” I am in total agreement with the shelter’s position in regard to the adoptability of a large 1-year-old dog. Too many people think that dogs are disposable, and when they no longer want their pet, they place that burden upon others. They enjoy the puppy during this cute stage and don’t go to the bother or expense of getting it spayed or castrated. Apparently poor pet owner traits runs in that person’s family, as the son-in-law was an irresponsible person who allowed his dog to reproduce and should have been appreciative that the shelter agreed to take his puppies. The shelter did the best that it could and realized that an adult intact dog was either not adoptable or would have added to the pet population explosion. Certainly others would have had to bear the expense of having it spayed. As far as writing down the pet owner’s license plate, I would venture to say that the shelter in question has had dogs abandoned in its parking lot or in town and was trying to make sure that it wouldn’t happen again.

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This is directed to the man who was complaining about the animal shelter. Why are you and your family members dropping off these dogs and puppies? Why aren’t you responsible? Good for the shelter for writing down your information. I didn’t know they do something like that, but I sure am glad that they do. Take responsibility for these dogs. Be an example to the society instead of complaining about the shelter.

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In regards to the person who wrote about dumping of an animal at the Fayette County Shelter: I live in Fayetteville and on many occasions have taken strays to the shelter. I also like to visit with their animals from time to time. Needless to say, I’ve spent enough time there to know that your story doesn’t hold any water. I’ve always found their staff to be exceptionally knowledgeable and helpful. In addition, their shelter is kept clean and the animals are in great health. I’m not sure what inspired your email, perhaps you got a ticket from them? Or you’re disgruntled because they wouldn’t do exactly what you pleased? But I’ll trust the great stories this paper has reported in the past and my own judgment of them over what you claim. I hope others will do the same.

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To the FCHS student who wrote last week about the new bathroom policy at the school: Well said! I agree completely. I, too, am a student at the school, and this draconian policy sickens me. I hear all kinds of ridiculous excuses for the new rule from the teachers, the most prominent one being the gang fight episode. OK, we get it; there was a gang fight in the bathroom. So what? I think you’ll find that most students want to use the bathroom for its intended purposes. A few fools shouldn’t ruin it for the rest of us. For goodness’ sakes, it was only ONE incident. Bathroom gang fights don’t happen every day, or even every month. There is no reason to take such harsh measures for an isolated incident. And besides, what’s to stop the gangs from finding other places to fight on campus? What if a gang fight occurred in the commons area? Should we lock that down, too? Hmm, maybe the entire school should be locked down, just to be safe. Would that make sense? I can understand the importance of some “protective measures” being enacted after the incident, but this one fails on all levels. It comes dangerously close to infringing upon one of our most basic human needs. What if someone had an honest-to-goodness emergency? It’s not fair to make them wait in line for 15 minutes. It’s actually not fair to make anyone wait in line like that just to perform a necessary bodily function. Plus, it just takes away from classroom instruction time. And what if an actual visitor needs to use the restroom? They’re going to be terribly inconvenienced. What if someone just needs to wash their hands? Or perhaps change clothes for some reason? It looks like they’re out of luck. And then there’s that wonderful line about how we shouldn’t have to use the bathroom during class in the first place. This train of thought is laughable. Sure, teachers, the five minutes allotted between classes is so much time, and you can so easily control when “the urge” occurs. And then there are other issues in between classes, like crowded hallways and having to go to your locker. All of these make finding time to go to the bathroom very difficult. Now let me mention a little experience I had a few days ago. I really needed to use the restroom, but I decided to try to wait until class was over. What a mistake. I went to the bathroom that was located nearest to the class that I was just in. The door was locked. I stood there and waited for two minutes, but no one came to unlock it. So I decided I would try a different bathroom downstairs, which would be closest to my next class. It was locked as well. So I just decided to forgo it and go to my locker. As I walked by the restroom while walking to my next class, I finally saw a teacher unlock it, right when the two-minute bell rang. If I had gone then, I would’ve been late for class. How can these teachers expect us to go to the bathroom between classes when half of the time, the teachers themselves are too lazy and/or irresponsible to unlock them? This rule is unnecessary and absurd, and it should be repealed. It creates more problems than it solves and reflects poorly on the administrators who thought of it.

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I would like to thank the Fayetteville Chapter of the NAACP for hosting the anti-gang call to action meeting at the Sams Auditorium Jan. 21. Unfortunately, not many citizens in Fayette County seemed concerned about this topic. I estimate that the auditorium was only at 25 percent capacity. I certainly enjoyed listening to Mr. Dave Simmons and the Rev. William Brown. These subject matter experts bring a lot of insight to the table and deserve a much larger audience concerning this important subject. Unfortunately, I must say that I left disheartened and disappointed. The agenda provided an opportunity for open forum questions and the Fayette police were immediately put on the defensive. They were accused of not being diverse and for not understanding all local “cultures.” These statements put a seemingly cohesive group on edge and it seemed the previous one hour and 40 minutes of constructive dialog about personal and family responsibility were lost as the audience moved to an “us against them” mentality. I certainly hope that Mr. Simmons and the Rev. Brown are available to provide a plan for eradicating the growing gang problem in Fayette County to other forums. Their leadership by providing actionable anti-gang steps for the schools, police and residence of Fayette County would be the guidance we need. Let’s give this another try, but please change the meeting format.

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When discussion of the “Fayetteville 7” gang members comes up, why are the facts that they did something wrong forgotten in order to concentrate on their race? No one takes responsibility for transgressions, but instead act as though they get a pass due to their race being profiled.

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To the woman who wants an alternative to jail time for arrested and convicted teens: That option has always been around. Don’t do the crime!

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Racial tensions: Now there’s much more to be concerned about than the Fayette County Board of Education, local government, school rezoning, etc. It’s so bad that Fayette County High students cannot even go to the bathroom for fear of gang fights, and people are afraid of “driving while black ...” Even the presidential race is divided between races. It makes the previous “pithy” comments in past blogs seem ridiculous, as we have a much more serious issue facing us. Get ready, Fayette County. Your precious community is becoming much more diverse and you can either embrace it, reject it, or keep moving down Highway 85.

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Here’s an idea! Our nation votes on a “date” in the future (as far out as necessary, and the year with the most votes wins) where crying out “racism” or pulling the “race card” is no longer acceptable nor acknowledged. Then, perhaps, we can get down to the real problems or issues that people refuse to identify. Oh, gee, that might mean that we’d all have to take responsibility for our own actions and our own destiny. Disregard.

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Fayette county residents, it is only a matter of time before we are hit with a lot of crime and violence. The police can only do so much. It starts at home and on the neighborhood streets. Statistics state that crime grows at about one mile per year and if you don’t believe that, go back since you have lived here, one, five, 10, 20 years. Look at the crime then and compare to where it is today. It is coming from different directions, so beware, as it is closer than you think.

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To the person criticizing the Peachtree City police for removing children from the golf course during the snow: The golf courses around the city are private property. Children are not allowed to sled on the golf courses any more than they could just walk into your yard and start playing football because you have a nice lawn. You’re “killing the messenger” instead of teaching your children about private property rights. I don’t play golf but I respect the money and time they put into keeping it nice. The police are required to respond to every complaint they receive, regardless of how petty you (or they) might consider it. They do their job even if they don’t like it or agree with the laws they are required to enforce. If you called the police because someone decided the woods in your backyard made a nice campground, would you expect an officer to respond and send the uninvited guest on his way?

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What is wrong with this picture? The citizens of Peachtree City pay an architectural firm and an engineering firm to plan and build a new facility for our police department. The new building turns out to be poorly planned, built on a site suspected to be less than habitable, and subsequently emptied while decisions are made as to how to proceed. In the meantime, citizens of Peachtree City are paying rent for a temporary police department facility. Now the citizens of Peachtree City are told they must pay for major renovations to the new facility planned by another, apparently qualified architect, and built by another, apparently qualified engineer. We are also told that the statute of limitations has expired to hold the original architect and engineer accountable for the shoddy work they performed. Apparently neither firm has offered to step up and return the fees they received. Yet both of the original firms are still doing business with money obtained from the citizens of Peachtree City for unsatisfactory work. Surely the city will not be doing business again with either of the original firms ... or will they? What a country!

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If the city council gives in to that wicked big box developer, I’ll scream. This is Mayor Logsdon trying to back-door his buddies a favor again and it needs to stop.

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I see two major problems with the new Kohl’s big box development being pushed in PTC. First, why do we need a Kohl’s there when there is one 10 minutes down the road in Newnan? Two, every time I have been in Kohl’s, there is hardly anyone in there. In this economy, will the store end up being just another empty building that we see everywhere? Once Kohl’s is no longer there, what will fill that huge space? Leave PTC alone. That goes for you too, John Wieland

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Which is greater in number in Fayetteville? Nail salons or mattress stores?

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It is frustrating that an entire schoolbus is terrorized by the actions of one adult and in the subsequent weeks this person’s children continue to ride the bus with no fear, while the majority of the other children on the bus route are being driven to and from school. Why, because they are fearful of the parents’ future actions. Is bus service a right or a privilege? Why does the school district require us to sign off on bus rules and regulations at the start of the school year if those rules are never enforced? Whose being inconvenienced here? Who are the real victims?

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For the record: The parents of Highgrove never discussed “legal” action to keep our kids at Peeples and it is insulting for people to think otherwise (as indicated by a writer in Free Speech on Jan. 23). I do not know what course of action Whitewater parents took in their redistricting efforts; however, at several neighborhood meetings, the parents of Highgrove decided to collectively appeal to the school board via a letter and email campaign. We all agreed that our first priority was to keep our children at Peeples. Face it. Nobody wants their child moved to a different school for both academic, emotional and social reasons. But there was another issue for many parents in Highgrove that went beyond the walls of Peeples Elementary. Simply put, we wanted our feeder schools to remain the same. We asked the board to allow our kids to stay at Peeples, but if that was not possible, we asked them to support the plan that sent us to Braelinn Elementary where our feeder schools remained the same into RSMS and SMHS. Although we were told during this process that middle and senior high boundaries would remain the same for the time being, we felt that it was better to address this issue now, rather than have some of our kids be potentially redistricted a second time. And one more thing. Stop whining about Peeples being “overcrowded.” Your children are still getting a quality education whether they are in a class of 19 students or 22. Where I came from my son was in half-day kindergarten, in a class of 31 students and his teacher had no para-pro. So get over it. You got it good in Fayette County.

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To the American Christian Taliban lady who said that rape is God’s punishment for women being out alone or immoral dress or going to bars: Holy cow, lady, you scare me far more than the atheists and agnostics you so abhor. Bet you can’t wait for Kohl’s to have a burka section, black only of course.

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Trees in Fayetteville, beware: there’s more strip malls coming to get you.

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The Tyrone Town Council continues to violate the spirit of the open meetings act in their attempt to avoid public participation. Their latest tactic is a called meeting to change the charter of the town. This group has been in office three weeks, the charter has served the town for almost 50 years; what is the rush? And although they are complying with the law by posting a notice on the bulletin board, why no public announcement at the last council meeting? Are they afraid to give the citizens a chance to become involved or do their proposed actions just not withstand any scrutiny? One can only wonder.

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Tyrone straight facts: In 1998, Tyrone had (as mayor) King Richard and Prince William. King Richard wanted to amend the charter to have veto power. There is none. Some cities, yes, but Tyrone no. The majority of council wanted the opposite, to cut King Richard’s power. They asked for local legislation to do that. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland refused. Westmoreland ignored the majority and sucked up to the mayor, who is also in the building business. The referendum was voted down but only because Tyrone later felt like there was not longer a problem at election time because King Richard and Prince William chickened out, did not run for re-election, and it looked like Sheryl Lee and Paul Letourneau would come in instead (and they did). There was and now is no reason to change anything. So, the only reason this is being brought up now is because the new crowd wants to create a bigger bureaucracy. They want to do more without these pesky town meetings. The manager, staff and “professionals” will be calling a lot more shots behind the scenes. And, no, this new law firm is not improved; they are the Three Stooges. They are analog lawyers in a digital age and they bill way too much and that is why Fayette County tossed them out.

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Last year at almost every Tyrone Council meeting under public comment, Don Rehwaldt would present his list of issues that he and the Tyrone Neighborhood Alliance felt were ”paramount to assuring that Tyrone continues to grow and prosper in accordance with the wishes of those citizens who expressed their desires via the comprehensive plan.” These issues included: the lack of an emergency entrance to Shamrock Industrial Park (their primary concern); air pollution in Shamrock Industrial Park; Millbrook Village sewer system (another priority issue), to name a few. Now there are at least four members/supporters of the Neighborhood Alliance serving as mayor or council members, these issues have yet to make it to a public meeting agenda. Were these issues just crucial for the election or is it just another case of “we weren’t sworn in at that time”?

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Dear Walgreen: Why not put your store in Braelinn Village Shopping Center? Plenty of existing vacancies there. For the life of me, I cannot understand why Ruby Tuesday would be demolished and a Walgreen’s put right next door to an existing Rite-Aid. So much for a well-planned city. Are the planning commissioners in possession of brains? Our retail layout in Peachtree City looks absolutely ridiculous. Empty buildings, excavation all over the place, and all you read about is more development on the way. Why don’t we just blacktop the lakes while we’re at it, and build the “Mall of PTC”?

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Does the school board have a deal with Blockbuster? It seems my kindergartner is watching more videos at school than he has in his life.

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Please allow me to use this forum to offer my heartfelt appreciation to a kindhearted good Samaritan who happened to be at the Ingles supermarket in Fayetteville on Jan. 20, 2007. That Sunday afternoon my son and I stopped in to Ingles to get some groceries before the Packers-Giants game. As usual, I was in a rush to load the groceries in the car and accidently dropped my wallet on the ground. I didn’t notice it was missing until Monday night. I called Ingles early Tuesday morning to see if anyone had turned in a wallet and to my amazement, it was in their safe. I found out a “true gentleman” by the name of Mr. Frank Moulder had found it in the parking lot and turned it in untouched. I would like to give a very special thanks to Mr. Moulder for his honesty and kindness. I am truly grateful.

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The Veterans Disarmament Act, HR2640, has been passed. Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq War veterans who have been diagnosed with PTSD are being placed on a federal log and will be unable to purchase a handgun. Could many of the veterans, combat and noncombat, of Fayetteville give me some feedback in reference to this in the Free Speech column? If this is so, what happened to the 2nd amendment? Please help me to understand. I served my country proudly as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam with combat-inflicted injuries and a police officer for 12 years. Help me to understand.

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To the ignorant PTC resident who wants to charge non-residents a fee for using the cart paths: News flash — PTC already does that. You paid a one-time cart registration fee. The rest of us “elitist” non-residents pay that same registration fee, PLUS a $60 yearly impact fee. Glad to hear my $600-plus (to date) cart path subsidy ”makes (your) city special,” even if the dilapidated trails rattle my fillings loose. I don’t live in Timberlake, but I’m guessing that if PTC residents stopped vandalizing their neighborhood, there probably wouldn’t be a need for padlocks.

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A response from Timberlake: I need to clear up some misinformation that appeared in a previous letter. First of all, the gates at the Timberlake path have never been locked. Second, we do pay more for our golf cart fees to the tune of $60 per year for being outside of Peachtree City. Although we pay this higher fee, we do not get trash cans or garbage pickup along our path from Peachtree City. I think we should. We pick up the trash ourselves, and there is plenty of trash strewn along the path. My wife and I pick up trash every day during the warmer months and end up with two full grocery bags a day. It has been pointed out before that our path was built with private funds and runs through the lake area, which is our private amenity. As such, we are liable (not Peachtree City) in case of an accident. We want to be good neighbors and probably would not object to the additional cart traffic if our path wasn’t being treated as a garbage dump. There has also been a great deal of vandalism and kids from outside the neighborhood use our gazebo area for drug use. Our gazebo has even been “tagged” by the “Peachtree City Posers.” I suppose my point is that if the people from outside of Timberlake leave the path the way that they found it and refrain from littering and vandalism, no one would really give a darn if they used the path. Certainly, the littering and vandalism isn’t all from outside of Timberlake. We know that. But have a very clear conversation with your kids about respecting other people’s property and all of this debate may quietly go away. Being good neighbors is a two-way street (or path in this instance). Please talk to your kids. P.S.: That really is a stop sign at the entrance to Timberlake from Highgrove. I have yet to see anyone actually stop and look for oncoming traffic. Another good topic of conversation with your kids.

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Well, it looks like a Timberlake resident is showing the backside again by stating that they will lock the gate so nobody can use the cart path to and from PTC. Well, as a resident of PTC, I suggest to place a gate so no Timberlakers can access PTC and that the other neighborhoods on the other side place a gate so the Timberlakers can not access WWC golf course. By doing that, it would appear that Timberlake has its own little island. And by the way, driving down the parkway on your cart is illegal. Now, let’s make some sense out of the fact that if you do know who is vandalizing the boat area based on your cameras, then turn them in to the sheriff. If you don’t know, please don’t accuse others as the vandals actually may be from one of the three Timberlake neighborhoods. Please think before you spout off; it may come to haunt you.

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Those Southside residents who are upset with Timberlakes are mad at the wrong people. You should be angry with the home builders and Realtors of New Haven, Highgrove and Whitewater for advertising their home sites had access to PTC golf cart paths. It was a lie. The only way to get from those subdivisions to PTC paths is to drive through private property and they knew it. Timberlakes homeowners association made them aware of this the minute they saw the ads for the homes. Now I know many might have a hard time believing a Realtor or a builder would lie to a prospective buyer, but it is true. Bottom line is Timberlakes residents just can’t afford the risk of being held liable for all these other subdivisions using our paths. A solution may be for Fayette County and Peachtree City to step up and build a public path along Redwine to Peachtree Parkway then north to the existing PTC golf cart paths.

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Re: smoke at the Y-knot. Two days? What are you doing, conserving water by not bathing or washing your clothes? It’s a bar. What did you expect: Lilac scents?

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This is directed to the homeowners behind Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church. Do you think it is really fair to these innocent children to be breathing in the smoke and fumes from the leaves that you are burning? Year after year, you burn, knowing these children are outside playing. Perhaps if you really feel the need to pollute the earth, you can do so on the weekends or after the children are done playing. Our children thank you for stopping this.

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As I travel the roadways of our surrounding counties, it makes me realize how thankful I am for the sign ordinances that we have in Fayette County. I guess the people at “1-800-GOT JUNK” and “PTC SINGLES.COM” are wondering why they are the only ones who have had the brilliant idea to post their signs and advertise on our rights of way. Hmmm, could it be that it’s illegal? Maybe it’s time for someone in code enforcement to issue some fines or citations to these two organizations that are “junking up” our county.

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How can the Fayetteville PD and county sheriff’s deputies write tickets for improper lane change (i.e., no signal) when they couldn’t find their OWN signals if a doughnut were hanging from it?

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Anyone else notice the number of cars with Clayton County tags sitting behind the Captain D’s after school waiting for students from FCHS to depart?

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Well, PTC, hang on to your trousers because the money spenders are coming to get you. There was an article about four months ago that said that the police station was going to receive a Band-Aid, and guess what, they received a patch instead and you’re about to pay for it. It would have been much cheaper to buy an empty building on Dividend Drive and remodel it than to try and perform a repair on the incubator. Yes, the police station was and will be nothing more than a mold incubator even when this attempt is completed. Besides, no employee for any organization ought to be exposed to an unhealthy work environment like this; however, council will see that the public servants will be. Maybe the money that was saved from the original construction by either deleting items, downgrading HVAC or lack of inspections can be used for chronic health care (respiratory) for the men and women of the PTC Police Department. To the police, you truly have my sympathy.

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Pro football was at it’s finest, the snow, the cold, the battles, smash mouth, up the gut, tailgating and supporting the teams. That is what football is all about! Until the Falcons can figure out that playing in an air-conditioned building on carpet is not football, you’ll never have a winner. Come on, Artie, use the same knowledge that made HD a success and use it for the birds. It’ll work, it’s called marketing, which is finding the best product to put on the shelf that you will get the most bang out of it. And that is not trying to build a team with all-stars or outdated products. Think, Artie, you can do it, you just need a good store manager.

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We need harsher punishments for “deadbeat” moms and dads. I am a mother who should receive child support but I rarely get it. I am owed nearly $18,000 in back child support and when I get my ex into court (after I file for abandonment and then spend no telling how long waiting for him to be caught, because he is a roamer with no home of his own) he gets off so easy. He gets probation for a year and he is “supposed” to pay his child support and not get behind, but you know what, he violates his probation and gets behind and he still is not in jail, because he tells “creative” stories of how he lost his job or whatever and his probation officer lets him slide. That is so unfair that he gets to violate his probation and slide by; anyone else would be arrested for violating probation. That does not help the kids; that just gives him his freedom to do what he wants even longer. I have a solution for the problem: If we (the taxpayers) could get the county to build a “halfway” type house (jail) and arrest these “deadbeat” parents and make them work and then on their payday they should have to surrender 90 percent of their pay to the county for the county to send in their child support money for current support and arrears. The other 10 percent should go to the county to feed the deadbeats and care for them. Why should we pay for their upkeep when they don’t take care of their kids? I believe that one year or two years of living this way and many of the people would not be repeat customers to the house. Also come to think of it, not so many people would be on welfare if they were receiving the support they need to care for the kids. Honestly we can’t rely on our child support offices to do anything they are understaffed and not efficient.

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Today I did my grocery shopping because it is double coupon day and I use coupons extensively in order to get enough food to keep my family alive. I was absolutely floored when I saw tomatoes at $4.49 per pound in the Kedron Kroger. How far is this outrageous gouging going? The writer who wrote about $.50 per pound tomatoes in some other country sure got my attention. Greed is absolutely eating this country alive and we can’t last much longer unless it is brought under control. Who are the idiots that will pay such prices and where do they get that kind of money? They could not possibly earn it honestly. I couldn’t pay those prices even if I was stupid enough to do it.

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The free flow of blood carries the necessary nourishment throughout the human body to keep it alive. The free flow of transportation carries the necessary nourishment throughout a country to keep it alive. The extreme cost of gasoline is hampering the flow of transportation in this country, and we are surely going to die if something isn’t done soon. Giving some people a few hundred dollars and large corporations a huge tax break will not help the economy.

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Why can the KFC in Fayetteville occupy the spot Hooters could not get? I have new hope I can get an reply from fellow Free Speechers!

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As one of the two Free Speech writers of Jan. 16 who “got his/her BVDs in a hitch” over lies about Barack Obama, I am informing the responder of Jan. 23 that it is he who needs to see the truth. The people who started the smear on Obama are one of the many misinformers who have populated this country in recent years. All legitimate sources prove that Obama never received jihadist indoctrination, never took his congressional oath on the Quran, never snubbed the pledge of alliance, etc. As for “liberal crap,” sorry, but those who spread such lies are the ones in the dung heap. And I’m not a liberal. The writer got the “liber” right, but I’m a libertarian who has grown tired of the lies perpetuated by blind zealots of both the left and right.

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As this Presidential campaign cycle gears up, there has already been much hype, much unfounded speculation, and unfortunately too much dirty politics. The thing there hasn’t been enough of is honest in-depth debate on each candidate’s plans and principles, not just positions. Conservative principles are the very core of our American spirit. They are what the Republican Party is supposed to be based on, right? Fred Thompson has what America needs to take her back to the principles that made her great, the principles our forefathers based our Constitution on. I’m writing this to reach out to more people and let them know America had a strong conservative candidate within her reach. Unfortunately though, with Fred Thompson dropping out of the race, it is truly a dark day for America. Do not despair though, there is still hope, the fight will and must go on; there is a plan. If we are all truly committed to Fred’s principles, and hope to see these principles have some bearing on the future of America, we all must vote for Fred in every primary, even if we have to write in his name. If we can keep the vote split enough, maybe a brokered convention could happen. At the very least, it will send a very clear message to Fred and the American people he actually had more support than they thought. This in itself may reinforce the possibility of Fred being selected to run as VP, which would not only bring some integrity into the White House in January of ‘09, but would garner him the exposure needed for a Presidential run in 2012 or 2016. It would also send a message to the Republican Party there are still many true conservatives left who will not stand idly by and watch our party be hijacked by moderate, liberal-leaning Republicans. Last but certainly not least, it would educate the MSM to the fact that even though they may be able to influence a campaign’s decision, it is truly we the people who will exercise our God-given right guaranteed by the Constitution to make the final decision, to select who we feel is the best leader for our great country

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In answer to the writer asking why I came back from Japan, I will gladly tell you. I am a patriotic American and I am concerned for my country. I fought in two wars plus all of my civilian life has been spent defending this country as a federal narcotic agent on the streets of our major cities. I love my country and I have fought hard for it all my life. That is more reason why I am so ashamed of the way it is going and the complacency of the citizens who are allowing it to happen without raising their voice. What have you contributed to this country except to make snide remarks toward concerned citizens? Probably nothing.

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