Tuesday Letters: Is Trump trying to goad North Korea into a conflict?
TRUMP AND NORTH KOREA
RECKLESS BEHAVIOR
President Donald Trump is trying to spook North Korea into firing the first shot.
Trump keeps throwing out threatening comments and tweets, hoping that North Korea will panic and press the button to send missiles flying.
Then Trump will have the justification to destroy North Korea, thereby “solving” the problem. Never mind the millions of people in Guam, Japan and South Korea who will likely get killed in the process.
It won’t be his fault.
“Too bad about all those folks, but I didn’t start it,” Trump will say.
I can only hope that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has enough sense not to take Trump’s bait.
Pete Lewis, St. Johns
THE SECOND AMENDMENT
DOESN’T FIT TODAY’S SOCIETY
Many Americans appear oblivious to three facts:
• The Second Amendment to the Constitution was enacted in 1791 when citizens feared their new republic might fall to intervention by the British or other foreign kingdoms.
In 2017, that fear no longer is a concern.
• The primary purpose of firearms is to kill and maim human beings.
Any and all other uses of guns do not require a constitutional amendment for their protection.
• The cynical gun industry, seeking only to expand their profits, is the source of the propaganda and the political contributions supporting the importance of the “right to bear arms” — mostly through its powerful mouthpiece, the National Rifle Association.
The obvious first step to reducing our world-highest rate of deaths by guns is to repeal the Second Amendment. Doing so would eliminate the legal basis for our culture of mayhem, and it would permit enactment of sensible gun control laws.
Alan Donaldson, Amelia Island
GUNS
PLAYING THE BLAME GAME
If a TV reporter stood in front of a derailed train and proclaimed “trains caused this wreck” viewers would think the reporter was an idiot.
That should be the case when, after a gun incident, people in the media say guns “caused” it.
Just like a train wreck requires a full investigation to determine the cause, so, too, should a shooting incident.
It’s a shame when the liberal media and late night entertainers make political rants about how “we have to do something” with guns before a cause or motive can be determined.
In other mass shootings, there seems to be no motive. And there is a lot of discussion about how medication for mental disorders play a role in these tragedies.
Liberals don’t like guns, so they are easy to blame.
Joe Edelson, Jacksonville
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MENTAL HEALTH
KNEE-JERK LABELING
There’s a huge difference between mental illness and a personality disorder such as psychopathy.
It’s human nature to want a reason or motive for what’s behind such aberrant behavior and despicable, unspeakable deeds. But to lump a methodical cold- blooded killer like Stephen Paddock in with those who truly suffer from mental illnesses does two things:
• It serves to give people like Paddock an “out” to justify their actions.
• It may serve to prevent a friend or family member who is suffering from a treatable illness from coming forward and seeking help. And that’s a tragedy that can be prevented.
So next time you hear labels like “crazy” and “mentally ill” being casually tossed around to explain criminal behavior, stand up and say something.
You just may save a life.
Bonnie L. Solloway, Jacksonville
BIRTH CONTROL
EMPLOYERS SHOULDN’T PAY
Since when is it discrimination if your employer will not pay for your birth control?
For years, women paid for their own birth control and their insurance paid some of the cost.
And many options were also made available to low-income families.
The reason Obamacare is imploding is because millennials refuse to buy health insurance. This is a large market for birth control, so apparently many of them are paying for it themselves now.
We hear continually that women have the right to make their own choices about their bodies.
Birth control is a choice.
Diane Jackson, Orange Park
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PRAYER in schools
time to bring it back
We just experienced a tragedy in this country that would have been unimaginable a few decades ago.
This was not the first.
Unfortunately, it may not be the last.
People like to blame guns, the culture of violence, violent movies or whatever other convenient excuse comes to mind.
But the truth is that our slide into lawlessness began with the 1962 Supreme Court decision that outlawed prayer in public schools.
We have had a generation of children grow up without any internal guidance to control their passions.
And we see where that has gotten us.
Whatever your thoughts on God, prayer makes us better people.
It takes our focus off of ourselves.
It puts our focus on others.
It makes us better citizens.
John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
If we want to remain a free people, we must remain a moral people.
Charles Bickerstaff, Orange Park