Letter
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Mayors intolerant
of everyone’s opinion
From: John W. Armstrong
Columbus
Received: July 29
When Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A, commented in an interview that he supported the traditional concept of marriage, the mayors of Chicago and Boston wasted no time finding the nearest microphones to denounce the offender and to throw their support behind efforts to ban his stores from doing business in their otherwise open and tolerant cities.
Think about that. They advocated the exclusion of his stores on the basis of his opinion.
And if your opinion can get you banned, what does that say about freedom of thought and expression in America today? How long would your ban list be if you decided to grant business licenses on the basis of the viewpoints of the presidents and chief executive officers applying?
Imagine a major corporation wanting to do business in Columbus, Ind., and the president of that business happened to express an opinion in favor of, let’s say, gay marriage. Do you think his company would be banned from doing business here? I don’t think so, and I would hope not.
Apparently, self-righteousness is not the exclusive domain of conservative religionists, nor is totalitarian conformity confined to repressive regimes overseas.
Those who presume to advocate tolerance would do well to practice it, as all of us should.
Highways such as State Road 7 not real hazard; poor drivers to blame
From: Don Robinson
North Vernon
Received: July 30
The car-truck accident that took the life of Charles Welch at Scipio should make us more aware of our driving habits.
Larry West said, “It’s the most dangerous road in Indiana.” As a retired cross-country trucker who has logged 4 million miles, I cannot agree. I drive this road about once per week, and I see nothing wrong with this road.
Trooper Tommy Walker said, “There’s been a lot of impatience on State Road 7. The things I’m constantly seeing are drivers following too closely, making illegal passes in no-passing zones, running stop signs into the highway and turning into traffic that has the right of way.” He also goes on to say, “The problem is not with the highway, it’s the drivers. These people commit bad driving habits due to their impatience. If it were possible to make this highway into four lanes, it would be a race track.”
I totally agree with Trooper Walker.
The newspaper article states that there have been 117 crashes on Highway 7 in Bartholomew and Jennings counties this year. That is only seven months. Do the math on this; it should be an eye-opener. I doubt there have been more accidents on Interstate 80 through Chicago, but locals would tell us we are the one with a traffic problem!
As a retired professional driver, I think the message is very clear. Yes, it’s a fast-pace, multitask world, but maybe it’s time to take time and leave five minutes earlier and shut off the cellphone, text when you are stopped, and pay attention to what you are supposed to be doing while driving. The life you save may be your own.
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