In a May 18 editorial, “Rest
Easy, Right Wing,” Anniston’s liberal son, Brandt
Ayers, anguishes over the fact that our populace has
finally been offered alternative sources of news.
Further anguishing to Brandt is the fact that the
populace has learned from these sources the extent of
past domination of a totally leftist media.
Frantically searching polls, studies, statistics and
ratings for any semblance of evidence that the liberal
media is not falling on its face, he weakly states, “A
Pew study found 37 percent believed ‘all or most’ of
what CNN reported. Fox News received 24 percent.”
Brandt and friends still don’t grasp the fact that
even this Pew study, which he proudly brandishes,
actually reflects the degree of liberal viewer
gullibility from whence the “new media” is attempting to
distance itself.
Armond Simmons
Pell City
Jacksonville school system
In a belated response
to Mayor Jerry Smith concerning school funding, I must
refer to a particular quote from his response
to the letter writer, both printed in the Anniston
Star on June 8:
“What about the approximately $12,000,000 spent by
the city on the new high school and related
infrastructure costs?”
So what about the money spent on a new high school?
Does that improve the quality of education for the
students? How does it affect the teacher-to-pupil ratio?
Does it have any affect on the ability of the teacher to
instruct the children attending this “new high school?”
The City Council and the BOE can very well boast
about the new school and all its fine attributes, but
the only effect I (and many others) could conceive of is
the obvious bragging-rights of having a building and
“infrastructure” that would rival the mega-schools of
the suburbs of Birmingham and North Shelby County.
Little wonder that the label “East Hoover” has been
applied to Jacksonville over the past few years. Some
$12,000,000 was apparently spent to attract affluent
people to Jacksonville and to please the established
gentry, regardless of the needs of those in poorer areas
of the city.
I would like to remind Jacksonville that EVERYONE is
equally important, not just the folks who happen to live
in the right parts of town.
Jamie Hardy
Jacksonville
Alabama prisons
I read your editorial about the
number of inmates that would have to be released if Gov.
Riley’s tax plan did not pass.
My son is an inmate in an Alabama state prison. He is
mentally ill. My son was sentenced to 12 years on a
first time offense — he had one traffic ticket at age
19. I have seen where other people had allegedly
committed the same type crime my son was accused of and
received anywhere from five to 10 years.
A lot of the problem with the Alabama prison system
is the unfairness of the sentencing, and the system that
allows this to happen. I thought the sentencing
commission was supposed to correct this. Obviously, they
have not.
One other thing I find interesting, on a recent visit
to my son, an employee of the prison was leaving the
visiting area and he said as he passed us, “Welcome to
the Alabama Bureau of Prisons, the largest and fastest
growing industry in the state of Alabama.”
Remember, except for the grace of God your child
could be where mine is.
Pat Haywood
Eastaboga
