Back Local Cover Bands
Why does R.E.M. only support R.E.M. cover bands with famous people in them, like Micky Dolenz and Michael Shannon? What about those unsung R.E.M. cover band heroes who are just trying to pay the rent? Asking for a friend.
Wylly Jordan
Athens
MAGA Doesn’t Want Border Reform
MAGA leaders’ insistence that they want border funding has proved to be a lie, as Democratic and Republican senators hammered out a strong agreement that the MAGA Republicans, like our Rep. Mike Collins, rejected. The former president demanded his supporters prevent any solution. These extremists even condemned the Republican legislators that took part in negotiating a bipartisan solution to our southern border.
MAGA lawmakers have been holding up aid for Ukraine and Israel while seeking concessions on immigration measures. Now that there was a bipartisan deal on the table, they said, “Never mind.” They now say, Biden just needs to revive all the executive actions that Trump had put into place.
Problem is, most of Trump’s policies were found to be illegal. House Speaker Mike Johnson demands Biden build a border wall without Congress approving sufficient funding. They demanded an end to “catch and release,” which the proposed bipartisan bill did, along with other stringent measures. Maybe Johnson and his MAGA colleagues have grown so accustomed to Trump’s lawlessness that they figure Biden should be willing to cross a line now and then, too.
Our immigration system is confusing. Still, one would hope that politicians paid to understand these things and who have made immigration a centerpiece of their 2024 campaign might not be so feckless. MAGA elected officials’ failure to pass the most serious border funding measure in decades to secure the border only underscores their cynical disinterest in actually securing the border and governing.
Peggy Perkins
Winder
Willis Should Recuse Herself
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should recuse herself for the appearance of impropriety, but I hope she isn’t. Her unfalsifiable statements aren’t worth much.
Duke Geddis
Athens
Republicans Should Help Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has, by word and action, declared war on the United States and the member states of NATO. Russia has spent years creating formidable capabilities to disrupt vital communications systems, develop supersonic missiles, create a killer satellite capable of destroying essential communication satellites, launched a massive invasion of Ukraine, engaged in countless atrocities against the Ukraine civilian population and destroyed its infrastructure, threatened the West with nuclear war, mobilized huge numbers of Russian troops and, according to recent intelligence reports, is planning attacks on the smallest and most vulnerable members of NATO.
Putin has declared he will win because the United States lacks the will to provide military assistance to Ukraine, the absence of which is enabling Russia to dominate the battlefield in that country. What are the Republican members of the House of Representatives, including Rep. Mike Collins, doing to counter this immense threat to the security of the United States? They are taking a vacation. They are refusing to approve the desperately needed assistance to Ukraine.
Georgians understand that, by enabling Ukraine to defend itself, we are defending the security of the United States and the members of NATO. Unfortunately, this apparently does not include some members of Congress representing Georgia.
Bruce Menke
Athens
Trump Follows Hitler’s Playbook
With Donald Trump facing trial for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, we should recall that, exactly 100 years ago, on Feb. 26, 1924, Adolf Hitler was brought to trial for trying to overthrow the democratically elected government in Germany.
Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” (a well-planned insurrection began with a rally in a beer hall) against the Weimar Republic failed. Yet he used his 1924 trial and his one year in prison to write Mein Kampf and restart his campaign to conquer Germany.
With a year of trials ahead of him, Trump is also employing some of Hitler’s tactics: painting himself as a victim, using every courthouse appearance for political aggrandizement, challenging the courts and the government by preaching election denial and attacking his accusers.
Frank Range
Athens
Riley’s Murder Brings Out Hatred
I grieve for the family and friends of Laken Riley. Justice must be served to the person who perpetrated this crime. I will not, however, stand silent while a few seek to sow hatred toward the immigrant community.
A recent Facebook post is calling for a Mar. 5 rally entitled “Make Athens Safe Again.” Based on this call, some have sought to stoke hatred toward our immigrant community by their posts. One individual makes a reference to “foreign invaders.” Another calls for “get these BASTARDS out!” Another writes on Facebook, “The war has come to our doorstep, folks!”
Crime statistics have repeatedly shown that the immigrant community is less inclined to produce law breakers, violent or otherwise, than the native born. But those with a clear political agenda of division have scant regard for the truth.
It is a trick as old as the history of the United States. It was Alexander Hamilton who wrote, “The truth unquestionably is, that the only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusing, and bring on civil commotion.” Our community has the opportunity to shine a much greater moral light.
For those who only see the world in dollars and cents, Forbes has pointed out that Georgia immigrants in 2021 made up one-eighth of the Georgia workforce, made up 20 percent of the state’s entrepreneurs, earned $32.6 billion in spending power and paid $11.4 billion in taxes. Immigrants are woven into the fabric of our community and state. Let us seek to unify, not divide, around the tragic death of Laken Riley.
Greg Davis
Winterville
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