Opinion Archive

To paraphrase an old saying; Give a kid a toy and they might play for an afternoon … but, teach a kid to build a robot and they might change the world forever.

What began with the Brexit in the UK last June has spilled over to America in the wake of the nation electing Donald Trump as president.  People are wearing safety pins to make a silent statement that the groups of people who feel threatened by the supposed hate and fear mongering of Trump and his supporters can feel “safe” around people wearing the pins.

Way to go Santa Rosa County voters where 68.04 percent of Santa Rosa County voters turned out to vote in the recent General Election. This participation rate has only been exceeded once and that was in the 1984 election.  See our story on Community page B1.

I would like to thank all of you in the community who took time to vote last week. I would also like to thank those of you who prayed for our country and asked God to bring us back to a constitutional government which is based on biblical principles. I praise Him for saving us from leadership which glorifies and advances what He hates and for trying to destroy what He loves. There are so many I will never be able to thank in person, but for whom I am so very grateful. As representatives of that group, I would like to mention a few very briefly in the public forum:

This week we were all broadsided by four agenda items for the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners meeting this past Monday which was released at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Thursday afternoon leaving no time for citizens to do their homework and leading to a lot of speculation.

Please recognize all the veterans in your life for the sacrifices they make and have made to make us the greatest nation on the face of this earth.

As you might know – we have a national election going on. I’ve heard many say they don’t like politics and this time it is worse than ever so they just aren’t going to get involved. Really? You have to get involved. This is about your future, your children’s future, and the past. What about the heroes who fought and died for your right to vote? Please be an informed voter.

There is a sizeable faction in this country that is disgusted with the choices we have going into the 2016 General Election. While the choices are far from the quality a great nation like the United States deserves, they are what they are. No amount of complaining, abdication of responsibility or indignation will change this reality.  Put bluntly, this election isn’t about personalities, capabilities, soundbites or even criminality; it is about issues and on these issues, we do have choices to make. 

Now hear this!  The government wants our military to pay back enlistment bonuses it offered for serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, some executed in California in 2005, 2006, and 2010. How disgusting! In some cases the amounts are $15,000.  I don’t know the whole story.

It pains me to write this letter, because I truly do support the Holley-Navarre firefighters.  But I must say that I am Against the Proposed Referendum for an Increase in Assessment.