The Readers' Discussion board: Friday letters – Winston-Salem Journal

Opposite to what columnist Robert Weissman would have us consider (“Bloated Pentagon calls for scrutiny,” Sept. 19), the U.S. has been defunding the Division of Protection for the reason that finish of World Warfare II. Protection spending as a proportion of GDP has been steadily falling during the last seven a long time from a excessive of roughly 40% of GDP in 1945 to an estimated 3.3% of GDP right this moment.

Neither is it a query of weapons vs. butter. The $28 billion in further protection spending has not prevented President Biden from spending trillions of {dollars} on scholar mortgage forgiveness, enhanced youngster care credit and Construct Again Higher, with the guarantees of much more social welfare spending (free group school, and many others.) to come back.

None of which addresses the query of how defunding the police morphed into defunding the Division of Protection. May it’s that defunding the police has been acknowledged as such a patently absurd proposition as to be indefensible?

I do know that there are much more necessary points on the earth right this moment than the latest modifications to the Journal, however as a loyal subscriber, I’m going out on a limb right here to specific my emotions.

Dropping the TV part actually irked me. I can’t afford all of the streaming companies that carry the applications you’re itemizing on the “What To look at” web page and I get solely the minimal channels on cable.

However the reduce within the comics part was an excessive amount of and I’m disillusioned within the selections you have got made. One motive is that it impacts my day by day routine: pour a cup of espresso, open the newspaper, scan the headlines, flip to the comics for somewhat humor after which Ask Amy for recommendation that hopefully I don’t want.

Scott Hollifield’s column on Mondays all the time brings fun together with his “Monkey Information” or bizarre tales from the world of science.

However right here’s the deal: You used to hold two comics based mostly on Black households: “Curtis” and “JumpStart.” Now there are none; the comics have gone vanilla. Oh certain, there are Black characters in “Luann” and the brand new (ugg) “Crabgrass,” however neither of those painting Black households as the primary characters. I miss them.

Thank goodness “Pearls Earlier than Swine” made the reduce.

I received’t be going to your web site to view “over 500 comics!” I’ll make do for now as I put together myself for the subsequent large change.

President Biden hasn’t repeatedly lied and misled his thousands and thousands of followers about profitable a presidential election.

Biden didn’t encourage right-wing fanatics to assault the nation’s Capitol, injuring dozens of cops within the course of, to attempt to cease the outcomes of an election from being verified. And Biden didn’t name the violent insurrectionists “very particular individuals.”

Biden didn’t begin a commerce battle that led to American farmers declaring chapter and, in some circumstances, committing suicide. He didn’t coddle murderous dictators and selected their facet over our personal safety companies.

Biden wasn’t impeached for attempting to extort partisan political help from a U.S. ally. He didn’t hinder justice by ordering his aides to disregard authorized subpoenas.

He didn’t diminish or embarrass the U.S., repeatedly, on the world stage with boorish habits.

Biden didn’t downplay a lethal pandemic, thus contributing to the deaths of lots of of 1000’s of People, nearly all of whom had been his personal supporters.

However Biden is previous, and he gave struggling school college students a break, and gasoline prices virtually $4 a gallon, so clearly, the author of the Sept. 8 letter “Worst factor ever” is correct; he’s the worst factor to ever occur to the nation.

I’ve been studying the Journal since I used to be sufficiently old to learn. I perceive there are rising prices to working a newspaper, however the continued paring again of content material is disappointing. No Saturday TV insert with trivia, no Sudoku or phrase problem. No “At the moment in Historical past,” and the comics are diminished to 1 web page. If you’re attempting to get individuals to cancel their subscriptions, you’re actually headed in the correct path.