Readers Write: March 1

Great presidents talk directly to the people

Those in the media and the Left who would criticize President Trump for his direct communications to the American people would do well to study history. A great wartime president and Democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, delivered 30 “fireside chats” by radio between 1933 and 1944. He was hailed as a great communicator, and President Reagan followed suit with regular Saturday radio talks during his term in office. With respect, the so-called unbiased media searching for the truth should bring this to the public’s attention; it shouldn’t be necessary for some old guy like me to do so.

DONNIE COKER, ATLANTA

Luckovich spot on about gambling

Mike Luckovich isn’t always right or even fair in his cartoons, but on Feb. 22, his depiction of a stripped-naked Georgia taxpayer by our own legislators who are so desperately trying to bring casino gambling here is bang on.

Please understand that I do not advocate any moral position relative to gambling in any form. Attempts to police morality generally fall flat on their respective faces and accomplish very little of what those attempts were intended to do and a great deal contribute to even greater immorality; witness Prohibition.

No, for me, the arguments against casino gambling here are all purely economic. Mike Luckovich captures those costs very well when he shows the Georgia taxpayer losing his shirt along with his pants, socks, and drawers. The social costs promise to be, if other states’ experiences are any measure, at least three times any revenue realized.

So, as Mike shows us, the fleeced Georgia taxpayer must be duped into thinking he or she is the beneficiary of all the wonderment casinos will bring. If anyone is buying that, I have a nice bridge for sale in the heart of New York or some oceanside property in Nebraska.

NEIL WILKINSON, DUNWOODY