Jan. 10, 2013: Our readers write

Toddlers and tantrums

As newborn children begin to move about, most parents employ strategies that protect the youngsters, those nearby and property. A simple and effective way to ward off trouble is removing objects that could be broken, thrown, eaten, etc., from the reach of curious hands.

The personalities of most toddlers move through phases that can be characterized as selfish, impetuous, undisciplined, demanding, unreasonable, and of course, immature. In such trying conditions, the best way of warding off danger is to restrict the agents of danger such as figurines, statues, pens, pencils, sharp objects, tools, anything heavy, etc. Attempting to reason with an active toddler in hopes of preventing awful outcomes is frustrating and usually fruitless.

Much has been said lately about abnormal individuals. There is a faction that wants to focus on identifying the “crazies” and then walling them off from “regular” folks. Good luck with that. In a society that glorifies individual rights and personal freedom, just agreeing where to draw the line between stable and unstable is chronically contentious. Add to that the enormous costs of necessary procedures and tests before any intervention can begin and you get the picture.

What to do then when individuals on the fringe do horrible things to innocent people, especially with firearms? Having conversations about aberrant activity and the desirability of reasonable behavior is not likely to get the results we want. Medications can help but dependable dosing is an issue.

Because it’s impossible to intercept every problem beforehand, an obvious strategy is to limit the means by which carnage can be accomplished. To put it simply, get availability of guns under control.

The list of toddler traits mentioned earlier coincides with earmarks of disturbed adults, except you easily could add viciousness, jealousy, hatred, perversity, paranoia and bizarre ideology.

Many a household has minimized terrible acts by 2-year-olds by taking the logical, simple step of removing potentially dangerous objects. Could not a country do something similar in the effort to reduce the repeated tragedies we want to stop?

K.G. Anderson
White Mills

Lingering loophole

In the 57 years I have been driving, there has always been drunks on the road and a big problem with keeping them off the road. In the meantime, these drunks have killed numerous people.

That is why I was in shock when I read the recent article about a man having four DUI charges in less than a year. The man was charged with a first offense in the first three cases.

The excuse given: “a bit of a loophole” in Kentucky law.

We all have heard jokes about Kentuckians being slow to get things done, but this is the biggest joke of all.

How much time do you need to seal the loopholes? This determined-to-drive man could had killed somebody while lawmakers stand around scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong. Can you imagine trying to explain to an innocent dead person’s family that their loved one had to die because of a loophole that has been there for more than 50 years and nobody has bothered to fix?

I also was disgusted  when I learned the man was only sentenced to 48 hours and license was suspended for only 90 days on his first offense. When are we going to learn if we are going to get drunks off the road we are going to have to make stricter laws and we are going to have to enforce them?

I don’t like sharing the road with a drunk and I shouldn’t have to.

Jerry Cooke Sr.
Radcliff