For the past few months, the rhetoric and political antics of the three surviving presidential hopefuls have entertained us.
From all indications, the only thing these three have in common is they each recognize the fact that crime has finally become a major part of the woof and warp of America's economy. Why else have they not mentioned the rampant U.S. crime status as a part of their change-and-reform agendas?
Wake up America! Crime is big business! It boggles the mind to think how crime has become an accepted and profitable part of our society.

Not many years back, a deterrent that may have prevented someone from killing me or stealing my horse was a rope and a tree limb. While this method was not 100 percent effective, it did prevent repeat offenders.

Today, because crime is such a positive economic factor, there are practically no limits to man's inhumanity to man. Who in their mind would have guessed that a successful 21st century entrepreneur would be involved in teaching crime prevention, selling home security systems and protecting one's assets from identify theft?

The ignorant and unaware still consider the United States a nation of law. However, even a simple observation shows that the U.S. is a nation of lawlessness.

William P. Clark
Flowery Branch

Robber barons still among us today
"Robber barons" was a term used between the late 1800s and early 1900s. These people were referred to by Teddy Roosevelt as malefactors (criminals) of great wealth. They were people to be scrutinized, not admired.

During this period, there were no holds barred when it came to corporations and the wealthy. They were allowed to do anything to make a buck. There was very little or no tax for corporations or wealthy workers. Workers were exploited to the maximum and environmental and anti-trust laws were nonexistent, as were human rights issues.

Today, the people in power are direct descendants of these same families (Rockefellers, Carnegies, Vanderbilts, etc.), They have given the laws and control of our government back to the corporations and have left the working class and poor high and dry. We need to turn the laws back to the way they were in the late '50s and early '60s.

We need more true investigative reporting about corporate and political corruption, which means news media cannot be owned by oil companies, manufacturers or contractors involved in government contracts or any other corporation which could have a conflict or interest.

We need people with integrity and courage to speak our against the good-old-boy systems of corruption and greed. We do not need a mouthpiece for the rich and affluent such as George II has been.

David Sherman
Clermont