Jay GreesonA day or so before the worst act of violence against an American police force since 9/11, did you see the social media exchange our two presumptive candidates for president had?
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton looked more like candidates for a middle school student government position than the top spot in the free world.
The latest flap, of course, is about what The Donald did or didn't intend with a social media message that was viewed by a lot of folks as anti-Semitic. To account for that, The Donald referenced a star on a box on a toy with the images from the Disney movie "Frozen."
Not to be outdone by her counterpart, The Hillary offered on her Twitter account, "Do you want to build a straw man" because, well, this is now officially junior high.
How in the world can anyone explain to the average American that the best our two major political parties can offer is Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? How is that even remotely possible?
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Speaking of Hillary, the FBI's decision not to prosecute the presumed Democratic presidential nominee over her handling of email while she served as secretary of state was not lost on social media.
In fact, #MoreTrustedThanHillary was atop the trending topics on Twitter on Wednesday. Here are few of my own suggestions:
* Drinking a Bill Cosby-made cocktail;
* Jared Fogle during Subway's Bring Kids to Work day;
* A cool glass of tap water from the Flint, Mich., Kangaroo bathroom;
* A friendly offer to see O.J.'s kitchen cutlery;
* Drive-thru sushi;
* Being a census taker for Dr. Hannibal Lector.
A real Saturday star
Gang, meet Sgt. Danny Jones, a member of the Chattanooga Police Department's gang unit.
Jones, like everyone in blue in these days, knows that the public approval rating of cops right now is not the best.
"There is a perception out there right now and you know what that can do - it leads to people believing things, whether they are true or not," Jones said. "We want to restore the perception back to that police officers are people who care and aren't these worst-case scenarios we hear so much about."
It's a noble goal, to be sure. Jones, though, is not only wishing for a better now; he's acting on it.
With some fellow officers and some of his church friends at Silverdale Baptist, he has started Restore Hope ministry, which aims to restore the connection between police officers and inner-city kids, as well as restore the connection with Christ for a lot of kids who are on that line between good and evil.
"All the violence around the city and even around the nation, one of the things I see is the disconnect with our kids," he said. "There is no one reaching toward them, especially at an early age.
"I had a gang member tell me one time, 'If you don't get them, I'm going to.' That was a challenge to me, and I took it personally."
To that end, Jones and Co. have raised more than $7,000 - a majority of that through the help a local Fazoli's restaurant - to send a group of more than 50 local inner city kids to Kids Across America camp later this month. (For those looking for more information, you can contact Jones at fcpo587@gmail.com.)
Well done, sir.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343. His "Right to the Point" column runs on A2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.