Friday, January 1, 1904
When I reflect that "God's justice will not sleep forever" as Thomas Jefferson said, I am referring to what dominates the right-wing faction of the Republican Party today. The very ones who subscribe the most to our motto "In God we trust."
They are destroying the middle class and are trying to devastate benefits to the poor, disadvantaged, children, and the elderly; everything Franklin Roosevelt put into place.
Big money has taken over their party. Rush Limbaugh, Grover Norquist and the NRA call the shots. Where is a Bob Dole, Howard Baker, Everett Dirksen, Gerald Ford or any other responsible Republican who loves this country more than money? We need them now!
Bruce Bartlett, a Reagan aide, said Ronald Reagan couldn't be elected today. Reagan raised taxes 11 times while in the White House, and the Republicans raised the debt ceiling six times under George Bush. Norquist has Republicans signing pledges saying they won't raise any taxes. If they do, he is coming after them with millions of dollars from corporations. Most of them are so scared they might lose their seats they wouldn't vote to raise taxes for a White Horse for the second coming of Jesus.
Is it time to change our national symbol from a bald eagle to a dollar sign? Seems like it is!
WILBOURNE C. MARKHAM
Walden, Tenn.
The problem with Rhonda Thurman is not the possible insinuations in her slavery statement. The problem goes much deeper.
How can one school board member have so much influence on a county's education system? How can she be too busy to meet with a superintendent? How can her credentials be given more deference than those of a Ph.D.? What does it bode for the future of Chattanooga when advanced degrees and talent can be so easily denigrated?
How can the idea that Hamilton County's public education should return to the days of a rural and urban split? Why can't our school system bring all of our students the best instruction possible?
If Mrs. Thurman and her John Bircher crowd get their way, will segregation be next?
In the 19th century, the city planners of Bismarck, N.D., built its Capitol on a hill away from the town. They envisioned a future when the Capitol would be surrounded by a spreading city.
Are there such visionaries in Chattanooga? Can anyone see a future that includes an all-encompassing education for the citizens of our town rather than a return to the days when those who in the not-too-distant past were systemically favored?
IAN CLAUDIUS SMITH
Signal Mountain