Friday, January 1, 1904
Thank you, Judy Walton, for the excellent exposé on the 10th Judicial District. Articles like this make your newspaper relevant.
Mr. Steve Bebb, district attorney and boss for the 10th District, states Mr. Hall, director of the drug task force, resigned possibly from embarrassment due to improprieties. Bebb implies that any problems in the drug task force were due to misconduct on the part of Mr. Hall. A district attorney general should always be held responsible for his underlings and their actions. If he can't control them, fire him.
Bebb states that unless financial impropriety is pointed out to him, he pays no attention to it. Public funds must be strictly accounted for. It would appear the attitude was: "Steal as much as you like as long as it doesn't make waves."
Clearly Bebb is negligent, incompetent or culpable, possibly all of the aforementioned, and certainly not up to the task of supervising this organization. Bebb should be promptly fired and held accountable for his wrongdoings. When the law is broken in order to "uphold" it, we are all in jeopardy. This would be a comedy of errors except it's no comedy when the public trust is abused.
JIM HOWARD
Bob Smietana of the Tennessean wrote an article, published by this newspaper (Aug. 18), about a personal Facebook post of mine. He said I claimed there were "too many people on food stamps" and indicated my solution was to "stop feeding them." This is false.
When he asked what my post meant, my explanatory statement to him, in full, was this: "The obvious point of the post is that government can foster and create dependence on government. Human beings can become reliant on the government. Ironically the government even recognizes that beings can become reliant on others for their well-being, but doesn't seem to see that when it comes to human beings. Government creating human dependence on government demeans human dignity and is antithetical to human freedom government is intended to protect."
It is clear Mr. Smietana drew his own, wrong conclusions from that statement. It's not the first time, and it probably won't be the last.
DAVID FOWLER
Franklin, Tenn.
Bicyclists proclaim they have a "public right" to the streets, but I ask what is involved in securing that right?
In order to operate my vehicle on a public street, I have to take a state-mandated driving test, secure a state-issued driver's license, purchase state-mandated automobile insurance, carry proof of insurance in my vehicle at all times (mandated by the state), pass a county-mandated emission test in order to purchase a state-mandated tag for my vehicle, and then follow all state/county/city laws pertaining to vehicles on public highways/streets/roads.
The driving test, license, insurance, testing and tag all involve me spending hard-earned money in order to drive my vehicle. What is state/county/city-mandated to pedal a bicycle on public streets, and how much does it cost the bicyclist?
The three-feet rule -- most of the time when I leave that distance between me and the bicyclist, my vehicle is crossing over the center line on the road I am traveling. If a car is approaching in the opposite direction -- I have to come to a complete stop to allow the vehicle to pass before going around the bicyclist.
BETTI TEMPLETON
Does Chattanooga need another hospice? This is an interesting question and not at all on point with the matter at hand. What you might want to ask is: Does Chattanooga need more jobs? Or, does Chattanooga deserve better health-care options? Or, does Chattanooga deserve more end-of-life care choices? Or, any other of several questions that would help our citizens and, your readers, get to the heart of the matter.
It's interesting that there is such a fuss being raised over the idea of providing more and better care choices to families facing end-of-life health-care decisions. This is an important matter, and the legal blather surrounding this matter is proof positive that the business of health care can, if left unchecked, dampen the quality of care that a community gets from the system serving it.
Chattanooga deserves all the health-care resources it can get. And the greater community of caregivers and health care providers should embrace with enthusiasm new resources to support the mission of caring for our community -- not try to stomp them out for business reasons that defy the logic of providing care to the community.
DAVID C. McDONALD
The Democrats claim Romney bought companies, then bankrupted them and made millions of dollars. I don't think even Barack Obama could do that even with government coercion and the courts circumventing contract law (like they did with GM and Chrysler). However, if Romney is that smart, why don't they have him tell them how to get the $500 million back from the bankrupt Solyndra and other solar power companies to which the Energy Department gave taxpayer money and have now gone bankrupt.
MAURICE SCHMOLL
Signal Mountain
A physician wrote criticizing "Mr." Charles Krauthammer's alleged ignorance of the cost and effort involved in completing a medical education (column, Aug. 13). She is obviously ignorant of some important facts herself.
The accident that left Krauthammer a paraplegic for life occurred during his first year at Harvard Medical School. Nevertheless, this remarkably intelligent, gifted and determined man combined a year of rehabilitation with his medical studies, graduated with his class, and went on to become a board-certified psychiatrist. He is now a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist.
So that's "Dr." Krauthammer to you, ma'am.
JOSEPH A. REHYANSKY