Now Dems want to work together?
I have read in this paper and heard on TV that President Trump has caused hate in America and also been blamed for storms, fires, COVID, protests and just about everything else. Before Trump was elected, Hillary called Trump supporters “deplorables”; Biden said we were dregs. Trump supporters were also called smelly Walmart shoppers, illiterate, uneducated and many other things – all from Democrats.
After the president won in 2016, Madonna said she was thinking of blowing up the White House. Johnny Depp asked: When was the last time a president was assassinated? Rep. Maxine Waters told people to get in the face of Trump’s supporters and run them out of places. Eric Holder, the former Obama attorney general, said of the phrase “when they go low, we go high,” we kick them when they are down; that is the new Democratic Party way. Some so-called comedian had a bloody head of President Trump. All liberals.
So who has the hate? Now the Dems want to blacklist all the people who worked under Trump. The Dems say they want to work together – not true. What has the Democratic Party done for the American citizens?
Mary Rominger
Ringgold, Georgia
Trump only wants Republican money
Donald Trump lied to Republican voters, telling them the tax cuts would benefit them. They didn’t. He lied to them about a health care plan. There is none. He lied to them about coronavirus. They are dying because of it. He continues to lie about the election results, but they still send him their hard-earned money. Trump has raised over $150 million supposedly to change the result of the 2020 election. Another lie – that money goes to a Trump PAC. Once out of office, Donald can use the money for virtually anything.
Donald Trump is an elite con artist, and Republican voters fall for his con every time. It doesn’t seem to matter to Republicans that Trump doesn’t care, even a little bit, about them or issues important to them. He will take their money and use it to pay his business debts and lawyers. Trump told us he would run as a Republican because, like all criminals, he targeted the easy mark. He knows lying to his supporters doesn’t matter as long as they continue to send him money.
Jonathan D. Nessle
Overlooking China threat is dangerous
In a recent Letter to the Editor, “Sister Cities provide valuable insight,” the writer demonstrates a dangerous naïveté about the potential threats of sister city partnerships with communist China when no oversight exists.
The partnerships were created to promote cultural understanding, but that does not remove what a political/economic adversary to the U.S. might do to gain an advantage.
In October 2020, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education warned that Chinese officials were cultivating relationships with county school board members and local politicians espousing communist propaganda through programs like the Confucius Classrooms. It is not a stretch to see how Beijing could use a similar strategy with sister city programs, especially without proper oversight.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s legislation seeks to establish a review process to determine if China, and others, are using these partnerships to exploit local communities. While the relationships seem harmless, and the officials low-level, America is waking up to the reality that these small inroads are how Beijing makes a large impact. In effect, Sen. Blackburn’s legislation says trust but verify.
Can a little sunshine and transparency be bad?
State Sen. Bo Watson
District 11, Hixson
Solar panels more trouble than worth?
Will promoting the use of solar-powered homes create more problems than solutions?
Chattanooga seems to be setting an example for other cities in terms of reducing pollution and being more environmentally conscious. In recent years, there has been an emerging trend to build eco-friendly, solar-powered houses that are appearing all over the city. We must remember that, as appealing as they seem, they are not a cure-all when it comes to our environmental impact. With solar panels becoming more common for individual households, one must wonder if the pros will outweigh the cons.
Solar panels can be good in the short term, but there will come a time when they reach the end of their lifespan and must be disposed of. Essentially, there aren’t any solid plans yet for what to do with this waste. Solar panels contain toxic materials that cannot be dumped at regular landfills for fear of them leaching into the soil. The more solar panels we construct now, the bigger this problem will be in the future. Solar power isn’t perfect, and if we dive head first into this trend, we could be setting ourselves up for potential disaster.
C. Diaz
Hoping best for U.S., though Dems didn’t
It’s strange the way human nature “trumps” logic. We don’t like to be called names. We reject someone we are repeatedly told is a racist, even though we have no evidence. Childish behavior by adults is unpleasant.
So “little” Bob Corker and “weak” candidate Mitt Romney turned against Trump. African and Jewish Americans ignored the good he did by embracing a party that uses them – expects, no, demands their allegiance but does little to promote their causes. Historically the Dems do more harm than good.
After the Trump administration completes the legal review of the cluster that was the election, Biden will be the next president. He brings a long record mostly void of anything positive. Let’s hope he remains the moderate he was. If not, we will have higher taxes and a weaker economy and military. We’ll coddle our enemies while showing disdain for our friends. Open borders and lawlessness will become the norm, an ideology that defies common sense.
However, unlike the resistance and unparalleled criticism for Trump we witnessed for four years, this educated deplorable hopes for a successful presidency which benefits all Americans, something the left never cared about but now amazingly does.
Jerry Finkle
Pandemic highlights opportunity to recycle
A lot of attention has been brought to the problem of recycling masks. Although it would be great to do something about the countless masks I’ve seen tossed on the ground, we don’t have an efficient or readily available way to recycle used masks.
What we do have the easy ability to recycle is the packaging that contains groceries and other products we order to avoid in-person shopping during a pandemic. The people of Chattanooga have easy access to cardboard recycling and some plastic container recycling, as well as paper and other potential packaging materials.
Many of us are in control of either carelessly disposing of these materials or consciously supporting a sustainable way to recycle or reuse them. If we care about our environment and how we use our resources, then we will take the time to keep reusable/recyclable items out of local landfills.
Ashley Ellis