Net neutrality: Hoodwinked again
In a recent letter to the editor, I found it humorous that the writer used the words “distorted logic” to attack Robin Smith’s commentary on net neutrality.
I admit “net neutrality” sounds fair. But government officials continue to give nice sounding names to dangerous regulations so that stupid American voters will be deceived.
Who remembers Nancy Pelosi saying, “We have to pass the bill (Affordable Care Act) so that you can find out what is in it?”
But we can no longer blame the stupidity of the American voters. We can now blame it on the stupidity of those who are blind to the truth.
The truth is this: There is no transparency in the Obama administration. The content of the FCC net neutrality ruling was withheld from us before the commissioners delivered their vote.
I still don’t have a copy of the 300-plus pages of the ruling. How’s that for distorted logic?
The headline of the letter to the editor should have been changed from “FCC wants to keep the Internet open” to “FCC wants to give the government control of the Internet.”
Ben Burke
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Republicans must stay in the middle
The critique of “far left” host Chris Matthews (March 2) and his opinion that for the Republicans to win a presidential race they should nominate a moderate candidate is missing a key fact.
Yes, indeed, moderate candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney both lost, but the reason they were defeated is significant.
McCain lost because he chose a far right, inexperienced loose cannon in Sarah Palin. Romney lost because he was poked and prodded by the extreme wing of the Republican party to incorporate views that were never part of his political makeup, and the electorate never knew the real “moderate” Romney.
Chris Matthews is exactly correct. If Jeb Bush stays where he’s comfortable, in the middle, and avoids the McCain/Romney mistake of being something he’s not, he will be the next president.
Republicans have no other choice.
Bob Moore
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The day the music died
On Dec. 30, I decided to go to Northgate Mall in search of marked-down Christmas albums at For The Record and leftover holiday CDs at FYE. When I made it to the end of the mall, I was stunned.
There in FYE’s window were several going-out-of-business placards. “Not again,” I sighed. Once the FYE sign was flipped to closed for the final time in mid-January, there were no more genuine new music retailers in Chattanooga.
Never did I think the day would come when there would be only two pure music retailers in this city. But it did.
A little over a year ago, the FYE store at Hamilton Place mall closed. And now the Northgate FYE is gone.
There’s now only four businesses in Chattanooga that stock new music — Best Buy (an electronics store), Barnes and Noble (a bookstore), Target and Wal-Mart. When compared to FYE’s vast inventory, the other four retailers’ CD selections are lacking.
Chattanooga also still has Chad’s, For The Record and McKay’s, which all sell music. But not a single one of these stocks anything new.
How are we supposed to keep the new music playing?
Rusty Wolfe
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Post seeks friends, family of vets
American Legion Post 107-Soddy-Daisy honors all veterans and their families who have passed away.
As part of this honor, Post 107 will be cleaning a neglected graveyard containing the graves of World War I veterans on Lee Pike known as Graham Cemetery.
The land was owned by Jack Graham and his sons Willard and Albert, who are World War I veterans. Willard Graham was U.S. Army, and Albert Graham was U.S. Navy. Albert’s wife was Bobbie Graham.
We are trying to contact anyone who knew these veterans or family members of these veterans, so both of these men can be honored. We plan to clean the cemetery and post flags at each grave.
Anyone with family information, please contact Melvin McMahen at 423-838-8566.
Melvin McMahen, Soddy-Daisy