Cartoon shows what not to do at home
While I’m sure cartoonist Clay Bennett considers his drawing of a gun with a trigger lock and the key being thrown away (Friday’s cartoon) to be cool and topical, I hope anyone who may consider doing this, if they own a gun, will realize that if they bought the gun for home or personal protection, doing this turns the gun into an expensive rock.
Ted Austin, Chickamauga, Ga.
‘Gun safety’ laws not the answer
Obama just gave a speech calling for stricter gun control legislation, employing the latest euphemism of the control freaks, which is “gun-safety” legislation. He used the Oregon students’ tragic deaths to make his case against the NRA while their bodies were still warm. No doubt the Chattanooga Times editor will endorse Obama’s call to enforce greater control of people, for that is what gun-control legislation does.
One definition of insanity is making the same mistake over and over, expecting different results. Since Obama took office, every mass murder has incited control freaks to attempt to legislate stricter controls. And each time tens of thousands of Americans rushed out to buy a gun. As a result, there are exponentially more guns in America now than when Obama took office.
Progressives blame the NRA for these shootings. They’d do more to reduce gun violence by examining themselves. Obama’s agents employ force and violence to collect taxes, drop bombs, fire rockets from drones and kill indiscriminately. Progressives approve. Such violence only begets more violence. When soon thereafter crazies kills students indiscriminately, who is to blame?
Ned Netterville, Lone Oak, Tenn.
Paper fell short on Pope coverage
I agree with a recent letter writer on the TFP coverage of the pope. He is the most important person in our world today, and you put so little in your paper. I am not of his faith, but I watched him land in Cuba, watched him in all the other places he spoke, and watched him leave to go back home. Just because this is a Bible Belt state doesn’t mean you can’t cover other religions. Your paper has done this remarkable man an injustice. He was a delight to watch and listen to; you really goofed this up.
Shirley Newhard, Harrison
VP choice could be key
Hillary Clinton is 67 years old. She is overweight and under stress. A prime candidate for a heart attack!
I hope she picks a good, healthy person for a vice president running mate!
Larry Foster
GOP conspiracy began under Carter
The middle class in Germany, the Scandinavian countries and other progressive societies is doing much better than its American counterpart. This is due in part to a subtle but massive transfer of wealth from the American middle class to the super rich. In the 1970s, certain wealthy Republican ideologues became convinced our free enterprise system was under assault by unions, Ralph Nader’s consumer advocates, environmentalists, liberal economists and academia in general. They conspired to take over Washington, and with virtually unlimited funds, they recruited an army of lobbyists.
This Republican behemoth first exercised its awesome power when it emasculated President Carter’s 1978 tax reform bill. This law ended up doing little for lower-income people for whom it was intended but substantially reduced capital gains taxes and created new tax loopholes for the wealthy. This was a major shift in Washington politics, and the momentum has never slowed no matter who holds power. Add in Reagan’s 40 percent increase in military spending without raising taxes, George W.’s Iraq war and lopsided tax cuts for the wealthy, and we have the picture of how we wound up with the greatest wealth/income disparity since 1928.
George B. Reed Jr., Rossville