Collision response, traffic control praised in Red Bank
In the early evening of Nov. 19, I was involved in a minor collision in front of the Walgreen’s store on Dayton Boulevard when a young man accidentally ran a red light on the temporary traffic signal. Luckily, no one was hurt and damage to my vehicle was slight.
Officer Matt Goins responded to our call for assistance. Neither myself nor the young man and his fiancée in the other vehicle could have been treated with more consideration and respect than that provided by Officer Goins. He is a credit to his uniform and to the Red Bank Police Department.
In addition, I should mention how well the traffic issues at Dayton Boulevard and Ashland Terrace have been handled by Red Bank Police during the past few weeks. What seemed likely to be a miserable and chaotic situation has turned out to be of only minimal inconvenience. Gratitude to all concerned.
Janet Hope, Ph.D.
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Trump once liked Hillary Clinton
It would be interesting to know just how many readers could identify the person who said the following:
“Clinton would make a good president.” Published in Dallas Daily Mail.
“At a minimum, Clinton was a great senator.” CNNPOLITICS-CNN.com.
Clinton is a “terrific person.” Time magazine. This he said repeatedly.
“The economy does better under the Democrats.” Published in Forbes.
Answer: Donald Trump.
Once he became a presidential candidate, this is how much his tune changed: “Lock her up!” This chant was heard all over the country, and so began Trump’s contempt for our country’s judicial system, continuing to this day. His attack on Chief Justice Roberts and the judiciary clearly demonstrates his disdain for the checks and balances of our institutions and the rule of law.
He is profoundly authoritarian, undermining our Constitution and all our country’s values. The inscription on the Statue of Liberty has in every word been rejected by Trump.
Trump is driving the country apart when he should be uniting us, calling Democrats “an angry left-wing mob.”
If Trump is not a hypocritical political opportunist, there is no such thing as one.
John Bratton, Sewanee, Tenn.
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Republican Party -Trumpian Party
The Republican Party has been transformed into the “Trumpian” Party, with the personnel in the process of transformation readily relinquishing what little honor and ethics they possessed.
Some facets of Trumpianism are as follows: Conscience and compassion are impediments. Lying and deception and hidden motives are encouraged, e.g. conveying “patriotism” in various ways. Self-aggrandizement is the ultimate goal. The welfare of others and the country merit no consideration. Others are treated in any practicable manner regardless of legality and regardless of consequences to them in order to obtain desired ends. As indicated, there is no commitment to the law.
In effect Trumpianism is antipathetic to democracy. Relatedly, as indicated, it is bereft of a sense of values for others’ well-being and that of our country.
Our democracy was created by people, and people can well destroy it. It is not immutable. The recent House victory is encouraging, but the creeping threat to our democracy’s survival very much remains. We must not become complacent in light of one positive result. Our system remains the target of powerful forces intent on dismantling our democratic way of life.
A. Sheldon Gelburd
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Smokers are urged to quit for their health
Pure and simple: If you smoke you could now, or over time, get chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema. Smoking involves long-term permanent damage to tiny clusters of air sacs or alveoli in the lungs, where oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream, and carbon dioxide is released to be exhaled.
You should really stop smoking right now – today. Six months, and you feel as if you are like new again.
Ed Foster, Dayton
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‘Me’ the People may spell our doom
Something is upside down or just overthrown. The “we” in “We the People” has been enthroned by “Me the People.” Is our more “perfect Union” in Constitutional crisis or cardiac arrest? The heart of the Republic formed to “establish Justice” is attacked by narcissism and greed.
During times of crisis, we need return to WWI veteran Sen. Sam Ervin’s favorite Kipling poem, “Gods of the Copybook Ledger.” We need to read the Constitution.
Symmetry exits in this document of balanced equation. Article I grants “legislative Powers” to Congress. The plural of “Powers” demands deliberation – not Twitter.
Article II pertains to the president, but also electors, senators and representatives. The Founders forgot lobbyists. Power is shared by the Senate through advise and consent, not by force, but the logic of human thought, not Twitter.
The judicial power in Article III ensures law remains as evidence of our foundation.
If our “sacred Honor” is turned into lies, self-evident truths from the Declaration of Independence will die a slow death.
If “me” remains president, our Union will be divisible by fear, divided by faction; consequently, the “Blessings of Liberty” the Founders secured for us will be forever insecure.
Kemmer Anderson
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Immigration: There must be a better way
Clearly, immigration needs to be addressed.
Every country where people seek refuge has to have some kind of policy that takes into account both the people seeking to escape their circumstances and what the country can offer them in some reasonable way. But this present pandering to hatred and to the worst impulses of people to vilify the foreigner as less than human is horrifying and inexcusable.
This crisis at the border has been created and exacerbated by actions that no country, and particularly one with so much wealth and so many resources at its disposal, should ever take.
Google: Protecting Immigrant Families for ways to be helpful.
Rev. Kate Stulce
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Four reasons to expand Medicaid
Our legislature needs to use some common sense. Here are the reasons to expand Medicaid:
1. Two-thirds of Tennessee favors expansion.
2. Tennessee loses $1.4 billion each year by not expanding Medicaid.
3. 300,000 Tennesseans are denied health care because Republicans refuse to expand Medicaid.
4. Rural hospitals are closing as a result of our Republican legislature saying no to Medicaid expansion.
Rocky Renneisen, Signal Mountain
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Methodist pastor rewarded with watch
During the epidemic of 1878 (the subject of a recent Times Free Press story, “Road to sainthood: Catholic Church seeks OK to exhume priest who died in 1878 while tending sick during Chattanooga epidemic”), the Rev. John Wesley Smith, pastor of the Whiteside Street Methodist Church in Chattanooga (where the interstate now crosses South Broad Street), did so much caring for the sick and holding funerals, the people of the community gave him a gold watch.
Rev. Roy Howard, Holston Conference historian
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TVA’s Meigs County center will be asset
TVA’s plan for a new operations center in Meigs County is just what is needed to help this area grow. I can tell you this is a beautiful area. I will also tell you that this center is a great opportunity for Meigs County and for our children’s future.
I attended the information session about transmission line work to support the new TVA facility in Georgetown and learned about the impacts to our community, which are minimal.
Working with local residents, TVA has an emphasis on minimizing negative impact to the public. The investment that TVA is making in this rural area will spur growth, provide new high-paying jobs, enhance property values and increase tax revenues.
I retired from TVA with more than 30 years working in transmission. I know first-hand there is an incredible amount of planning that goes into a project like this. TVA will build a first-class facility, making the community proud. With that will come technical and construction jobs and ongoing economic benefits to the area.
I am happy to see TVA taking interest in Meigs County.
James S. Byerley