Illegal immigrants are eating our pets!
I have been calling, emailing and texting my friends since the presidential debate to alert them to bring their dogs and cats indoors when I learned that illegal immigrants are eating them. Most have thanked me.
One said that he has caged and locked his pets in his windowless basement.
Another said he has been busy transporting illegal prison immigrants to Erlanger for government-paid transgender operations.
Another said he had his pets in his bedroom to protect them with his AR-15 and Glock locked and loaded.
Another said he was busy transporting illegal immigrants to the election commission on Amnicola Highway to register them to vote in the upcoming elections.
We are grateful that our ex-president provided us this important information.
Herbert Thornbury
Walden Town Center supporters backed
As we approach another crucial election, it is vital for the residents of Walden to engage in discussions about the future of our community with both candidates for alderman, Lizzy Schmidt and Lou Ziebold.
The proposed Walden Town Center, as recommended by the planning commission and voted to be approved by Mayor Lee Davis, is essential for enhancing our quality of life and fostering a vibrant community. Only one candidate advocates that the town move forward with the proposed town center. That candidate is Lou Ziebold.
Unfortunately, on this issue, some residents have concerns about alleged conflicts of interest involving Schmidt. Her vote to maintain the status quo, while it may be good for her personally, is a detriment to the rest of us.
While some may resist change, it is clear that progress is inevitable, and the new town center is designed to beautifully enhance the environment and livability for all residents on Walden’s Ridge.
Let’s advocate for a brighter future.
Jon Cook
Walden, Tennessee
Recent debate accomplished little
The whole problem with the presidential debates is that they need to be more structured. The moderators should be given a list of hot topics, and they can only ask questions from the topics in that list. Each candidate should be given 60 seconds for a response or the option to pass. This is how the Kennedy-Nixon debates were done and the Reagan-Carter debates.
That way it was fine. The recent debate between Trump and Harris accomplished very little and probably only changed a handful of voters’ minds.
Charles Hyder
Dalton, Georgia
Offended ‘offensive’ language censored
I dislike both political parties but am interested in current events, including political happenings. For that reason, the Times Free Press’ opinion page structure, in which both the political right and left are represented, fits my needs very well. Its feature, The Rant, is particularly good. Comments from the far right, the left, comments that border on brilliant, and comments that are as dumb as a box of rocks all in one place. Great stuff; it represents what discourse in the U.S. should be.
TFP’s recent exclusion of Garry Trudeau’s cartoon strip of Sept. 8 flies in the face of this openness, however. Right-leaning readers have complained about “Doonesbury” in the past, so I assume that the strip’s use of “offensive” language — although redacted — was excuse enough for its censure.
The ironic thing is that seven of the eight panels of the censored comic strip contain all the “offending language” and are verbatim quotes from JD Vance made before he sold his political soul to become a vice presidential candidate.
I don’t care if the decision to exclude “Doonesbury” came from the TFP office in Chattanooga or from Arkansas. The next time that I can tell that you censor something — right or left — you will have lost me as a subscriber.
Richard McDearman
Do we want ‘liars’ representing us?
As we all know, our presidential election is right around the corner. In fact, early voting in Hamilton County begins in about four weeks.
I urge all who might be prone to vote Republican to think seriously before electing two men with questionable qualifications and morals. It’s no secret that Trump is a pathological liar. Now we know for sure that JD Vance is also a liar when it suits his purposes. He admitted to spreading debunked claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio and their neighbor’s pets. I’ll point out that they are legal immigrants. He has said that he will make up any story to get the media’s attention. This is dangerous and irresponsible.
The repercussions from the false story about the Haitians has caused schools in Springfield to close and more. Given the current climate, a misguided person who believes the lie may seriously injure an innocent immigrant.
Before voting for these admitted liars, ask yourself if you really want them to represent our country here and abroad. I know I don’t.
Cathy Dreger
Will we vote for the ‘demise of America’?
The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.”
Note that all eight verbs are positive.
Note that the capitalized nouns are positive.
Written in the summer of 1787, our founders had a positive vision.
Seventy-four years later, our Union barely survived the Civil War (1861-1865).
Some 159 years on, we continue striving to honor our Founding Fathers’ vision.
We will soon vote for our next president, whose leadership will determine how we move forward — constructively to “a more perfect Union” or destructively to the demise of our America.
Don’t let demise happen on our watch.
Mary Alice Wyatt
Sad that Gitz opposes progressive policies
I’m not sure why you give the time of day to Free Press contributing columnist Bradley Gitz. His most recent column on Sept. 15 is just one more example of his intense and irrational hatred of progressive policies.
Mr. Gitz, while trying to pretend to logically support his specious claim that the vast majority of Americans are conservative (a term that has certainly lost its meaning), uses “data” from the highly partisan Media Research Center. A quick trip to its website makes clear it dislikes progress policies.
Using “data” from MRC to support his argument is typical for Mr. Gitz, but it is beneath the Times Free Press to let this writer go on, unchallenged, to present what amount to lies as facts. While I fully support someone’s right to say whatever they want, I think reputable news media should use some discretion when choosing what to print or broadcast. Let Mr. Gitz self-publish on the outer edges of the internet, not in the CTFP.
Tom Purdy
Where is promised action on North Shore?
It’s been 11 months since a drunk driver killed two people in a road rage incident on Frazier Avenue. The city promised us a redesigned Frazier with a protected bike lane as well as repaving and restriping the street. None of this has happened yet. Speeding and racing on the North Shore remain commonplace and troublesome for pedestrians. The Market Street Bridge is a drag strip while River Street, circling through Coolidge and Renaissance Parks, is part of a continuous loop for sporty cars and loud motorcycles.
The vision statement for the campaign to make Chattanooga a National Park City imagines a place “where humanity and nature coexist in harmony.” Nothing could be further from that ideal than the constant revving of engines and loud backfiring of unmuffled cars and motorcycles as they race around the streets of the North Shore. Unfortunately, the city has turned a blind eye to the noise issue, severely degrading the quality of life on the North Shore. Until we make an effort to curtail these reckless drivers, the North Shore will remain their private speedway while the vision of a city where humanity and nature coexist in harmony will remain an empty promise.
John C. Reis