Be prepared; get a gun
The recent killing of the four Marines and Naval officer is a deeply disturbing event.
However, in today’s politically correct speech era we probably can’t call him a Muslim terrorist. He may be a challenged person who also could be psychotic or autistic or ADHD, a nonsexual preference person, not mentally or physically challenged that would mysteriously choose to selectively shoot American military personnel.
His ethnicity and religion are irrelevant, according to our liberals who run this country.
It will lead to more profiling of Muslims. Have you ever heard of a radical Baptist killing a bunch of people for no explainable reason?
I’m sure all of us are deeply saddened by this horrific event. It is a shock we never expected.
The liberals will suggest more gun control. I have guns in every desk at my business. I am prepared for events such as this. I may still lose, but I have a chance. Are you prepared?
Preparation is simple and fairly inexpensive. Consult an expert at your local shooters supply. Buy the best gun you can afford; it’s your life.
Jim Howard
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TFP praised; scolded for ad
First I would like to commend your many reporters for the coverage given to the unfortunate tragedy which occurred on Thursday.
Following my commendation I would like to condemn the thinking that a sticker advertisement had to be placed over the pictures of one of the Marines on the banner of Saturday’s newspaper.
It would appear to me that there are sufficient advertisements in each daily edition that these “stickers” have to be placed over a banner that was considered important enough to be a banner. Shame on the staff that allowed this to happen.
Melvin Willett
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Stories reflect sadness, beauty
Two details from a recent edition of the TFP have the tears flowing again:
Randall Smith Paulding, like me a father of three daughters, “shared a picnic on the Riverwalk with the girls and his wife Thursday morning, just hours before the attack.”
“Early Saturday morning, neighbors gathered to weed-eat around Abdulazeez’s driveway, cut the grass and water the lilies.”
What a sad and beautiful world we live in.
Mohsin Ali, M.D.
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Make homeland a national priority
I would like to make a statement about the horrific tragedy that happened on Thursday right in our backyard.
This is devastation in our backyards. It is time to stop worrying about a nuclear deal with Iran and recognize the immediate and urgent need to homeland security. We are a nation at risk. We need bold, decisive leadership to guarantee the liberties we enjoy, liberties that are slipping through our fingers.
McCain, a veteran I admire and respect, made the irresponsible statement, “Trump’s statement brought the loonies out.”
Ladies and gentlemen, you and I, the good folks in your neighborhood, the police who keep us safe at night, the border patrols who secure America’s front doors, men and women who love freedom and have courage to defend us … are the crazies he is talking about, those of us who are willing to raise our voice and boldly declare, enough is enough.
I, for one, am sick and tired of it and I intend to make a difference.
George Hamillton III
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Hate will be undoing of America
Hate is a cancer! A highly respected man from Sewanee, Tenn., Theron Myers, my Sunday school teacher at one time, made this statement.
It wasn’t until years later that I enforced this as a classroom rule at South Junior High, where I taught school for 26 years. The word hate was not spoken in my classroom.
Hate is seeping into every fiber of our being today – our families, our schools, our communities, into the very young and the very old. Hate destroys!
And yes, it eats away at your sense of well-being. I don’t care how many flags you fly, guns you tote, words you spew, demonstrations you have – your hate will be the undoing of you! Our country will weep real tears when hate wins.
Instead of joining together in efforts of rebuilding, renewing – hate is winning. I work at not hating. I work at rebuilding and, most of all, I work at finding the goodness that is a gift to all, but one has to want it and seek it and above all, live it.
Carol VandenBosch, Sewanee, Tenn.
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Public defender’s comments reflect bias
I understand that when emotions are running high, social media make it far too easy for people to say things better left unsaid.
Still, Hamilton County Public Defender Steve Smith showed an appalling lack of judgment and professionalism with his Facebook post regarding last week’s shootings (TFP 7/19).
His asinine reference to “Barack Hussein Obama” (a hackneyed insinuation that the president is Muslim) and the implication that he therefore tacitly sympathizes with Islamic terrorists (a gross misrepresentation of all Muslims) should make us question Smith’s ability to separate fact from fiction and avoid bias, qualities any public defender should have.
Certainly if I were a Muslim resident of Hamilton County, I would have no confidence that a man given to that kind of prejudicial rhetoric could represent me fairly.
I hope that come election time, voters remember this ugly glimpse behind the curtain.
Allison Gorman
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Did police make call to intercept shooter?
The local shootings this past week were very tragic for our city and nation. Many laudatory remarks have been made by our leaders about the police and others.
After reviewing many of the items in newspapers and on TV, one question comes to mind. If the original shootings occurred on Lee Highway and the police chased the shooter all the way to Amnicola Highway and then toward town, when did these police call forward to set up roadblocks to stop this shooter?
I believe that the city police headquarters is on Amnicola Highway near where the shooter was killed. Couldn’t quick reaction have averted much of this tragedy?
If the police chasing this killer did call forward to try and stop him, I must apologize, but I never heard about this at any time.
Bennie S. McFather, Ooltewah