To the local protesters of COVID-19 closure regulations and social distancing (Sunday Times Free Press, page A1 “Chattanooga protesters say liberty is under attack in city and state response to coronavirus pandemic”).
With our Constitutional freedoms come patriotic responsibilities. Ignorance and irresponsibility while free, are neither constitutionally protected nor patriotic (i.e., use of illegal drugs, reckless use of firearms and even speeding). Neither is the gross negligence and apparently illegal child abuse of exposing unprotected children, or the rest of your family, various acquaintances, your grocery clerk, or the first responders who will risk their lives, and the lives of their families, as a result of your ignorant stunt and your group stupidity.
I also hope that former election commissioner Brandon Lewis’ exposure as a self-consumed ignoramus reflects appropriately on his political future. I’ve actually studied the Constitution. Maybe the irresponsible protesters should also.
Hank Hill
Endangered Species Act is endangered
With all the congressional drama happening in Washington, D.C., I don’t want to forget about one of our most fundamental environmental laws: the Endangered Species Act. Passed practically unanimously in 1973 during the Nixon administration, the Endangered Species Act protects our imperiled plants, wildlife and habitat, and recognizes that they “are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people,” according to the Act’s preamble.
Let’s add economic value to that list. According to a 2017 report by the Outdoor Industry Association, the outdoor recreation economy generates $887 billion in consumer spending, 7.6 million jobs, $65.3 billion in federal tax revenue, and $59.2 in state and local tax revenue. Yet, without clean habitats and biodiversity, we wouldn’t have the privilege to enjoy the prosperity that comes from the recreation industry.
Right now, some members of Congress are promising to gut the Endangered Species Act to make way for fossil fuel development in critical habitat areas, including our public lands. We need the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws to protect our disappearing wildlife and public lands. Our senators should protect the Endangered Species Act.
Ken Youmans
McCaysville, Georgia
King’s arrests part of history
I just read in your paper recently that M.L. King’s record may be expunged in Fulton County, Georgia! What’s next?
Powers that be have already done away with Confederate statues. Are we also gonna erase World War II, Korean War and Vietnam? Many precious men and women gave their lives for our country!
You can’t just erase history. Already some folks deny the Holocaust. Though it might not be one of MLK’s better historical moments in time, I think it was done as a protest and not for a crime, and it deserves to be remembered as part of the great man’s history.
Debbie Pataky
Lookout Mountain, Georgia