A few questions about stadium project
A friend and I were discussing the new baseball stadium project. A few comments:
1) Why has the foundry property been an undeveloped eyesore for nearly 20 years? Maybe the developers who bought the site were waiting for scrap prices to go up. If our public servants were so concerned with image, why wasn't the site condemned and at least the buildings taken down.
2) Assuming the project will proceed, who will be responsible for cost overruns? It's hard to imagine the stadium as visualized being built one to three years out at or under budget.
3) Is a 30-year lease with the Lookouts for the new stadium out of the question? This of course would match the life of the proposed bond issue.
4) What is to be done with AT&T Field? Will it sit empty for 20 years like the foundry site? Will the ballpark be torn down, and if so who will be in charge of that project and who will benefit?
Just asking for a curious friend.
Jackson Taubert
Signal Mountain
Stadium complex focuses on future
One of the first things that you see as you come around Moccasin Bend is the forgotten and dilapidated foundry. The proposed stadium complex is not only going to serve the purpose that it is intended, it also shows that the people of Chattanooga are looking ahead to the future.
The proposed stadium complex says that the people have enough confidence in the Chattanooga area that we are building a great opportunity, not only for athletics, business and expansion, we are looking ahead and saying that the youth of the area deserve it.
The image of what is proposed is letting drivers on the highway, as they come around Moccasin Bend, see that the Chattanooga area is looking ahead, thinking about tomorrow, not what was, but, what will be.
Mark Grantham
Lookout Valley
Make abortion safe, legal and very rare
Since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion June 24, there seems to be an avalanche of news stories about abortion and what the 50 states are doing to permit or deny abortion, and an equal avalanche of opinion pieces for and against the decision and what that decision and state and even local legislation mean to the pregnant mother, and to our society.
In just the last seven days, our local TFP ran news stories, one analysis, two left-side opinion pieces and two right-side opinion pieces. The Sunday analysis piece, "The role of personhood in debate about abortion," is the closest I have seen to really talking about this member of the human race that is being killed.
No debate is going to resolve this issue, at least not in a couple of lifetimes, or mine, I think. We need to make abortion safe, legal, and extremely rare now, to paraphrase President Clinton. Both sides need to work extremely hard to support families, mothers and fathers so that women virtually never want to abort their babies when pregnant. When are we going to put our time, our resources and, yes, our money to this end?
John Hubbard
Naming it 'Christian' does not make it so
The naming of an institution, organization or country does not make it Christian. An institution, organization or nation does not contain a human soul. The work of God through Christ is for his divine human creation. To be a Christian is to have Christ become a part of your heart or your center of being.
No, a nation cannot be Christian. Those who have given their lives to Christ can be part of the nation. Hopefully, their influence led by the very presence of God would help a nation. The danger of wanting to name something Christian that is not human cheapens the work of God.
The Rev. Howard Finster, the wonderful Georgia artist, once told me: "People say to me that I do not understand politics. But I remind them I was a Baptist pastor for over 20 years, and I do understand politics." It is interesting we want to portray ourselves as Christian without seriously considering that first we must seek the direction of God.
Placing a Corvette sticker on my old truck does not make it a Corvette. Just as T-shirts, hats and guns do not make a Christian.
Bruce Sloan
Ringgold, Ga.
Biden, administration 'a bunch of liars'
Biden told us the Afghanistan withdrawal was a success. It wasn't. Thirteen U.S. soldiers were killed, and over $80 billion of U.S. military equipment and weapons were left for the Taliban, who have taken over the country. The Biden administration told us the border is secure. It isn't. Millions of illegal aliens have flooded our country and are costing taxpayers billions. Biden told us if we get the vaccine, we wouldn't get COVID. That was a lie. Those vaccinated get COVID just as much or more than the unvaccinated. A year ago, the Biden administration told us inflation was transitory. Inflation is still here and is not going away anytime soon. Biden told us this July we won't be in a recession. That was a lie. We've now had two successive quarters of negative GDP. And that has been the definition of a recession for decades.
Biden and his administration are nothing but a bunch of liars. Nothing this administration does is any good for this country. Everything Biden has done has been a failure, unless his intent is to destroy this country. And in that, he's succeeding.
Gary Hayes
Ooltewah
Pregnancy test equals citizenship?
Many states are planning to include a fetal personage clause - a fetus is a person at the moment of conception - into their anti-abortion legislation. A pregnant woman in Texas is currently fighting a traffic ticket because she was cited as being alone in an HOV lane, but under Texas law since she is 34 weeks pregnant, that puts two people in the car.
Aside from tax deductions, dependent benefits and a slew of other incentives to have children, United States law also grants citizenship to every child born on U.S. soil, except if your parents are diplomats. What does that mean to all the immigrants, legal or otherwise, who get pregnant in Texas? Congratulations, your fetus is now considered a U.S. citizen and can no longer be deported. You no longer have to trek across hundreds of miles of desert hoping to somehow cross the border and give birth on U.S. soil. No, all you have to do is get the timing right and show the INS agents those two bars on your positive test. Welcome to the United States of America.
Bill Hubers
East Ridge
Criminal culpability of Trump is proven
The Jan. 6 Select Committee has proven beyond reasonable doubt the criminal culpability of Donald Trump in his attempt to destroy our democracy. All of his efforts failed due to the brave witnesses who testified at the hearings. We should forever be grateful to them. Truth matters.
It is easy to understand why Trump took the actions he did to create the insurrection at the Capitol. He is a raving egomaniac and a pathological liar with a narcissistic personality disorder and a buffoon.
What is difficult to understand is the idol worship and zombie adherence of his followers. Do they believe they are unable to use their own intelligence and free will to deal with the uncertainties of life? Do they find meaning in their lives by attaching themselves to Trump.
Trump is a racist homophobe and tribal. He gives his followers the right to the same, without apology. They follow Trump because he gives the illusion they can fulfill their destiny, be a hero in their own chaotic world and do something which will make them immortal.
Erskine Mabee