Constitution needs rereading
Indeed, the liberals have a point. The Constitution does need updating.
But you first need to comprehend that the Constitution is not a document for the government to restrain the people. It is a document for the people to restrain the government, as many have said.
It really needn't be rewritten, just reread.
Bill Gallagher
Signal Mountain
Stadium package made right points
The July 17 "Field of Dreams?" (Times Free Press, Perspective, page F1) package was excellent.
Ann Weeks laid out the compelling need for revitalization of the South Broad area for a better and revitalized Chattanooga.
Helen Burns Sharp delineated the critical details to do the job correctly for the financial safety of Chattanoogans.
Franklin McCallie
Pro-life should mean all life
Boy, am I naive. I helped install pro-life legislators with my vote. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, I believed they would flood the halls of government with law and policy proposals to provide support for all these new mothers and their babies. Instead, they are rapidly instilling a reign of terror and intimidation. I expected much better. I was horribly, tragically wrong.
I am still in favor of protecting unborn humans. Women whose lives or health is at risk, or women whose freedom and dignity have been brutally ripped from them by rape or incest, should have access to abortion without fear of consequences, either for them or the attending medical personnel. HIPAA protection should be immediately extended to women who request counseling regarding unplanned pregnancies
A pro-life position should defend the dignity of all life. I will not accept any less. I will not support a so-called pro-life candidate who will not also fight to protect women. To do any less would be to betray the pro-life values that have guided me for 50 years.
Herbert K. Lea
Chickamauga, Ga.
Stadium decision should be voted on
I have been following the debate about whether Chattanooga and Hamilton County should finance a new stadium for the Lookouts.
The question of whether this should happen carries significant consequences for the taxpayers of Chattanooga and Hamilton County. This is too big of an issue to be decided by a few elected officials and certainly not one to be made by lame ducks.
We need to have a referendum on the ballots for Chattanooga and Hamilton County so the voters can make this decision. One way or another, the results should be legally binding for at least four years. If a new stadium is the great deal that its supporters say it is, then they should be able to persuade a majority of the voters. Likewise for the opponents.
The pros and cons of a new stadium should be easy to convey to the voters, and the voters deserve to have a say in a contentious and consequential decision such as this one. I strongly urge the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County to make this happen.
Jim Olson
'Weeds' way off base on LIV
To say that TFP sports writer Mark Wiedmer is tone deaf is pretty much a redundancy, but his most recent foray into international politics was particularly cringeworthy.
Somehow, he felt it incumbent to criticize Tiger Woods - over whom he has repeatedly fawned in the past - for rightly being critical of other well-paid professional golfers for taking obscene amounts of blood money from Saudi Arabian tyrants to legitimize their bogus LIV "golf tour."
Wiedmer willingly fails to see that these golfers are cynical greed heads happily providing political cover to a corrupt and literally murderous foreign regime. Might we suggest that in the future "Weeds" confine himself to more suitable intellectual issues such as the quality of press box snacks in Lexington or Nick Saban's favorite Skittles flavor and leave international politics to the grownups.
Better yet, he might ask Jamal Khashoggi's surviving family members "who cares" if pampered American golfers accept bloodstained bundles of cash from butchering murderers, just so long as those golfers and their precious families are free to writhe upon said piles of cash like drug pushers, old-lady muggers and white-collar criminals.
Roy Morris Jr.
U.S. Pipe was valued employer
Much of the news today is what an eyesore the former U.S. Pipe property is.
I agree that today it is an eyesore for Chattanoogans and incoming visitors.
However, U.S. Pipe provided employment for many people for many years, including my husband for 47 years. He loved his job in production control.
Thanks, U. S. Pipe, for the 47 years.
Nancy Skiles
Hixson
Adopt, don't shop, for pets
In a recent column, Mark Kennedy (a writer I often agree with) wrote about a puppy he had just purchased. What? An intelligent person buying a dog?
Our state is drowning in perfectly wonderful dogs that are thrown into the streets simply because there are too many puppy mouths to feed. Why? Overpopulation is caused by dogs breeding (since not enough are neutered). So to buy a dog, rather than adopting an already born pup, is not helping the situation.
There are thousands of unique and loving dogs at Tennessee rescue organizations, all needing a great home like Mark and his family undoubtedly provide.
Please, Mark, consider adopting rather than shopping, when seeking another dog. You will save a life and influence people who read your column.
Anne G. Grindle
Sewanee
Rodeo rain hospitality shines
I would like to recognize Chuck Gass of the Davis Cattle Company, who recently hosted the Charles B. Davis Memorial Rodeo at Davis Cattle Company Arena in Ringgold, Ga., on July 8-9. We attended and had a great time in spite of a torrential downpour blowing horizontally that occurred during most of the rodeo. We all became damp.
Mr. Gass came around with several T-shirts that his company was selling to support the rodeo, and he put several shirts on my wife, who was shivering. When we tried returning the shirts after the rodeo, he said no, he wanted us to have the shirts.
This unsolicited kindness has made us firm fans of the Davis Cattle Company and the rodeo. Thank you, Mr. Gass!
John Kupkovits
Abortion best left to states
Given that the Constitution says nothing about abortion, returning its legality to the states is the correct decision.
Given the deeply held disagreement on this topic, this is a compromise position. Relevant but seldom reported data are: from HHS, about 80% of abortions are performed on single women; from the Guttmacher Institute (2004 data), 1.5% of abortions are performed for pregnancies following rape or incest; half of women who have had an abortion have had one previously; and an abortion is performed in the U.S. about every 35 seconds.
Abortion remains legal in about half the states, but it is not rare, and it is not safe for that other body, the fetus.
James W. Hiestand
(Editor's note: The above letter did not run in full last Sunday. This is the correct version.)