Forget the border; help Ukraine, Israel
The U.S. Senate is holding up funding for Ukraine and Israel, contingent upon adding funds for immigration control at the Southern border.
About $20 billion has been passed already and designated for building a wall at the Southern border. President Biden requested these funds be changed to allow for efficient and effective management of the border. This request was denied.
Instead of wasting money on border control, how about using the $20 billion for Ukraine and Israel to protect lives and preserve democracy? Time is of the essence there.
Betty Ann Allgood
Marion decision puts revenue over people
The majestic South Cumberland Plateau continues to be brutalized by extractive practices like quarrying, particularly in Marion County. Beginning 175 years ago, the assault was from coal and logging operations. Once the coal was gone, many folks were left without a way to make a living. Today, thanks to the preservation of nature’s natural gifts and scenic places, people are drawn more than ever to the Plateau to live and to visit — creating a growing, sustainable economy.
In Grundy County, that bright economy is protected by a law called the County Powers Act (CPA). Without zoning in rural areas, this act protects residents from “nuisances” such as quarrying within a mile of where they live. Relying primarily on the CPA, Grundy County won a court battle against Tinsley Sand and Gravel, but not before massive clear-cutting and window-rattling blasting, quarrying and hauling within 50 feet of homes had begun.
Waiting on an appeal, Tinsley is on the move again, but this time in Marion County in a community called Jump Off, a bucolic stretch between Sewanee/Midway and Franklin State Park. Marion County — unlike Grundy — has made a decision not to protect its Plateau residents, voting against adoption of the County Powers Act.
Tragically, like the industrialists of old, Marion has chosen revenue over people, giving Tinsley a green light to continue decimating the Plateau, this time truly threatening a sustainable way of life.
Lucy Keeble
Monteagle, Tenn.
Vance has lost all his credibility
Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio has written to the attorney general and the secretary of state demanding that they investigate Washington Post editor Robert Kagan and his wife (a state department official). Kagan recently published an editorial warning of Donald Trump’s increasingly open plans to govern as a dictator should he be elected president in 2024. Vance did not approve of Kagan’s editorial and wants him punished for writing it. Let’s get this straight: A U.S. senator is demanding that a newspaper editor be punished for writing an editorial. Apparently Vance has forgotten anything he ever knew about the First Amendment.
It is tempting to brush Vance off as yet another ignorant yahoo of the sort Donald Trump attracts in large numbers, but he is not. He is the author of a well-received book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” that when published before the 2016 election seemed to predict and explain the reasons behind Trump’s election. In those days Vance had a reputation as a conservative intellectual, but he discarded all that in his disgraceful run for the Senate last year, during which he kowtowed to Trump for an endorsement.
My copy of “Hillbilly Elegy” is now in my garbage can ready to be discarded with the rest of the trash. Hopefully, in 2024 the United States will discard Donald Trump and his followers too.
David Cofield
LaFayette, Ga.