Veterans and all of us are suckers
It's been confirmed. All those who have served in the military are suckers. John Kelly, four-star Marine general and the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, has confirmed that the former president of the United States, the former commander in chief of our armed forces, is someone "that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all 'suckers' because 'there is nothing in it for them.'"
Kelly went on to describe Trump as "a person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women. A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law." He concludes: "God help us."
As a veteran, I guess I'm a sucker, but I suggest all the rest of us are too.
Rick Platz
A trillion here, a trillion there. So?
The Times Free Press reported recently that President Biden announced another $9 billion in student loan forgiveness, adding billions more to loan "forgiveness" now totaling $127 billion since he took office. This despite the Supreme Court having ruled previously that the executive branch does not have the authority to appropriate federal tax dollars without congressional authorization.
Just another ho-hum moment in the cascade of government overspending and annual budget deficit, which at the end of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 was somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 trillion, a number mostly incomprehensible. But a moment's thought recognizes that spending billions here and there beyond the boundaries of a budget means that this money must be borrowed and eventually paid back — paid back with interest, the interest alone now accounting for 10% of all federal spending, or more than $600 billion each year and soon to exceed even the massive amounts we spend annually on the military. And all of this borrowed government money to be paid back eventually by everyone's children and grandchildren, the national debt now reaching $33,000,000,000,000 — too many zeroes to comprehend.
As justification for his action, President Biden referred in his announcement to borrowers' "unsustainable debt." Which ironically is exactly the point.
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Ga.
Elected to 'serve,' not work a 'job'
Please, broadcast news writers and anchors, stop referring to a mayor's, a senator's, a representative's or a president's duties as a "job." The term in the "Merriam-Webster sense" is job, but we elect these people to work for us. They are not hired. My argument is that an elected official will often do obvious and not-so-obvious things to hold on to what they come to think of as a "job." The term "serve" is more appropriate. If one is serving constituents, the work is not about staying an elected official but doing what is best for us — the people.
Politicians are supposed to serve us. With that small shift in thinking about the term "job," maybe elected officials can and will spend less time trying to stay in power and more time actually doing the work our cities, states and country need.
So give it a try. Quit calling it a job. Maybe it will not only shift elected officials' thinking, but people will vote based on good or bad service.
Pat Ralston
Soddy-Daisy