Questions citizens may be pondering
Questions: If it’s not enforced and there are no consequences, is a law still a law?
Why did I work to pay my way through high school, college and professional school when I could have borrowed money to do so and then have the taxpayers pay the bill?
Why do people believe in the rule of law for everybody but themselves?
Does anyone really believe the legal system has not been politically weaponized and will continue to be?
Considering their respective voluminous shortcomings and deficiencies, and please don’t deny that they exist, and regardless of your political affiliations and what you have been told by the media, others and political ads, which presidential candidate do you honestly believe will better have the ability to best represent the values that you will then have on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of America’s independence?
Claudos Spears
Young Harris, Georgia
Don’t make mistake of taller buildings
I grew up on Miami Beach, and it was a paradise until the 1980s when 20-plus story condos were allowed to be built on every inch of waterfront property. [Local] planning commission member Matthew Lyle is correct — “12 stories is enough” (10 is better).
The issue isn’t just aesthetics; more importantly, it is population density. Chattanooga’s two-lane road infrastructure cannot handle the addition of hundreds of people instantly located in a small tract of land.
Developers never seem to incur the expense of improved traffic infrastructure, but taxpayers eventually do.
Stephen Weinberg
Harrison
District attorney saluted for stand
District Attorney Coty Wamp is to be commended for speaking clearly, fearlessly and truthfully in calling out the political posturing and “race baiting” from the group of faith leaders surrounding Police Chief Celeste Murphy’s indictment and removal.
Their message — that the color of one’s skin is more important than the content of one’s character — is offensive and beyond ignorant.
Being held accountable for one’s actions, being honest, following the rules, obeying the law, doing the right thing — whatever one’s circumstances or station in life — is what makes a person a solid citizen and a decent human being worthy of respect.
Paul Mallchok
Supporting Trump the unforgivable sin
The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17). Mark 3:28-29, Luke 12:10 and Matthew 12:31-32, “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” Anybody overlooking sin, denying God’s authority and actively opposing his will has committed the unforgivable sin. Supporting or voting for Trump is the unforgivable sin.
David Bean
Chatsworth, Ga.
Still won’t vote for felon Trump
I watched the debate and agree Joe Biden did a bad job (I support Biden).
Trump didn’t do much better as he still talked about a stolen election, still has 34 felony convictions, still has cheated on all his wives and asked for 11,780 votes in Georgia.
Pay attention to what Trump has said, and vote for Biden on Nov. 5.
Joel Blake
Conservatives of yore wouldn’t like Trump
If a man like Donald John Trump had come along, say, 25 years ago, acting the way he does, I’m satisfied that even the most hard-core conservatives would have been completely blown away and disgusted by his childish antics.
Here are some juicy examples for starters.
› Remember how your hero said he would build the border wall and Mexico would pay for it? Did anyone fall for it?
› Did you hear Trump with your own ears talk about how if NATO nations didn’t pay what he thinks they should be paying, he would give his buddy Vladimir Putin the green light to “do whatever the hell” he wants?
› Now to all so-called military supporting conservatives: It’s a fact. He called dead U.S. soldiers “suckers and losers,” and he used a quack doctor to say he had “bone spurs” to avoid military service.
If you’re a staunch Trumper, I bet none of these facts will phase you because he’s your man regardless of what he does or says.
Keep in mind, these are just a select few of the craziest examples of the Trumpian world.
Calvin Henderson
Vote for straight Democratic ticket
Enough already, Tennessee needs a political realignment.
The Republican Party’s control over Tennessee must come to an end. The GOP has failed to properly represent our interests and values ever since they gained complete control over the state government in 2011.
Under disastrous Republican rule, poor and working-class Tennessee families have the highest tax burden while wealthy corporations pay no state income tax.
The Tennessee GOP is not a conservative party; it is an extremist party. Their extreme gun policies have caused gunshot wounds to be the leading cause of death for Tennessee children. Their extreme abortion policies force our sisters, mothers and daughters to give birth even in cases of rape and incest.
In a functioning democracy, our politics have to be realigned when our government leaders fail to represent us. I urge all of my fellow Chattanoogans to vote for the Democratic Party up and down the ballot on Aug. 1 and again on Nov. 5.
Tennessee Republicans will be forced to rethink their own political agendas if they are shown their extremist policies cost them our votes on Election Day. And then both parties will be able to come together to properly represent our interests and values.
Brandon Denley
Hixson
Revolution reminder for ‘prophet’ Roberts
Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation has assumed the role of prophet [in] foreseeing a second American revolution, bloodless if the left lets it be.
Perhaps Roberts needs to be reminded that the American Revolution came not from the Tories, the royalists, the right, but from the left; from thinkers who went so far against the authoritarian right as to declare the formation of a new nation where governing would come, not from the divine right of kings, but from the will of the people. Perhaps he also needs to know that there are still those of us who are willing to pledge our lives, our IRAs and our sacred honor to this magnificent idea.
Boyce Brawley