Use National Guard for Tennessee needs
Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to deploy 160 Tennessee National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., represents a troubling misallocation of our state’s resources and a fundamental misunderstanding of effective governance. While our own communities struggle with pressing challenges, we’re shipping our guardsmen hundreds of miles away to participate in what amounts to political theater.
The irony is stark. Memphis, our state’s largest city, grapples with juvenile crime rates that should demand urgent attention from our governor. Yet instead of addressing these homegrown problems with the same vigor he’s showing for D.C.’s issues, Lee chooses to send our National Guard elsewhere. This isn’t leadership — it’s political grandstanding that comes at taxpayers’ expense.
The cost of this deployment — transportation, lodging, pay and operational expenses — will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The governor should redirect his energy toward the problems he was elected to solve in Tennessee. Memphis families dealing with juvenile crime, Nashville communities struggling with growth and rural Tennessee towns facing economic challenges need our National Guard and our governor’s attention right here at home.
The next time our governor feels compelled to deploy state resources, I hope he’ll look first at the needs of his own constituents.
Joe Conway
Hixson
Putin’s ‘wind-up toy’ at least kept Alaska
Putin met his wind-up toy on Aug. 15, 2025, in Alaska. The toy dismissed the fact that Putin is a war criminal. We purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. Russia believed it had pulled a fast one, which proved false. It was discovered that Alaska was rich in minerals, including oil and gold. When Putin’s toy started to unwind, it spouted Putin’s positions on the Ukraine war: no ceasefire, begin talks to end the war with Russia keeping most of eastern Ukraine, and no additional sanctions.
I guess we’re lucky the toy didn’t offer to give Alaska back to Russia. Maybe he’s saving that to get a hotel in Moscow.
Archie Thurman
Accountability sought for sloppy I-24 work
Tennessee Department of Transportation officials recommended the bidder of the Interstate 75/24 split, with the hopes of improving traffic congestion and safety within this area.
The project is coming to an end, except for the railroad bridge overpass on I-75 North. To my amazement, the finished section does not meet the expectations that I had hoped to see in this expensive project. Why? The concrete roads of I-24 East and West were replaced with asphalt. Now, the roads have uneven surfaces throughout several lanes. The outer lanes are not smooth as they were when they were concrete. There are dips in the road as you enter I-24 west and leave I-24 east. The road construction done in Phase 2 was finished poorly in comparison to Phase 1 (bridge work). The quality of the work seems to have not been worth the amount of money expended for this job
I would hope accountability and expectations of any contractors’/subcontractors’ work performance are thoroughly monitored and reviewed after the completion of this project.
Ronald Moss
What is and isn’t our form of government
Would someone please explain to the Times editorial writer that America is not and has never been a democracy? We are a constitutional republic.
I am appalled at the number of people who use these terms interchangeably when they have a very different meaning. A democracy is what ancient Greece had where the body politic voted on every single thing. We, on the other hand, vote through elected representatives, i.e., presidents, members of the House and Senate, etc.
Granted, many of these people aren’t responsive to their constituency, but this is what we have — until we decide to replace it.
Charles Hyder
Dalton, Georgia
Uproar over Texas fabricated argument
Recently, there has been an uproar in the news about the efforts of Republicans in the state of Texas as they try to get a vote on the redrawn districts map. When you dig into this issue, you quickly realize that there is no real justification for this uproar. It is totally hollow.
Many Democratic governors in other states, such as Illinois, California, New York and Massachusetts, are hollering and screaming that what Texas is doing will destroy democracy. Oh, really? Well, in the past, they have all done their gerrymandering in extreme manners.
Recently, the governor of Massachusetts called a news conference and called the Texas move a power grab. Her state’s districts are so carefully drawn that there is not one Republican serving in the U.S. House from her state.
This proves how fabricated this whole uproar really is.
J. Johns
Ringgold, Georgia
Republicans: Learn from German teaching
Republicans support an authoritarian attempting to whitewash United States history to remove our shortcomings. One outstanding example is the Republican talking point about slavery. It goes like this: “Slavery has existed throughout human history; the fact that the United States embraced slavery does not reveal an ideation of white supremacy within the populace of the United States.” The critical deletion of this talking point is the word “Black” before “slavery.”
Europeans starting in the 15th century instituted a slavery based on attitudes of racial characteristics and white superiority (rare prior to this). This allowed rationalization of enslavement of people from sub-Saharan Africa. This attitude of white supremacy and Black inferiority was carried forward into the American colonies. It was racism that allowed for the continued generational enslavement of Black people.
Following World War II, Germany instituted policies for educating its populace to the failures of the previous generation that allowed hate, racism and nationalism to combine to form a fascist government responsible for the murder of millions. The Germans do not hate their heritage; they do, however, hate the aspect of their society that allowed for the Third Reich. So they teach their children about it. Republicans could learn a lot from the Germans.
Robert Landry