Election will decide Fleischmann’s fate
Does the author of the [Chattanooga Times] editorial support ID checks to attend congressional representative town halls? It’s my opinion that if you do not reside or own a business within that district, you should not be allowed to attend that district’s town hall. It’s not as if they don’t have their own representatives, right? Go pack your own representative’s town hall with your direction, feedback and disruption.
While Fleischmann’s individual vote in Congress certainly has national implications, he is elected by his constituency to primarily serve his constituency. There are many reasons that town halls have gone the way of the dodo bird, but the biggest is the organizing and amassing of radical, non-resident, vocal opposition to overwhelm the speaker and actual constituents. There is no exchange of information. It’s a one-way screamfest.
And there exists the other traditional means and technical advances to make your positions known. Is Fleischmann not accepting mail, voicemails or emails? Is he not responding to feedback on his website? I don’t know. Maybe the author can find out instead of a writing a scathing, broad-based attack across multiple issues. No doubt the author of this editorial thinks Fleischmann is not doing his job and/or not fulfilling his responsibilities. There is a process to remedy that. I guess we will know following the next election cycle.
Robert Holmes
Apison
Fleischmann, Tide and Pusser, oh my!
What can a man believe in anymore? Our country is lost and without purpose … devoid of any direction or hope …
Chuck Fleischmann, virtuous defender and practitioner of Tennessee values, Donald Trump’s caddie and legendary orator, insists that he will hold no town hall meetings.
Alabama’s football team, the mighty Crimson Tide, was bullied in its season opener by Florida State.
And Sheriff Buford T. Pusser of “Walking Tall” lore was actually a wife-beater? And likely his wife’s killer?
How many more disappointments, scandals or public shamings should we be expected to endure?
John Burke
Lookout Mountain
Will editor enlighten us on shared values?
Let’s for a moment assume that [Times] opinion editor [Ben] Sessoms is correct in his ongoing assessment that so-called Christian nationalism truly represents an existential threat to American democracy (or is it a republic?). Most recently (8/31), he asserted that these nationalists twist Bible interpretation and deny the American ideal of equality in their rabid pursuit of “a society where power is exclusively held by wealthy white men.”
Please, a bit of perspective and proportion here. Does local church leader Glenn Jones (congregation of 50) actually threaten women’s right to vote in this country by expressing qualms about the 19th Amendment and what he believes is its negative impact on the integrity of American families? Is the republic truly threatened by Idaho pastor Doug Wilson’s views on the morality of some 19th-century slave owners? Do Jones’ questions about the need to assimilate immigrants constitute xenophobia? Do Defense Secretary Hegseth’s convictions about male-female differences threaten America’s future? Really?
Those basic standards and principles which must in the end bind us together, despite all our differences, must come from somewhere. Jones, Wilson, Hegseth, et al., claim that theirs are rooted in the Bible. Others may of course disagree, but it is incumbent on Sessoms and company to reveal how “a truly pluralistic society” where their vision of equality reigns supreme is bound together by shared values. Which values and whose values?
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
He’ll write Santa about gun violence
Never ones to miss an opportunity to play the victim/persecution card, Christian conservatives went insane at everyone that is daring to call out the “thoughts and prayers” response that accompanies every mass shooting in America. No one is suggesting the grieving families of the injured and murdered at Annunciation Catholic aren’t deserving of thoughts or prayers. However, we have been thinking and praying every time this happens, and the results on the gun violence epidemic have ranged from subpar to non-existent.
Gun violence is the top cause of injury or death for children in America. We are the only developed nation that can claim that. The idea that we can pray this away is asinine at best and an insult at worst. Considering that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting a different outcome, I am going to try a new approach to this problem: I’m going to write a letter to Santa Claus. It will probably achieve the same results.
Brian Lake
Rossville, Georgia
Counseling service removal unwarranted
In my career of 40 years as an educator, I was fortunate to work with students, families and advocates of students in our local public schools and other nonprofit organizations.
Despite the joy my career afforded me, I witnessed former students die from cancer and commit suicide. I consoled students after their parent committed suicide and students who had loved ones died in accidents. Sadly, I have comforted former students when a classmate was murdered.
The Aug. 21 decision by the Hamilton County School Board (HCDE) not to renew a memorandum of understanding with Centerstone Community Mental Health Centers after 10 years is unwarranted. Are you putting kids first or voting against mental health services for other reasons? Eliminating trusted counseling services for more than 2,600 students due to a 6-5 vote is reprehensible!
Centerstone’s cost to HCDE is zero; parental consent is required, so why is the school board determined to eliminate this win-win opportunity? Perhaps our school board members need counseling.
Margaret Smith
Signal Mountain
‘Do-whatever-I-want’ president hurting us
Last week while shopping at a local store, I saw a kid’s T-shirt that said “I do whatever I want.” What else could one expect when the president of the United States says: “I’m the president of the United States. I can do whatever I want”? This is what we want to teach our children?
I have friends across the political spectrum, some who voted for Donald Trump. I don’t doubt there are some folks who might have voted for him because his bellicose stance against certain people seemed to give them license to do whatever they pleased toward those people or free rein for whatever behaviors they would choose to act out. That seems the only way to account for some of the extreme behavior we are witnessing.
I once read “The Navigator” about a group who set out to establish a life without rules or limits, which proved unworkable. Eventually we will learn the same. May it not be too late to reassert meaningful government and address damage done by lawlessness.
Kate Stulce
Harrison
Educating irresponsible dog owners
To Mayor Kelly: I took my dog walking on Sunday morning at Greenway Park in Hixson. In the first 100 yards, we encountered five separate piles of dog feces on the trail (two on the boardwalk by the community center). This is disgusting and unacceptable behavior from our citizens, especially since there are poles with plastic bag dispensers and waste bins. Imagine if you accidentally stepped in a pile. Yuck! I also encountered two citizens walking their dogs without leashes and, later, an idiot walking an aggressive dog who tried to attack my dog.
May I propose a solution? Since my property taxes are increasing around 50% (my income increased 3%), can we install large signage and cameras in parking lots to make citizens aware of the rules in the parks, record citizens’ license plates and their dogs, and establish a hotline where responsible citizens can send complaints, photos or videos of irresponsible dog owners? Animal control officers then could reach out to dog owners with education on rules and laws of the city. Repeat offenders would be summoned to court and possibly fined.
Mark Gregory, Hixson