Beware what liberals say
Liberals have created a direct opposite definition of the word "democracy."
When I hear a conservative say democracy, I first think of individual freedom and human rights. When I hear a statist like Obama or Pelosi use democracy, I think of government control of every facet of our lives. I think of dictatorship.
Liberals are very good at using language to confuse or at least mislead those hearing them. By using language in a manner like the liberals now use, Hitler was able to gain support by making his form of government sound very attractive. One can see how that ended up. People praised Hitler, not knowing what he was really up to.
We have plenty of warnings to beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. We have too many in government who can talk a good talk but are up to nothing but total control of every area of our lives.
CLINTON GRANT, Rossville
City must address financial issues
Across the nation, cash-strapped cities are awakening to the fact something must be done to address the ever-ballooning financial obligation of supporting publicly managed retirement and health care plans. Chattanooga is no different.
Our public servants and public sector employees signed up for their respective vocations based in part on an understanding these benefits would continue as they were initially presented. We have a moral and ethical obligation to sustain them - but those expectations must square with fiduciary responsibilities and reality.
Taxpayers also signed up under an implicit agreement as residents of the Chattanooga area that we would be fairly taxed and our elected officials would be good stewards of our tax dollars - making tough decisions as they're presented for their deliberation based on the will of the people.
If you had a relative with a serious medical condition brought on largely by their own decisions would you ask them to seek a remedy? Of course you would. This will not be a quick fix, but we must begin to sketch the blueprints today.
Our city has a malignant financial malady in our present method of dealing with this issue. If it's not addressed, someone will have to pay the bill.
Who do you think it will be?
R. BRANDON LEWIS
Speak, behave peaceably
Thank you, Phil Bredesen, for some of the most sane words I have heard from any politician lately: "We are not going to be successful as a country - and we're certainly not going to be successful as a state - if our main focus is how many different places we can carry our guns, how few languages we use for our driver's license tests or how closely we match Arizona's immigration laws. ... Those are distractions." Amen!
On another political front, of course Sarah Palin didn't "cause" the shootings in Tucson. But she is responsible, as are we all, for the words we speak, our actions and thereby the atmosphere we create around us. We all bear this responsibility, but people in places of power and influence, with the capacity to reach large audiences, bear even more.
When former Vice President Cheney can accost Sen. Leahy on the Senate floor and curse him with barely a "tsk, tsk" from anybody; when Congressman Wilson screams "liar" at the president during the president's speech, this sends the message that hostility is the accepted practice.
Peace is possible only when we speak and behave peaceably. Sadly, we seem more interested in drama
KATE STULCE, Ooltewah
Personal, property safety at top of list
On Jan. 8, while I was at work, someone broke in, ransacked and completely emptied my late mother and father's house on Cloud Springs Road. Their home has been robbed before at apparent will. This happened on a Saturday in broad daylight. Someone pulled up to their house right across from Gateway Antiques and completely emptied it. They took refrigerator, stove, water heater, and even the kitchen sink and cabinets.
What infuriates me is, how does this happen? It appears that they ate take-out and dumped it outside of their house.
Did not anyone see this - a neighbor, a passer-by, even the law? Apparently not.
Well, I yet again filled out yet another police report. I know the police have enough to handle but at this stage I don't care about meth possession or DUIs. I care about my safety and that of my property.
After 57 years in Catoosa County, I no longer feel safe.
VERNON COLE, Ringgold, Ga.
There's no reason to be in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been conquered, but never subdued - not even by its own government. What makes us think we can accomplish anything there?
A land of rugged mountains and deep valleys, each with its own culture, Afghan loyalties are to tribe and clan, not to any national authority. The national language, Dari, a Persian dialect, is spoken by only half the Afghan people. Although there are defined borders, there is little sense of national or ethnic cohesion.
The Dutch coalition commander describes Afghanistan as "like walking through the Old Testament." The Brookings Institute rates only Somalia's government more dysfunctional. To waste American lives to preserve an impossibly corrupt regime is not merely futile, it's criminal.
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida have long since departed for Pakistan or wherever. There is little reason for our continued presence.
Afghanistan was the Soviets' Vietnam. Must it be our second? The only thing we seem to learn from our history is that we don't learn from our history.
GEORGE B. REED JR., Rossville
Volkswagen theme seemed a little odd
I wonder who dreamed up - no doubt at great expense - the introductory theme in Detroit for the new Volkswagen Passat?
Images of the Wild West and members of a steel band typically found in the West Indies, banging their drums and cavorting around, seemed odd for a car to be built in Chattanooga.
I think visions of the beautiful Tennessee Gorge accompanied by country music would have been more appropriate.
JILL EISCHEID
Medical system leading to disaster
You would think a country like ours would see we're headed for disaster in the medical field.
I'm no authority on anything but I can see that no treasury, be it national companies or Medicare, can remain solvent with the present system.
The reason is as follows:
Recently we thought the wife was having a heart attack. I admitted her through a local emergency room. An overnight stay was over $14,000.
On another occasion, we stopped by a local health care clinic, a visit that lasted approximately two hours. The bill was $2,000.
I don't think our system can sustain this.
We as a nation spend millions and billions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and on the poor, along with the seniors of our country who cannot afford medical attention. Many seniors do without needed drugs, simply because of a system which is so flawed it's ridiculous.
Let us pray that something will be done to solve this most certain disaster.
The insurance companies spend millions building exorbitant buildings while the working class can't afford the cost of medical premiums. (As a senior, I pay $574 monthly for supplemental insurance.)
I have predicted for years that greed would finally ruin this country. I think I'm on target.
WILL D. TATE, Soddy-Daisy
Ill Reagan did better than Obama
Ronald Reagan's son, Ron Jr., in an apparent effort to sell his new book, said that his father had Alzheimer's disease while he was president. If true, look back at some of his accomplishments such as a strong national defense, a solid economy and jobs. And what he brought to the White House: trust, civility, bravery, pride in our country. With the slippery slope that our country is in now, what does that tell you about Mr. Obama, who doesn't have Alzheimer's.
CAREY CROUCH