Alexander deserves praise, not ridicule
If anyone ever doubted how out of touch with reality Chattanooga Times cartoonist Clay Bennett is, they only need to check his Sept. 23 cartoon on Lamar Alexander's upcoming retirement. To suggest that a politician who won five statewide elections is not held in esteem by the citizens of Tennessee is just ridiculous.
Perhaps Bennett should check with the employees of the Nissan plant in Smyrna and the GM plant in Spring Hill to see what their opinion of Lamar is. His leadership in bringing these auto plants to Tennessee ignited the economic boom that still exists today.
Or perhaps all of the citizens who remember in January of 1979 when Lamar, with the help of Ned Ray McWherter, rescued the state from Ray Blanton selling pardons to convicted murderers.
Lamar has always been pro-education as evidenced by his appointment as U.S. secretary of education and term as president of the University of Tennessee. But hey, Bennett's from Alabama, ranked #50 in education, not exactly an expert on education.
Thank you, Lamar, for all you have done for Tennessee.
Douglas Jones
Voting against your best interest?
This goes out to all the boomers out there (of whom I am one), especially the Trump-supporting boomers (of whom I am not): Are you ready to lose your Social Security? Well, get ready, because the first step toward the complete dismantling of it has already begun, and Mr. Trump is responsible. You know that payroll tax that he has suspended, supposedly to offer some pittance of "relief" to those who still have jobs? The payroll tax happens to be the very lifeline of Social Security. Are you aware of how quickly the funds will be depleted now?
Getting rid of Social Security, not to mention Medicare, Medicaid and the post office, is something Republicans have been champing at the bit to do for decades. And Trump and McConnell, et al., are using this pandemic as the perfect excuse for doing so. Many of you Trump loyalists depend on Social Security for your very survival, do you not? And yet, you will be casting your vote for the man who is determined to destroy it. Go figure.
What is that word I'm looking for when someone votes against their own best interests? Oh yeah nuts.
Rick Armstrong
Monteagle, Tennessee
'Ambassadors' are assets; TVA's dumpsters, eyesores
I commend Chattanooga for securing "ambassadors" for the downtown area. Something was and is badly needed. Downtown is looking more and more like an abandoned ghost town. Ambassadors can be a first step.
It would be nice if TVA would help by removing those two giant orange dumpsters it has parked under its building on Broad Street. This is the sight that greets those of us entering the city from the south - not a welcoming sight. Surely TVA can find another place to put those dumpsters. And if it wanted to go a step further, it could replace them with some green or flowering plants. That would make a welcoming entrance to the city.
Katherine Scott
Rossville, Georgia