School board members derelict in their duties
I would like to express my extreme disappointment for the "tabling" of the vote by the Hamilton County Board of Education last week about kids returning to the classroom.
All of the school board members professed their desire to get kids back into the classroom safely but five members did not take the input from the doctors about it being safe to return. Each of these five members talked nonsense to get to the conclusion of not voting on the amended version presented, to get kids back into the classroom.
One board member was worried about "sound bites" the media may use against them, and one board member was worried about the "ingredient differences" among the vaccines. Those meandering discussions had zero impact on getting the kids back into the classroom.
These five exhibited a dereliction of duty with their tabling of the vote and leaving the decision to Dr. Johnson and his team.
These five board members should be voted out of office, since they could not even perform their duty and vote on the important issue of sending kids back to the classroom, whether their vote was "yes" or "no".
Philip Lang
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
Is this the thanks Army Guard gets?
The new administration is off to a great start in its relationship with the Army National Guard. After the Capitol Police insisted on calling up the Guard for the Jan. 20 inauguration of Joe Biden, the states responded by sending 25,000 troops there.
Once the inauguration ended without incident, the troops were thanked, then banished to a parking garage in D.C. with few toilets and no amenities. Photos and video show troops lying on cold, hard concrete floors, leaning against concrete columns, dodging cars and presumably inhaling carbon monoxide.
I thought we were beyond this. Since the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act in the 1980s, and with the continued deployment of troops since Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990, the National Guard and Army Reserves have done their part proudly.
This latest treatment of citizen-soldiers is a disgrace and needs to be addressed by the Biden administration; otherwise, the next time someone says, "Thank you for your service" to a National Guard soldier, it would be best to be on the lookout for a kick in the behind.
Alan N. Clark
Colonel (Ret.) U.S. Army, TNARNG
Estill Springs, Tennessee
Anarchy and peaceful protest are not the same
Peaceful assembly and free speech versus anarchy. There is a difference and, for our sake, we had better learn it.
First, protest and loud dissent are enshrined rights in our U.S. Constitution. Storming past security lines and rioting on Capitol Hill is never OK. Ditto the vandalism and violence which led to the deaths of several people. Question to woke would-be tyrants: What were y'all doing in Portland, Seattle, Chicago etc.?
Second, this Capitol Hill chaos was preceded by antifa/BLM rioters who looted and burned numerous cities last year, the stalking/harassment of political opponents crashing private gates and threatening homeowners and the vandalism of houses of worship. Hey, some folks who seem to be pushing for a second Civil War need to understand the carnage of the first one. It wasn't like some stupid video game on a computer.
Both extremes need to get a clue - everyone needs to take a "time-out."
Ronald Williams