Local police must begin to be proactive
To Police Chief Celeste Murphy: When I arrived in Chattanooga, my first thoughts about the city were how beautiful the mountains and the river are. My second thought was how lawless it seemed here. It seemed like a giant frat party of rednecks and gangsters.
At first I put the lawlessness feeling down to the fact that we moved from the Washington, D.C., area, but it wasn't necessarily about cops per square mile. It was a feeling of the "Wild West" or anything goes as long as you don't get caught in the act.
We began noticing the lack of police visibility. I also noticed no cops on bikes or on horseback in park areas (there's no better crowd control than cops on horses), and also there was a general lack of eye contact or friendly engagement with citizens.
We also noticed a complete lack of traffic enforcement.
The police department in our city has consistently been reactive instead of proactive. That has been Chattanooga's biggest problem. Enforcement simultaneously begins from both the top down and the bottom up.
John Mathna
We deserve better than Fleischmann
Congressman Fleischmann believes that 18-year-olds are not mature enough to make responsible decisions about alcohol, tobacco and gambling, but has no problem letting them have an assault rifle with a 30-round magazine.
There was a time that I would have attempted to understand what reason or logic might have led him to this misguided decision but not today. Today, I just remember that since his last re-election he has voted against the certification of a free and fair election for president, voted against investigating the violent mob who attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power that is the basis of our government and voted in support of a member of Congress who thinks that the California wildfires were caused by a giant Jewish space laser. Voting against the best interest of our country is just what he does.
We deserve better.
Al Ezzell
Sooner or later we will do the right thing
Since the Columbine school shooting in Colorado in 2001, 301 students, all ages, have been killed in shootings across the country. In these 301 deaths, what has our country lost?
Remember Sandy Hook? Those children would now be heading off to college, joining the workforce, becoming adults.
Remember Parkland? Those children, now adults, would be beginning careers, flexing their wings, making parents proud.
Now in Uvalde, 19 children who had just completed a school year will never reach the next.
Charleston, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, etc.
What enormous potential has been lost because of the common denominator of powerful weapons in the wrong hands. How many times have we argued about ways to stop this loss of life, only to do nothing.
Sooner or later we will be horrified enough to do the right thing. The people will insist. Why not do it now?
Clare Sawyer
Soddy-Daisy
Political cartoon 'absurd, ridiculous'
I find it inane to the point of absurdity that you printed the Counterpoint Media political cartoon (page B7) of June 11, 2022. I would think you would be embarrassed to print such a nonsensical cartoon that plays to an audience of ill-informed people. The television screen in the cartoon attempts to make a mockery of the bipartisan congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attempt to deny the peaceful power transfer of a legitimately conducted and verified presidential election.
The front-page newspaper story also in the political cartoon states that the FBI found no "organized plot" to disrupt the lawful proceedings of Jan. 6. The fact is that the FBI investigating the numerous individuals who had been arrested for participating in the violence aspect of this attempted coup d'état have not been found to have been organized by a centralized radical group. Never did the FBI make any statement about an organized plot orchestrated from within the Trump administration. So the whole political cartoon is absolutely ridiculous. You should be ashamed for allowing it to be printed on the pages of your paper.
Robert Landry
Resolved: Love and respect everybody
Our granddaughter is a Girl Scout. Her troop was at an event when a transgender member was verbally attacked. All the girls surrounded this member to physically protect them.
Adults like Gov. Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott could learn from these girls to love and respect everybody.
Joel Blake
Biden likened to Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody was a puppet on a children's TV show during the 1950s. He was dressed in Western clothes; the voice of Doody was Buffalo Bob.
The show was introduced by Buffalo Bob saying, "It's Howdy Doody Time."
As kids, we called it Doody Howdy time, because it was silly and made us laugh.
President Biden could be the new Howdy Doody - he is dressed in a suit; however, we have no idea who is the voice of Biden. He is silly and makes us laugh.
The sad story of Biden is that Democrats knew exactly what Biden could and could not do. They were consumed with how to win the election.
Just like Howdy Doody, Biden has no voice. He opens his mouth, and out comes whatever they tell him to say.
Yes, people were tired of Donald Trump. His mouth and ego he could not overcome.
I cannot understand why someone who made our country better could not make himself better. Biden did not beat him. He beat himself.
Dems think they have all the power. Only God is in control. Always has been and always will will be.
Ruth Cote
Hixson
Military weapons belong in military
I am a retired U.S. Army master sergeant with several combat deployments. I grew up in a community that supported the Second Amendment. I owned guns when I was young and still do. All of my weapons were and still are pistols, rifles and shotguns with low-ammo capacity.
As a soldier, the Army issued me the weapons that I needed for training or for combat. When I finished using them for the purpose that they were issued, I returned them.
My point being: The only people or organizations that need military-grade assault weapons are law enforcement and the military! If a person says they are using their AR-15 to hunt, and they have a 30-round magazine in the weapon, they need some marksmanship training, not more ammo.
Bottom line: Let's keep our domestic weapons but give up the military-grade assault weapons. If you want to use these weapons, join the police force or the military.
John M. Woodham
East Ridge