Letters to the Editor

SEAL Team 6 deserves praise

I am a 26-year veteran of the United States Navy, having the honor of retiring as a chief petty officer.

On May 1, I was extremely proud that SEAL Team 6 took out the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden. Since that time, so many questions have surfaced by the news media in regard to that operation.

Americans as a people do not need to know every small detail and bit of intelligence within SEAL Team 6 and the military community in general.

Wake up, people! It is called national security, the need to know and just plain common sense. People should get their heads out of their duffs and be proud to be Americans and living in the greatest country in the world.

Even the Walt Disney Co. applied for a trademark on the name "SEAL Team 6" in order to make money off of selling their products. Leave the military to the military. Let the civilians take care of the civilians. Be proud to be Americans.

Thank you, shipmates from "SEAL Team 6," for the super job you do each and every day. Keep up the good work.

God bless and keep you safe always.

WARREN D. VANDERGRIFF

Ooltewah

Norquist ideology holds GOP hostage

Who is Grover Norquist?

He's the unelected, most influential, right-wing Republican conservative holding hostage most of our Republican congressmen and senators.

While virtually all economists agree the only way to attack deficits and debt is through reduced spending and increased revenue, he extracted pledges from nearly all Republicans to never raise taxes and to guarantee any tax deductions or credits eliminated are offset by further tax cuts so there's no increase in federal revenue.

If they don't sign the pledge, he will run another candidate.

He had President Bush's ear and has been called the "prime architect" of the Bush tax cuts. Well folks, those tax cuts and the cost of fighting two wars that began in that administration will account for almost half the public debt by 2019.

He dreamed up his "no new taxes" pledge in 1970, when he was 14 years old. The top marginal tax rate at that time was 70 percent, today it's half that.

He's the man whose ideology infects the Republican Party. He has more influence over Republican politicians than the constituents who elected them.

Republican Alan Simpson has it right: "If you are in thrall to Grover Norquist, this country hasn't got a prayer."

MARY ANN CROWE

Crossville, Tenn.

What goes around comes around

We have a Cabinet of tax evaders giving stimulus money to companies that don't pay their taxes.

Imagine that!

NANCY EDEN

If not God, who controls disasters?

Some believe natural disasters should not be called acts of God. Well, who controls them then?

Haven't you ever read Luke 8:23-25? Genesis, Chapter 6, explains why God caused the first natural disaster, the great flood.

The plagues of Egypt can be read about throughout the book of Exodus.

There are disasters in the Bible, too many to mention here.

With a good concordance and the Internet to help, you can find them if you want to look for them.

Some questions may be left unanswered, such as why did some people's pets and livestock die from the storm, or why trees were downed.

Sixty thousand people were without electric power because of the storm. Wasn't it great God let the natural air temperature be comfortable enough that we did not need heat or air conditioning.

JENNIFER BRADFORD

Gingrich has an albatross

With the 2012 general election still some 18 months away, we're already witnessing fireworks in the coming presidential campaign. We have seen the alleged Republican front-runner, Mike Huckabee, withdraw from the race, without having entered it.

More bizarre is the official announcement by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of his entry into the presidential race. Newt has more baggage than a Georgia train could carry.

Newt's albatross is his position on national health care. In 1993, Gingrich firmly stated his belief that every American should be required to purchase health insurance. Newt was hit squarely between the eyes with this issue on NBC's "Meet the Press" with host David Gregory playing a video clip from a 1993 "Meet the Press" segment with Gingrich stating his position.

He conceded that this was and still is his position and true, it is a variation of ObamaCare. The Wall Street Journal stated, "...[Gingrich's] plan is a pretty good description of what the Democratic Congress passed last year ..." Has this Georgia political wizard lost his mind?

Twenty-six states have filed three major lawsuits against the Obama administration seeking to overturn ObamaCare and are sure to be influenced by Newt's actions.

JAMES W. ANDERSON

Talladega, Ga.

Some Christians pray for Jews

To our Jewish friends both here and in Israel:

In Genesis 15:18-21, God gives land to Abraham. This covenant is established with Isaac (patriarch of the Jewish nation), not Ishmael (father of the Arabs) in Genesis 17:19-21.

In Genesis 17:8, God tells Abraham all the land of Canaan is given as an everlasting possession. Joel 3:1-2: "For behold in those days and at that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations ... Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up my land."

There are Christians who care about you and are praying for Israel in these perilous times.

LEE RITTER

Lookout Mountain

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