Letters to the Editor

Immigration laws there, not enforced

Once again the liberal side of your paper puts out an article about Alabama's immigration law and once again I hear blah, blah, blah.

Alabama wants to enforce laws our federal government won't. These laws are already on the books. What part of illegal don't liberals understand?

TOM FRICKE, Spring City, Tenn.

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Facts about deer hunt are missing

A coalition of local citizens is seeking to stop the hunt of 180 deer and 80 turkeys at the Enterprise South Nature Park on Oct. 24 and 25 because neither county officials nor the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency have a head count.

TWRA game biologist Ben Layton answered "no" to a direct question from the commission as to whether he knew how many deer were in the park. Yet TWRA still insists that the park is overpopulated.

Diane Dixon, a lawyer a who has twice testified before the all-male County Commission, says she is an empiricist who wants numbers and facts first.

The TWRA and County Commission seem to have the motto "Don't confuse me with the facts, I've already made up my mind."

Layton testified that the average weight of does taken has fallen from 86 pounds a few years ago to 72 pounds in the December hunt. He inferred that the weight loss is due to starvation from overpopulation. The real reason for the low weights is that the does are very young! The last hunt was only 10 months ago. New fawns were born in the spring. Let's warn Bambi.

JOAN FARRELL, Hixson

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Why the criticism of Wamp race?

Weston Wamp's plans to challenge fellow Republican Congressman Chuck Fleischmann in the 2012 primary has prompted some unpersuasive criticisms. Taken together, they suggest he was disqualified in 1994, the year he turned 7 and his father, Zach Wamp, was elected Tennessee's Third Congressional District representative. In other words, he's too young, lacks experience, and his last name is Wamp.

Invoking reverse ageism, Hamilton County Democratic Party chairman Paul Smith said Wamp is "a very young person and has no past experience." Hmm, what were those Founding Fathers thinking when they made 25 the minimum constitutional age for serving in Congress?

Damning with faint praise, Mark West, president of the Chattanooga Tea Party, accurately described Fleischmann's job performance as "adequate," but he also implied Wamp wouldn't have received much attention but for his last name. Ditto Clay Bennett's cartoon (Oct. 4).

As a Democrat, I'm happy to let Third District Republicans contend among themselves to select their nominee. As for the Democratic Party, here's a novel suggestion: Select a good candidate, even a young one, who if elected could help undo the paralysis in Congress, the work of, you know, older and more experienced members.

MIKE LOFTIN

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