Friday, January 1, 1904
March's reasons not to vote for Obama:
For those who are not aware of it, Jeff Jones is the co-founder of the Weather Underground, a terrorist organization. Remember the Stimulus Bill. Obama asked Jeff Jones to help write it. Glen Beck broke this story, and there was no challenge from the Obama administration. Why?
Obama said he did not know Acorn was getting federal funding, but video shows him giving a speech to Acorn telling them he has always been a supporter of their organization.
Obama said he would close Gitmo. It never happened.
Obama was pushing for his health care bill to pass and said a man died because the insurance company denied him coverage. It never happened.
TOM FRICKE
Spring City, Tenn.
Erlanger Health System is having financial problems. Erlanger is the trauma center for several counties in this area, not just for gunshots and stabbings. So we as former and future patients need to make sure it stays in the black!
There should be no layoffs of medical personnel, for there are so few now. Maybe an extra $5 added to car tags in the Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee areas served by Erlanger would help.
I don't complain about $5, for the same car tag I pay $24 in Tennessee, I paid $160 in Mississippi, my home for 541/2 years.
To ease the shortage of medical personnel in the U.S., the sciences need to be stressed more in school. So many people who worked in factories lost their health insurance when our jobs left the U.S. That hurt the health care facilities.
If you junkies need pain pills, check out your friendly neighborhood dealer. And if you owe for past medical care, pay a small amount each month. It took me almost six years to pay mine off.
ERMA SUE CARR
Cleveland, Tenn.
Why is YouTube sensation Jeff Bethke so appealing to young people? He wants to make Jesus famous with his spoken-word poem "Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus," whose opening line assertion is that "Jesus came to abolish religion," whether theologically airtight or not. The fact is simple: Bethke has bonded with young people who call themselves "spiritual but not religious."
I saw a Beliefnet.com poll (Newsweek) in May 2006, where only 15 percent said Jesus would be happy with modern Christianity; about 25 percent believe Jesus didn't intend to start a new religion. This occurred about two months after Harry Wills' book, "What Jesus Meant," made a case for Jesus as the enemy of religion. "Jesus opposed just about every form of religion we know," concluded Wills.
Why are young voters turned off by religion? When they hear "religion," they consider it a synonym for voting Republican, hating gays and being bigoted and mean. The answer lies in our founders and framers and our history and experience that show the faithful are welcome to politick and proselytize, but not both concurrently. It's a matter of history, not theology, and in that history lies our only hope. Yo decido!
What about you?
B.J. PASCHAL
Sevierville, Tenn.
I'm appalled at the continuing onslaught against anything liberal or progressive in this country. If we look at legislation over the past 75 years, we will gain a new perspective.
Consider Social Security -- conservatives fought it. They opposed civil rights legislation. They opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. Alas, Medicare legislation was opposed by the GOP. Now that a health insurance program has been passed, the GOP attempts to oust our president because of it.
It seems the only thing positive coming out of these good old boys of the GOP is their overwhelming support of millionaires and billionaires.
Since our economy has begun to turn the corner toward recovery, GOP candidates have picked up on the family values issue once again. What a joke. Take a look at those yahoos and check their values and tell me if this is what this country is all about.
I was born in the South and have lived in the South for all of my 74 years. I recall when the South was a solid force of strength for the Democratic Party. What happened? Civil rights legislation passed and we could never adjust to the idea of equality for African-Americans and, guess what, we still haven't, and that's the crux of the problem today.
CARLTON CARUTHERS
Hixson
A very large charge to my credit card for cable service was made by an unnamed local cable supplier. I called to find the reason for the high amount.
Since it was a billing question, I was connected to someone with broken English, who for 10 minutes attempted to find the root of my problem.
In frustration, I asked that a supervisor call me back. One hour passed; I again called the billing department. Again, broken English, 10 minutes wasted; this time I was told a supervisor would soon come on the line.
Another 10 minutes listening to music; I gave up. As a final courtesy after eight years of using the same company, I gave them one more chance.
A miracle happened, I reached a young man in Knoxville. In a five-minute conversation, my problem was solved. Why would a company export our jobs overseas to save a few pennies and deliver more ill will than they can overcome with all the advertising in the world? This is especially true in a sensitive area such as billing.
Personally I intend to boycott any company that sends our jobs overseas and subjects its loyal customers to needless frustration. I hope those reading this will send the same message.
KEN RENTZSCH
Hixson
In studying modern religions, I learned that some Islamic nations criminalize adultery. "Wonderful!" I thought, "with our current concern with raising moral standards, strengthening family values, and protecting sanctity of marriage, here's an idea all can endorse." America should criminalize adultery, with prison time for those guilty. We'd employ the standard definition, naturally, but as a Christian nation, would add Jesus' teaching that a man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, plus a man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery, as does she. How this would improve our morals!
However, rethinking, I saw problems. This would shut down the entertainment, sports and music industries. The ranks of national, state and local politicians would be decimated. Certain talk radio hosts and presidential candidates would be imprisoned. Police would drag church members from pews and preachers from pulpits. Hardly a TV evangelist would escape. Students would be sitting in teacher-less classrooms, etc.
"No," I thought, "rather than jail time, perhaps heavy fines would be better." This would solve the long-standing problems of deficits, the national debt, and entitlement funding plus yield hefty yearly budget surpluses. I urge all right-thinking, moral citizens to get behind this!
THOMAS RODGERS
Dayton, Tenn.