Our readers write — letters to the editor

 Animals benefit from fund raiser To The Editor: Ann’s Place Inc. wishes to thank the people of Union City, Martin, Fulton and Dresden for their support during our recent “Grrr---illing for the Dogs.” We also want to thank Tractor Supply for allowing us to use their parking lot and providing a tent for our workers. Tyson Foods made the great day possible by donating all of the chicken. We sold out before 5 p.m. It was a great day for the animals at the shelter.  Your kind support makes it possible for Ann’s Place Inc., its staff and volunteers to continue to help the homeless animals in this area. Ashley DeLisi Union City Proud to live in Christian nation To The Editor: I agree 100 percent with Virginia Jones in her letter to The Messenger on Sept. 2. It really worries me that the followers of Satan are doing everything they can to take God out of America. Our nation was founded on belief and love for the one and only true God. I love America and I do not like what is happening to us. The scripture states, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” And Richard Chesteen has a lot of nerve stating “America is not a Christian nation.” As Christians, we need to get down on our knees and thank God for blessing our America and taking care of us. America once held the Bible as her conscience and guide. We hardly ever hear God mentioned by the present person in charge of our country. Under the present condition of our America, he should be asking us to all pray for our country. I am in my 80s and when I think of what could have happened to us since WWI and some of the other awful mean things that have occurred, I’m sure our belief and prayers to God protected us from further destruction. I’m proud to live in a Christian nation. Carolyn K. Clark South Fulton Reconsider gun ban for parks To The Editor: I am wondering what kind of logic went into establishing “Gun Free Zones” when the members of the Union City Council made their decision to ban guns from city parks recently. Do the council members honestly believe that crazed gunmen actually care whether or not a park is a gun-free zone? Should we remind the council members that the gunmen that murdered innocent people at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech and Luby’s Cafeteria were all in Gun Free Zones? What you have done by creating “Gun Free Zones” is to make our city parks an open target for crazed gunmen. It will be like shooting fish in a barrel. Now the criminals know that legally licensed handgun owners will not be able to carry their weapons in city parks, making it impossible for the gunman’s actions to be stopped. How many people do you think a crazed gunman can kill in the 10 to 15 minutes it will take a police officer to respond to a 911 call in a park where people are being shot?  Our Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms. It’s not the legally licensed handgun owners that are killing people; it’s the criminals. You should reconsider this decision before innocent lives are put at risk.   Walt Asher Troy Noise at shelter needs addressing To The Editor: I do not complain because I have to close my swimming pool early each year because of it turning pink from corn dust created by a nearby business. I do not complain because my saliva and spittle is red from corn dust. I do not complain because my entire house and lot and things there on are covered with the pink dust. I do not complain because of the noise from the grain dryers. This business was here before I was and I could have located elsewhere. I am a bit partial to farmers and the agriculture business anyway. I know how important they are to this community and to me and my family. I know that Ann’s Place has been a headache for you and it is not my intent to be a trouble maker. I don’t know if it is being properly operated or not. I assume that it is. However, for a man who is hearing impaired to be awakened at all times of the night by barking dogs in a facility approved by the city is no less than stupid. For firefighters, workers at the Public Works building, for neighboring businesses and yes, for tax-paying senior citizens to be exposed to this noise, almost constant noise, is just plain stupid. I am sure that barking dogs are not tolerated when owned by private citizens in primary residential areas of the city. Any help you can provide will be late, but appreciated. Norman Williams Union City Elect statesmen, not politicians To The Editor: Our constitution provides a process that allows each elected government four years to advance those policies which bind us “into a more perfect union.” Until recently, we, the people, and our elected officials have respected this form of government. For the first time in history, our president, in an open session of Congress, was rudely called a liar by the opposition. Meanwhile in “Townhall” forums, citizens scream at each other in politically polarized unison. These events evidence a total disrespect for our form of government and raise the specter of a chaos that could destroy the Republic for which, we say, we stand. Some in both the majority and the minority have chosen militant obstinacy, demonizing the loyal opposition will not provide a solution to our nation’s problems even if it does ensure the re-election of demons. Once the economy actually begins to create new jobs, very unpleasant actions will have to be taken by our government to avoid a debt spiral that will lead our nation into economic chaos. Either taxes must be raised or government spending must be reduced. No matter who is elected in the future, a peek into the congressional henhouse shows us that the chickens of borrowing without collateral, both public and private, have come home to roost. Statesmen compromise to achieve ethical results; politicians polarize to assure funds for their re-election. The future we face mandates us to elect more of the former and less of the latter. Michael Ruddy Union City Lack of coverage on speech wrong To The Editor: Not a column, not a paragraph, not a sentence, not a word, not on the front page, not even on the back page. What I’m referring to is the failure of this paper to so much as acknowledge the recent speech on health care and insurance reform that President Obama gave before a joint session of Congress. Of course, many saw the speech on TV; it can probably also be downloaded from the Internet. So why cover it in the newspaper? Because a newspaper account would have given the reader a concise summary of what the president wants in a health care and insurance reform bill; it would have allowed him the greater grasp of the issues covered in the speech. The owner of the paper, of course, has the right to decide what to put in his paper and what not to put. But this right should be tempered with civic responsibility. First, is a civic responsibility to serve all its readers. How many other Democrats in the county, as well as Independents, and, hopefully, some Republicans, looked in this paper the next day to read about the president’s speech? But there is a greater civic responsibility at issue here. More so than any other institution, a newspaper, especially when it is the only newspaper in the county, sets the political climate, the political tone of the community. To refuse to cover a speech by our president, our president, not mine, but ours, on one of the most important pieces of legislation being debated in the country, a piece of legislation that, if it passes, will rank in importance and import with the Social Security Act and the Medicare and Medicaid Act, demeans not only our president, but the office of the presidency, the civic polity of our nation, and the democracy upon which our government rests. A democracy depends on an informed citizenry. The AP (news story) about the president’s speech should have been in the paper and it should have been on the front page. Lynda Hamblen Union City Health reform hype and facts To The Editor: “Health care: The hype and the facts” The United States is the only developed country in the world that does not have some type of national health care plan or public option. While all of the other developed countries of the world have made health care a moral imperative covering all of their peoples, this country has not been able to agree and accomplish this task. According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), the U.S. ranks 37th in overall health care coverage for its citizens. We are number one in two areas, emergency services and cost. The Republican Party fought against Social Security, against Medicare and against Medicaid. If the Republicans wanted to do something about health care as they now claim, why did they not try to do something for the past eight years when they had the power to do so. The fact is they did not want to accomplish anything because the system we have is to their liking because it is more about money than it is care, and what they care about is money. It is estimated that 30,000 people a year die in the U.S. from a lack of adequate health coverage. They make up issues like socialized medicine, death panels, and convince people that it is un-American to believe in National Health Care. Like the old story when mother went to see little Johnny march in the parade and thought everyone was out of step except little Johnny — It is us who is out of step with the rest of the world. If the rest of the developed world has found a way to successfully accomplish National Health Care, surely we can also. Again, according to the W.H.O., our drugs cost us eight times the world average and our cost per person covered in the U.S. is two times the world average, same drugs, same services. What good does it do to impose our morals on an unwed mother only to have her and her child possibly die from a lack of proper health care later, or at the best, have to file bankruptcy because she cannot pay her medical bills. We have fought a war of choice in Iraq against people who had nothing to do with 9/11 for eight years — that would have more than paid for health care for every one in this country for 20 years. It is time for change in the area of health care. Please do not pay attention to the Republican propaganda and pundits against what the rest of the developed world is making work for them. These people either have no moral compass, lack understanding of what the rest of the world is doing, or believe their ideals are more important than other peoples’ lives. Call Congressman Tanner and ask him to vote for the health bill. Jack Simpson South Fulton Published in The Messenger 9.16.09

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