Posted: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 8:01 pm

Tough times call 
for tough decisions

To The Editor:
With the elections coming up soon, I’d like to say a couple of things about voting. These are perilous times for our county. Our federal government is in an astounding amount of debt. They say even our grandchildren will bear the trials of such spending. Corruption seems to run rampant. My comments have nothing to do with Democrat, Republican, liberal or conservative. I would like to challenge your readers to think and act by making the difficult decisions, even if it seems too hard to choose.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrews gave examples of men who spoke “in” their hearts or “to” their  hearts. The men who spoke “in” their hearts, like David’s lust for Bathsheba, made decisions from their emotions to fill their own desires, and generally made foolish decisions which brought unhappy consequences for many. The men who spoke “to” their hearts, like Abraham taking his only son, Isaac, to be sacrificed, took charge over their emotions and personal desires, even making huge personal sacrifice, to make decisions that came out right in the end.
Sometimes we get caught in the comfort zone of “same old” actions. Maybe this election will be a time to speak “to” your heart and vote for someone who really stands up to do the right thing, even if it’s hard, or different. It is said that a definition of insanity is to keep on doing what you’ve been doing and expect a different outcome. Please think with your head and vote for the right thing, even if it is hard to do. I believe if we are to have our America, we must make serious changes to bring our government back to fiscal sense. It may not “feel” good, but “dieting” has its own reward.
Chris Norton
Union City
Machines picking
people’s pockets

To The Editor:
I have been told that on the first day of most new law classes, Teddy Roosevelt is often quoted. When urging his son to get an education, he gave as an example that a man uneducated may end up stealing from a railroad boxcar. But a man that gets an education and becomes a pettifogger (shyster lawyer) may be able to steal the whole railroad. It is no secret that a lot of courts have become a pay-to-play system like New Orleans brothels that Yankee General Joe Hooker became fond of during the Civil War and we got the name “Hooker” — referring to those type ladies. I guess city governments got jealous.
I did not grasp the full meaning of the medical term “brain dead” until Union City started using roadside Robo-Cops and traffic light R2D2’s, which are unconstitutional as I have yet to read where a machine can issue a ticket. I understand they take a photo after you have passed like a pervert trying to get picture of people’s “knickers.” They have to be recalibrated on a regular basis and a lot of things affect their accuracy. They can also be programmed to issue “batch tickets” to generate revenue on demand as I have read that some New Jersey cities do.
I have not received one of the greetings in the mail as of yet and don’t intend to as I now do my major shopping in Martin or Dyersburg, where I know if I do get a ticket, the cop will have the fresh smell of coffee and doughnuts on his or her breath. I feel for the local merchants as this has to cost them a lot of business. Using machines to pick people’s pockets is ridiculous.
I learned about politics in the sixth grade at a school in Dyer County, where even the “cake walks” were rigged; they didn’t leave anything to chance.
R. F. Duke
Hornbeak

Published in The Messenger 6.29.11