Saddened by nation’s political direction

I am so concerned about the way our country is being divided between the “left” and the “right,” between “proabortion” and “pro-life,” between “democracy” and “socialism,” between “fake/false/commentary/spin” and “truth and accurate reporting.” Are we headed for another civil war because of the incivility being spouted and our own leaders digging in their heels, not giving an inch toward compromise just so they can proclaim themselves the “winner”… and all the while our country is the one losing. Yes, it is true; we shouldn’t play this game of party over the people. WE are the people!

When Roe v. Wade became the law of the land in 1973, I was already married and had my first child. It seemed the decision didn’t affect me and never would so I had no thoughts on the subject one way or the other. My husband and I pretty much lived our lives without the nightly news interfering with our dayto-day activities.

Now 43 years later, after we’ve killed two generations of children, we can look in the womb and see a 3D picture of the baby; he is not a blob of tissue, his heart is beating, he feels pain, and he sucks his thumb. And 43 years ago, it wasn’t known how an abortion can affect a mother’s state of mind and future pregnancies or carrying a baby to term. One of my high school girlfriends, in practicing free love back in the 60s, has had three abortions and now has no children.

I read on the web recently that in 2018 the American population was the lowest it’s been in 80 years. The Census Bureau projects that in 16 years there will be more Americans over 65 than under 18. Without children, our future is in danger. No wonder Social Security is in jeopardy; we don’t have enough wageearners putting into the system…because we’re killing them. Are we killing the person who will discover the cure for cancer, or the next Billy Graham, or the person doing research who may eliminate some of the world’s woes? Prochoice people spout “the life of the mother,” but women are using abortion as birth control or convenience AND they’re killing the future population of women as well.

Now we’re seeing bills being signed allowing abortion up to the moment of birth (and people are celebrating) … letting the child lie there while the mother and doctor make a decision about killing it. Why would a mother carry a child for nine months and then decide to abort it? What kind of society have we become? God is grieving over these babies.

The left has gone so far left, they’re about to fall into the ocean. Would you have believed the United States could ever consider socialism? I grew up as a proud, patriotic American who stands for the saying of the pledge and the singing of our National Anthem. Our college kids have no idea about life yet, but they are being brainwashed by professors who marched and protested forty years ago. They need to read a history book ... or two, or three.

It’s hard to believe all Democrats agree with these policies being spouted by their representatives. Are they blindly following their party just because its their party and all reason be damned? What has happened to our country, which was founded of the people, by the people and for the people?

I don’t agree with all of Trump’s tweets, and I wish he would just take care of business and forget the namecalling (same for the Democrats) but you can’t deny his results. I just have to remember he’s not a politician. He’s a businessman and a successful one at that … and he’s successfully brought home our companies, brought down unemployment, brought down welfare rolls, and he’s trying to protect our country from illegal criminals coming in and killing our citizens; as well as women/children being raped in the caravans and drugs and MS13 terrorists crossing the border. Why is there such resistance from the left to secure our border? Why, if its coming from our president, it’s an automatic thumbs down? Do they hate him more than loving our own country and citizens? If that’s the case, we are doomed.

Danna Shirley, Memphis

Trump plays golf during national emergency

Think about it! First President Trump declares a national emergency on our southern border and then he goes to Florida to play golf. In all fairness to the president, Florida does make up part of our southern border.

Ed Cooley, Collierville

Focusing on bills aimed at LGBTQ community

Our state’s legislative session has begun with six proposed bills that target the LGBTQ community.

Two bills (SB848/HB1152, SB1304/ HB836) will discriminate against prospective adoptive parents based on religious or moral views of the adoption agency. Laws like this have been targeted at prospective same-sex parents, and have passed in other states like Kansas and Oklahoma.

Research indicates that children raised in same-sex homes fare just as well as children raised in opposite-sex homes. We live in a state where an abundance of children need loving homes. It’s unconscionable to undercut the number of available families willing to provide homes to children who need them. Even one of the bills’ own sponsors, Rep. John Ragan, R-oak Ridge, admitted to Nashville media that the proposed legislation is “discriminatory.” Let’s focus: What public good comes from codifying discrimination at the expense of loving families?

Bills have also been filed to criminalize and discriminate against transgender people who need to use the restroom (SB1297/HB1151, SB1499/HB1274). Everyone has the right to use the restroom that matches their identity. For people who are transgender or gender non-binary, the person who they know they are on the inside does not match what is on their birth certificate. Laws already exist to protect everybody against indecency, lewdness and harassment. States (18 as of this writing), cities and school districts across the nation protect the rights of transgender people to use the restroom, and clearly demonstrate that laws like the ones proposed in Tennessee are a false solution looking for a problem that does not exist. Let’s focus: Everyone has the right to use the restroom.

We’ve also seen, repeatedly, that state legislatures have made laws to take away the rights of communities to make their own decisions. Despite Memphians knowing what Memphis needs, and Knoxvillians knowing what Knoxville needs, some individuals in the Tennessee General Assembly have decided they know better than we do. In a bill that gives businesses a free license to discriminate (SB364/HB563), local and state-level governments would not be able to decide against public contracts or grants if the internal policies of the business or nonprofit are discriminatory. Let’s focus: Our local and state governments should have the right to make our own business decisions with our money.

Finally, a bill that has been proposed, derided and failed in previous years has come around again. The Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act (SB1282/ HB1369) has been proposed as a direct affront to the Supreme Court decision in 2015 that discerned that couples across the country have the equal right to marry. The Supreme Court did not make new law in 2015; that is not their job under the separation of powers. The Supreme Court determined the Constitution of the United States covers all Americans with equal protection under the law. Let’s focus: This bill is an affront to not only legally wed same-sex couples in Tennessee, it is an affront to our Constitution and our rule of law.

It is commendable that our great state’s attorney general has recently affirmed that transgender persons shall be covered under existing hate crime laws. This is a huge step in the right direction, as statistics clearly indicate that transgender people – particularly transgender people of color – are at remarkably increased risk of being victims of crime. However, discriminatory laws like the ones proposed will only set the tone for continued discrimination – up to and including targeted violence. Our state has more important priorities at stake like good schools, healthy environments and safe communities. These bills do nothing to advance those. All Tennesseans deserve equal rights and equal protections under the law. To get

Targeting begging on street corners in Memphis

An area of major concern around Memphis is that something needs to be done to pass a law making it illegal for persons standing on street corners holding cardboard signs begging for money.

I hate to sound uncompassionate toward anyone in need, but this has become a blight on our city and something needs to be done to stop this. As an Uber/lyft driver, I cover the entire city daily and it is mind-boggling the number of street corners and interstate ramps these people populate every day. This is how they make their living, in a way guilting anyone at their intersection into handing money to them never knowing what they are going to use it for. Many times I have seen them smoking, drinking what appears to be a beer, and/or talking on a cellphone and that gives me pause to their motives for begging for a living with a cardboard sign. Why there has even been a guy at Summer and Perkins whose sign reads “Won’t Lie, Need Beer.” It was funny the first few times I saw it, but not anymore.

I have witnessed on numerous occasions some of these people walk out into traffic and go car to car with their signs, and all I can think is “This is a bad accident waiting to happen.” Sooner or later it’s going to happen where someone gets run over and badly injured or killed due to their stepping out into traffic. I know that nobody wants that to happen but it is inevitable that it will. That is when inaction will be brought to the forefront.

This is a blight on our community and this needs to be cleaned up just like the city of Memphis needs to attack building, housing and community blight. Can’t we remove these beggars from our street corners and expressway ramps and remove this blight from our community? There are agencies all over Memphis designed to help the poor, the needy and the disenfranchised. Honestly, I feel that these people who panhandle with cardboard signs all over town don’t want any help from the agencies because they are making decent money doing what they are doing. But the fact remains - they are beggars and panhandlers just like the ones downtown who have had rules and regulations placed on them.

I don’t ever see these panhandlers in Germantown or Collierville because they don’t put up with it. The Memphis City Council needs to find a solution to this problem. It has gotten way out of hand. I have often said that if I gave money to every street corner-sign holding beggar, then I would have to find a street corner to beg on myself.

Gary Hager, Memphis