From: Don Strietelmeier

Hope

There are many imperfect people in the world. Four of them are running for president of the United States.

Two of the candidates must be near perfect since we don’t hear much about them. The other two representing the two major political parties have all kinds of various faults based on news reports, campaign ads and domestic and world events.

For this election especially, many people have thought, “Is this the best we have to offer?” Of all the decent and able people we have in this country, why can’t we have a decent and able person at the top of the ticket?

There are many decent and able people well qualified to serve, but they don’t care to put themselves and their family through such scrutinizing and possible outrageous charges.

This time through the primary process voters chose a career politician and a celebrity.

In making my decision, I will try to overlook the imperfections and base my choice on what each has proposed on how it will affect the future and security of our country.

Perhaps the most important consideration, and one which will determine the direction of our country for decades, would be nominees to the Supreme Court.

Questioned on this, Hillary Clinton answered that she would nominate someone who would in my words “listen to the people for what they want at the time,” or put another way, legislate through the court.

Mr. Trump answered that he would nominate someone committed to upholding the Constitution. Huge difference.

On foreign affairs, Hillary has had years of experience as secretary of state and the violent loss of life and refugee problems are worse than it’s ever been with no clear strategy to defeat ISIS.

Trump has not been a political figure on the world stage, but he says he will bring back respect for the United States, reduce America’s share of protecting countries who have the resources to pay more, and he would secure our borders.

In a speech in Brazil, Clinton said she was for open borders. Questioned on this during the third debate, she answered that she was referring to an electric grid. I see no connection.

Our military has become smaller with much of our weaponry out of date over the past seven years. Clinton makes no sign of changing course. Trump says he will build up our military and take better care of veterans.

On jobs, Mrs. Clinton added 25,000 employees to the state department payroll. Trump created thousands of private-sector jobs.

Lastly, but still just as important, is the significant advantage Trump has with his running mate. Mike Pence provides a strong conservative voice on fiscal and ethical issues and he is well respected in the U.S. House and Senate.

From: Jewel Fleetwood

Columbus

The United States of America was founded for certain freedoms and to give God, our creator, his rightful place among us. My question: today, as a nation, what are we?

First, some notable sayings from early Americans.

George Washington: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”

Abraham Lincoln: “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.”

Patrick Henry: “The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

U.S. Grant: “The Bible is the sheer anchor of our liberties.”

Robert E. Lee: “In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.”

Andrew Jackson: “That book, sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests.”

Horace Greeley: “It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”

Back to the question: who or what are we as a nation?

First, we are the perishing. Why do we perish? We perish because of sin. Our time on earth is limited to let us be and become until we rise to our level of incompetence or as God has obtained us. Mentally we know this, but subconsciously we try to bury these thoughts, and now it seems, we want to decide what is best for ourselves. How do we do this?

Some who want things their way raise loud and continuous voices until they have someone in power, usually legally, to agree with them. Then there is a law and/or regulation passed, stating that if we do not obey the law or regulation, fines would be levied.

It is most interesting to me that some of us, especially in the election year, have forgotten God and the foundation God gave us, the holy Bible.

I want to believe there are those Americans and others who still have an obedient heart to the gospel and have righteousness implanted into the very marrow of their bones, never to be persuaded to give in to evil, worldly pleasures.

Wake up, America! God is our refuge, our redeemer, our protector. God can do mighty and marvelous things through us if we will ask and let him.

Indeed, Jesus himself has said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him who believeth.” (Mark 9:23)

We all could very well be amazed and surprised what God will do if we ask him to forgive us for the errors of our ways and then to heal our land.

Yes, I firmly believe with God leading us we can and will remain the most envied nation among nations.

From: Janet Wolf

Columbus

We should all thank Ralph Williams, formerly from Purdue University, for his informative letter touting Clayton Nolting’s education and experience with bugs as they relate to forensics. In contrast, Paula Rothrock has her education and experience with people. She is a forensic nurse examiner, sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) and has written policies and procedures to protect people and evidence. She has practiced as a SANE nurse for over 15 years and continues to provide support to the SANE program at Columbus Regional Health.

Williams also mentioned Nolting being a certified medicolegal death investigator in the state of Indiana. For the lay person, that may sound impressive, however it is required by law for anyone who serves as coroner or deputy coroner to complete the 40-hour class. That is not a medical background. It’s unclear if Williams or The Republic was trying to convince the readers that Nolting has a medical background by completing the required state course. Don’t confuse a 40-hour class as the same education as a nurse (RN, LPN), emergency medical technician (EMT) or a certified medical assistant (CMA). Insinuating that is an affront to anyone in the medical profession.

Nolting does have experience with the Bartholomew County coroner’s office. He has worked alongside Larry Fisher for the past five years. As Fisher’s chief deputy coroner, he had the opportunity to help establish policies and procedures to protect the deceased, their families and the community. I read a flier in Thursday’s paper where Rothrock was quoted, “If you know something is wrong and don’t change it, you become part of the problem.” Rothrock has established policies and procedures and plans to carry her dedication and professionalism to the coroner’s office.

It’s time to elect a person who has dedicated years to serving the public. I am voting for Paula Rothrock because I want to see a change in the coroner’s office.

From: Janet Long

Plainfield

After looking at the Facebook page for the Van Buren Township Volunteer Fire Department in Brown County, I did online research. Public records as of Dec. 31, 2015, show Van Buren Township taxes have provided $163,995.28 in a fire accumulative fund for new trucks or maintenance and a balance of $33,703.46 for the fire department contract.

Their township trustee as of Dec. 31, 2015, paid $0 to the fire department. She paid $16,915.08 of Van Buren Township taxes in lawyer fees to Cline, King and King, and $2,291 to Bunger and Robertson for mediator fees to fight paying their volunteer fire department anything for services already rendered. If she has concerns with the taxes being spent wisely, I would say she is putting their fire department out of business and using their tax dollars to do it.

The fact that she has the power to do so is appalling. Would you want to work with someone who can decide to pay you or not at whim? Supposedly, she has been turned down by nearby departments to take over this territory. To close down the only protection being provided through nonpayment and a drawn-out law suit seems irresponsible. They stay open only through fundraisers and donations. Why are the residents of Van Buren Township paying taxes if the taxes are not being distributed as allotted?

The township’s annual fiscal reports up to 2010 can be found at in.gov/itp/annual_reports and after that at gateway.ifionline.org. Both 2010 (misappropriated funds found) and 2015 where interesting. In the 2015 report, it shows the itemize tax dollars received and disbursed, and that is where the lawyer expenses are shown.

From: Debbie Kramer

Columbus

I attended a city council meeting on Oct. 18. I went to this meeting because I had some questions concerning the budget. Little did I know that it was going to turn into a circus.

The ring leader (Mayor Lienhoop) had a letter already written prior to the meeting condemning the residents who disagreed with him. I discovered then the council meetings are a waste. Several of the council members meet prior to the meetings to discuss what they will say and how they will vote. This has been going on for several years. Their minds are already made up prior to the public meetings.

If there are no discrepancies in what you are doing, then there would not be any need for requested information that costs the city money. The mayor has said, “The tone starts at the top.” I guess that means showing disrespect, overspending and dishonesty. He rarely reaches out to everyday residents or businesses unless it is to make him look good or a photo op.

When I addressed the mayor at the council meeting for his bullying attacks on the residents, he could not even give me his attention; he would not look me in the eye. He just sat there shuffling through his papers.

Our mayor’s spending while in office is insane. But I understand he has to go on paid trips overseas to bring back companies that we have no employees for. (Let’s fill the jobs we have now before getting more.) I feel he created jobs for people that campaigned and got him elected.

From: Richard Pitman

Columbus

The circus-like machinations of the current and some of the past political campaigns have caused me to reflect on Plato’s concerns/criticisms regarding democracy as described in his “Republic” and his argument for an authoritarian form of government. He criticized all other forms as flawed because they clouded and inhibited the quest for the “true good.” Consider his arguments:

• Leaders will seek popularity rather than statesmanship in order to get re-elected.

• People (voters) will tend to vote for leaders more like themselves and not necessarily the most competent.

• Leaders tend to pander to the wishes of the electorate rather than do what is right.

• Leaders tend to focus on short-term goals at the expense of long-term needs of society.

• They tend to spend more than they take in (always easier to give than to ask for sacrifices).

• Politics becomes superficial and focuses more on images and less on substantive issues.

• The electorate becomes more focused on the sensational over the important. Images dominate over substantive debate.

His perception and analysis say imperfect societies (as most, if not all, are) favor appearances over reality. We become enamored with images and appearances, placing more on emotion than reason in our political debates. Politicians manipulate public beliefs to their own advantage rather than seeking truth and the good. Democracy opens the door to rule by manipulations and competing special interests. We gradually lose a sense of shared values, and disagreements increase, leading to social disorder, increased crime, distrust of authority and generational gaps.

I am a retired senior. The current circus has impelled me to reflect on the past few years, and in my opinion we are descending to mediocrity and dependency, and I hope that we the electorate can and will accept our responsibility to become better informed in an effort to reverse the trends. In spite of my judgments and opinions, I have come to cling to the humorous wisdom of Winston Churchill that “democracy is the worst of all governances except for the rest of them.”

From: Joe Nicholson

Columbus

Duke Energy sent us a letter a couple of months ago that stated they were going to upgrade the power lines that run through High Vista subdivision directly behind our house. The letter noted they were going to clear the easement of trees and structures, then upgrade the poles and power lines. Then we had representatives come to our home and explain exactly what they plan to do. They are going to completely wipe clean the easement of all trees, buildings, fences, children’s playground sets and more. It’s going to be generally stripped clean.

This one hundred feet wide stretch goes from County Road 350N down to 25th Street. It affects several homes along the way through several neighborhoods. They are going to cut long-established trees, tear down buildings that are too old to be moved, tear up garden spaces and more. Columbus takes pride in its neighborhoods. This is a tremendous hit to several families on the east side of town. This is property that we have paid taxes on. All these affected families have a lot of pride in their property. Much of what they have built and grown will be gone.

I understand progress and the need to upgrade infrastructure. However, eight to 10 years ago they trimmed the trees and things seemed to be good. Upgrade the lines, that’s fine. But 100 feet along the lines is excessive. The destruction is inexcusable.