Want to submit your letter to the editor? Here is how. Wochit
Trump trying to keep foes off balance
As an observer of the political process for 50 years, I have come to the conclusion that President Donald Trump may be smarter and cagier than people are giving him credit for.
Think back to the measured airstrike on Syria in April 2017 a few months after his taking office. It achieved the desired results of limiting the use of chemical weapons. There was no red line to cross; there was no rhetoric, just a powerful message on the battlefield.
People are now questioning Trump's sanity. He is still sending out cryptic and sometimes confusing messages to Iran, North Korea and the Palestinians. He is belligerent one minute and indicates possible cooperation the next. This behavior may be a calculation on his part to keep our adversaries off guard.
Is he willing to do another Syria in North Korea? What is his plan? What is the strategy? This all may be structured to keep them off balance. The previous head of national security, ex-military personnel, the folks on the other side of the aisle and even some Republicans are questioning his tactics. However, all this may be planned.
Keeping them guessing on how far to push Trump before he reacts keeps them wondering what his actions will be. It is a lot better than being compliant and predictable like the previous administration, where what they said had no meaning, such as the red line in Syria..
Trump may be crazy like a fox.
Joseph Burriesci, Alcoa
Vawter praised for views on college football
My deepest and heartfelt congratulations to Vince Vawter for his recent guest column on college football, "College football is, at best, entertainment that matters not a whit." I admire his courage for having the gall to assert publicly, in Big Orange Country, the incontrovertible truth that college football is just a game, played for entertainment of the masses, for the enrichment of institutions and coaches who profit from the volunteered sweat of young men risking their bones, joints and health for the nigh-impossible dream that a minuscule number of them may become overpaid millionaires toiling in the professional teams. It is high time that Americans recognize that the future of this country depends on the products of brains educated in institutions of higher learning, rather than on brawn displayed on playing fields.
Henry A. Fribourg, Knoxville