Cawthorn is embarassing
As voters we are employers, hiring people to do the work of representing us.
In November, the voters of N.C. District 11 elected a young man to represent us who lied to us during the campaign and has failed to meet his obligations since.
Madison Cawthorn told us that at the scene of the car accident that left him in a wheelchair that his friend, Bradley Ledford, left him to die “in a fiery tomb.” This was a lie; Ledford pulled him from the wreck.
Cawthorn said he would have attended the Naval Academy if it hadn’t been for the accident, but he actually had been rejected before the accident occurred. He described his college experience as successful when he actually made poor grades and flunked out after one semester.
Cawthorn has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of students. He claimed to be a successful business owner when the truth is his realty company – SPQR Holdings LLC, formed in August 2019 – reported no income on its tax documents and has only one employee … Cawthorn.
Cawthorn has none of the qualities that a reasonable employer would be looking for in an employee. He did not have the appropriate experiences, education or integrity to be hired, and yet voters hired him anyway.
His behavior on social media has been an embarrassment. Among the many inappropriate tweets he has made on social media, he has expressed admiration for Hitler and taunted his fellow representatives.
Cawthorn has demonstrated a poor work ethic. His absenteeism is worse than that of any other freshman congressman.
I hope those voters who made the mistake of voting for him are big enough grownups to admit the mistake, if only deep down inside, and will help in voting Cawthorn out of office at the first opportunity.
Elizabeth Boulter, Burnsville
Please back Dividend Act
Last year was the most active wildfire year in the U.S. west, costing the federal government about $2.3 billion fighting fires, roughly 10 times what it spent in 1985. This increase is tied to the hotter, drier conditions that global warming has created in the western U.S.
That money comes from taxes. So, too, does funding for the National Flood Insurance Program, which has piled up $20.5 billion in debt after a record-setting hurricane season across the Southeast and Gulf Coast, again tied to increasing temperatures.
There were 22 major disasters of at least $1 billion in 2020, far surpassing the 2011 and 2017 records of 16.
Who pays for all this? You and I, of course. The really great news is that we have a bill in Congress, HR 2307, the Energy Innovation & Carbon Dividend Act, that would decrease greenhouse gases almost 90 percent by 2050 while adding millions of American jobs and putting more money back into most American’s pocket. It would also save millions of American lives that would otherwise be lost to the pollution from burning fossil fuels. Some of those lives might be yours or mine or our parents or children.
I don’t know about you, but I rather like to save money and lives, and help our economy at the same time. Seems like a win-win situation to me.
Please call Congressman Clyde and ask him to support this bill.
Vernon Dixon, Hiawassee, Ga.
Not a better America here
A meeting of “Citizens for a Better America” on June 17 in Brasstown called to mind Albert Einstein’s thoughts on “all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism.”
The flag, homilies to “our men in blue” and genuflections to religion were front and center.
Victimhood, too, got its due.
County Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum, the guest speaker – introduced as a politician seeking re-election – railed against “evil government” and declared the group and himself victims under attack by dark forces. Socialism was mentioned.
Eichenbaum promoted “sovereign citizenship,” a dubious concept as foggy as it is goofy, and identified the real danger to the republic as the “career politician.”
Asked during a Q&A how he squares seeking re-election while railing against career politicians, Eichenbaum mentioned corporate money and abandoned the Q&A without further
questions.
When one sour wag suggested the group invite Democrats to seek common ground, he set off a stink bomb that had one patriotic citizen breathing almost visible fire.
President Joe Biden was the worst of men, one attendee said. He condemned Democrats’ love for “killing babies” and asserted he’d had his fill trying to break bread with Socialists.
The oddity of removing a woman’s right to make decisions about pregnancy and leaving that decision instead to an “evil government” wasn’t questioned.
Perhaps this group of 25 or so aging sad sacks wants only to stew in hatred of those with different thoughts – though “thoughts” may be too generous. A handout suggested we visit heritageaction.com to “learn about our key issues.”
Einstein again: “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt,” he said in his remarks on false patriotism. “He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.”
Tony Tharp, Murphy
Fishing for Father’s Day
This Sunday was Father’s Day, and while most of the country might be celebrating with baseball and burgers, I’m taking a decidedly different approach: I’m going “fishing.”
But not the kind of fishing you’re thinking of.
Our planet’s oceans and waterways are being stripped through commercial fishing and even “recreational fishing” takes its toll on the environment, not to mention the trauma to marine life. At our current rate, we could see fishless oceans by 2048.
This is why, as an ethical vegan and father of two children, I have my own unique approach to “fishing.”
Armed with Google image search and fish identification guides, my kids and I go “fishing” in the same way a birder goes birding. We walk the shorelines and countless docks of New York’s Finger Lakes region and “catch” a glimpse of freshwater fish.
This past weekend we “caught” a dozen carp, a few bass, several perch, and one very elusive catfish; all logged in our fishing journal.
As stewards of this planet, we have a unique opportunity to share these moments and nature with the next generation and prove there are more ethical ways to “capture” wildlife.
Eric C. Lindstrom, Ithaca, N.Y.
The writer is executive director of Farm Animal Rights Movement with headquarters in
Washington.
More need to get vaccinated
As a physician in practice during the COVID-19 outbreak in our community, I am pleased that the rate of infection, illness and death due to the pandemic has significantly reduced.
This has occurred as a result of the great efforts of our health departments, Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital and our many capable health-care providers in the region. It has also been aided by the response of many of our citizens, who have used best practices, who have complied with testing and contact tracing, and who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
There is more effort that needs to be made in keeping the COVID pandemic controlled. About 30 percent of our community has been fully vaccinated.
That is not enough, even with natural immunity conferred with infection, to protect us from another outbreak here.
COVID variants have developed in our country, are spreading and may be more contagious and lethal for those who are unvaccinated. Future variants may develop that could cause infection and harm to those who are vaccinated. This is more likely to occur if the COVID virus spreads and thereby has greater chance to mutate.
The patients I see who develop the COVID infection are those who have not been vaccinated. Some have become quite ill and require hospitalization.
These patients have gotten the infection from others who are unvaccinated, and they can spread the infection to other unvaccinated people as well. They should continue to wear masks and to use best practices for themselves and for others., unless and until they get the shot.
Those who are unvaccinated should reconsider getting the vaccine. It is proven in trials and in practice to be most effective and has likely saved thousands of lives.
The serious side effects are very rare, and other reported side effects are manageable. The serious effects of a COVID infection are not rare.
It has caused great loss of life and hardship around the world, our country and in Cherokee County.
Dr. Brian Mitchell, Brasstown
Be afraid of Marx madness
Have you noticed all the “hiring” signs outside of businesses, many with “sign-on bonus” offers for hundreds and thousands of dollars to entice workers?
Maybe you visited a restaurant where takeout was the only option. We’ve
witnessed these situations everywhere we’ve traveled within several-hour distances in various directions and asked, “Why?”
Business managers and employees provided insight. Numerous television interviews with diverse business owners across the country confirm their rationale. Workers are unavailable
to fill 9.6 million job openings to properly operate. Why?
The answer’s simple. Intentional government-created dependency has eliminated the desire to work with long-term unemployment pay, stimulus money and other so-called free money programs you and I pay for under the “government.”
Any intelligent person knows there is no free ride – somebody pays. Yet, people
selfishly take advantage of others rather than being productive, filling community needs and safeguarding self-esteem.
To counter this dilemma in North Carolina, a bill replacing unemployment benefits with back-to-work bonuses was approved by the state Senate. If approved by the U.S. Department of Labor, workers would receive $1,500 or $800.
We’re also forced to support countless illegal immigrants through President Joe Biden’s welcoming. His refusal to stand for the rule of law to enforce our borders proves he has no respect for the American people. And it’s a huge slap in the face of each legal immigrant here.
Then there’s his crippling $6 trillion spending plan.
“America is on the move again,” Biden proclaimed.
Yes, our once great country is quickly descending in a government-imposed death spiral from horrors created by excessive bad decisions.
This Marxist madness has to stop. It sends shivers down the spine of anyone with sense. If you’re living in la-la-land thinking all is OK, wake up to reality.
Then be afraid. Be very afraid.
Tamara Phillips, Murphy
Where is the Dem Party?
How did Joe Biden get elected president? Where are people like Heath Shuler and John Snow? Those two I do not believe would agree with some of the stupid things Biden is doing.
Biden stopped the pipeline, causing a lot of people to lose their jobs. He created a nightmare at the U.S. border. What is the U.S. going to do with all those illegals?
Shuler and Snow are men of faith. I think Heath tried to do something with Nancy Pelosi. He saw the light and got out.
As for Snow, there were some lies that got out about him. Why do I know? I am a Republican, and I got some of that mail. But I voted for him every time he ran for office.
Charles R. Stiles, Murphy