OP does not deserve a single vote
 

OP does not deserve a single vote

To The Editor:  Both parties have some valid points that need to be examined. But very simply, one party has…
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Obama deserves another term
 

Obama deserves another term

To the Editor: Neither of our presidential candidates has reached the stage of perfection. Neither has all the answers to…
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Uninformed populace a sad state of affairs
 

Uninformed populace a sad state of affairs

To the Editor: Some 30 years ago about 33 national broadcast companies existed.  Today approximately five provide an extremely limited and…
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Comment

Support candidates who value early childhood programs
 

Support candidates who value early childhood programs

In the Sept. 19 edition of The Smoky Mountain News, there were some disturbing quotes from some of the local…
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Debates provide another view of candidates
 

Debates provide another view of candidates

The presidential debates of the 2012 election are now behind us. Barack Obama, the Democratic incumbent president running for re-election,…
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Comment

Davis has shown support for those with disabilities
 

Davis has shown support for those with disabilities

To the Editor: Seldom do I cross party lines in politics. However, there is one Republican candidate I will vote…
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Comment

Marty Jones’ signs are just too much
 

Marty Jones’ signs are just too much

To the Editor: It is November, which means it is election time. As we all know election time means campaign…
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Comment

Some regulations are good for business
 

Some regulations are good for business

To the Editor: Mark Meadows and Romney-Ryan believe business can exist and prosper without government, that business owners build their…
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Here’s why tax cuts aren’t working
 

Here’s why tax cuts aren’t working

To the Editor: The economy is the largest accident ever designed by man. We think we can’t control it, but…
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Comment

Oscillating Romney not a good choice
 

Oscillating Romney not a good choice

To the Editor: Mitt Romney continuously switches positions to appease his audience. I am citing only a few examples. In…
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Comment

Beware the candidate who runs attack ads
 

Beware the candidate who runs attack ads

To the Editor: Campaign advertising is all around us. Much of it is in the form of attack ads meant…
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Comment

Forum gave insight into John Snow
 

Forum gave insight into John Snow

To the Editor: A candidate forum was held in Sylva on Oct. 15, 2012. The forum was sponsored by the…
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Comment

Discussing religion of candidates is tricky
 

Discussing religion of candidates is tricky

To the Editor: As I was engaged in a peace vigil in front of the Haywood County Courthouse recently, a…
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Comment

Climate change is real, must be confronted
 

Climate change is real, must be confronted

To the Editor: First, I want to thank The Smoky Mountain News for co-sponsoring the political candidate forum held at…
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Parris lived in the moment, a rare trait indeed
 

Parris lived in the moment, a rare trait indeed

On any given Saturday morning for the past 20 years, I would roll out of bed, crank up the coffee…
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GOP mailings smear candidates, ignore facts
 

GOP mailings smear candidates, ignore facts

To the editor: The world’s first political consultants were ancient Greeks known as Sophists who taught debating skills and boasted…
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Bear euthanasia was not first option
 

Bear euthanasia was not first option

By Gordon Myers • Guest Columnist A letter was recently circulated regarding the euthanizing of a black bear in the…
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We need specifics from Romney
 

We need specifics from Romney

To the Editor: The first presidential debate underscored one thing — what does Romney intend to do when campaign rhetoric…
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Comment

The environment is key in this election
 

The environment is key in this election

To the Editor: Bottom line: our economy, our health and quality of life are all dependent on how we treat…
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Comment

Obama just hasn’t gotten the job done
 

Obama just hasn’t gotten the job done

To the Editor: This will be the election of my lifetime. I was born before WWII. I have seen my…
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Comment

Is Romney really the person you want?
 

Is Romney really the person you want?

To the Editor: After listening to Mitt Romney’s excuses over the last several months for what he has and is…
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Comment

Davis’ gain is public education’s loss
 

Davis’ gain is public education’s loss

To the Editor: At the county and state government levels budgets are about choices, and those choices have moral implications,…
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Comment

Giving bears a second chance
 

Giving bears a second chance

To the Editor: The inflexibility of the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (NCWRC) is alarming. The killing of a three-legged…
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Comment

N.C. Wildlife Commission sets the record straight on euthanization as last resort
 

N.C. Wildlife Commission sets the record straight on euthanization as last resort

To the Editor: A letter was recently circulated regarding the euthanizing of a black bear in the Mountain Aire community…
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Comment

Barack Obama and his debate debacle
 

Barack Obama and his debate debacle

To the Editor: So, here we had it. Live TV for all the world to see. In one corner was…
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Comment

McCrory and our gems from Western Carolina
 

McCrory and our gems from Western Carolina

To the Editor: I am concerned about North Carolina’s unemployment rate of 9.7 percent and the country as a whole.…
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Comment

Make the right choice: Hayden Rogers
 

Make the right choice: Hayden Rogers

To the Editor: We in the mountains are known to be suspicious of outsiders who want to tell us how…
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Comment

Backcountry fees a bad idea
 

Backcountry fees a bad idea

To the Editor: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park plans to begin charging fees for backcountry camping and implement a…
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Comment

HART’s Stage II is a ticket to the future
 

HART’s Stage II is a ticket to the future

I’ve always believed in the adage that success builds success. It’s one of life’s truisms that anyone with eyes wide…
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Comment

Don’t be fooled again by Sen. Jim Davis
 

Don’t be fooled again by Sen. Jim Davis

To the Editor: One of the most important decisions we will have to make on Nov. 6 is who to…
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Comment

Bernanke is killing the working class
 

Bernanke is killing the working class

To the Editor: It is really quite amazing that anybody would believe anything that emanates from the mouth of Federal…
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Comment

This election, let’s make a clean sweep
 

This election, let’s make a clean sweep

To the Editor: During this election the main question seems to be economical. We are a debtor nation. We are…
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Comment

Americans are too easily deceived
 

Americans are too easily deceived

To the Editor: Why are the American people so easily deceived? It seems as if they want to be deceived. …
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Comment

GOP attack on women is real and continuing
 

GOP attack on women is real and continuing

To the Editor: The letter about women’s rights by Margery Abel in last week’s Smoky Mountain News says it very…
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Comment

Independent thinkers are key to future
 

Independent thinkers are key to future

To the Editor: Kurt Vonnegut, a prophetic fiction writer of the 1960s, wrote an amusing, disturbing and satirical short story…
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Comment

Sen. Davis’ comments were insulting
 

Sen. Davis’ comments were insulting

To the Editor: Much has been said this election year on the Republican “War on Women.” Some believe it exists…
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Comment

The tragedy of mass shootings, gun control
 

The tragedy of mass shootings, gun control

Hardly a week goes by without hearing about another tragic shooting, in a movie theater, a grocery store, a Washington,…
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Comment

Support Ghost Town and other local projects
 

Support Ghost Town and other local projects

To the Editor: This is really not an “either-or” situation. Maggie Valley should definitely support Ghost Town as an investment…
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Comment

Invest in nature, not Ghost Town
 

Invest in nature, not Ghost Town

To the Editor: I have no problem with Ghost Town, and I wish them well in their efforts. But I…
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Comment

Neither candidate is going to get the job done
 

Neither candidate is going to get the job done

To the Editor: It appears Mitt Romney has committed the unpardonable sin — he told the truth and now must…
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Comment

A different kind of freedom in the Middle East
 

A different kind of freedom in the Middle East

Could you imagine how different it might feel to be an American today if the ideas of individual freedom and…
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Comment

Life in the GOP fact-free bubble
 

Life in the GOP fact-free bubble

To the Editor: I just don’t get it. Many Republicans think that Obama is a Kenyan socialist out to destroy the…
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Comment

Conservatives take us down the wrong path
 

Conservatives take us down the wrong path

To the Editor: Webster’s dictionary defines the following terms as stated below: • Conservative: “of or relating to a philosophy of…
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Comment

Jim Davis living in Alice in Wonderland world?
 

Jim Davis living in Alice in Wonderland world?

To the Editor: Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is apparently living in a world in where up is down, less is…
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Comment

Don’t legitimize hate and violence
 

Don’t legitimize hate and violence

To the Editor: From U.S. media coverage we get the impression that the Muslim world is burning with anti-Western anger over…
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Comment

Thanks to the GOP communications chair
 

Thanks to the GOP communications chair

To The Editor: In Carol Adams’ reply to my column (“Proud to be an American … sort of,” SMN Sept.…
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Comment

Video archives useful in combatting lies
 

Video archives useful in combatting lies

To the Editor: I noticed that last week some of Mitt Romney’s defenders tried to claim that the video from…
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Comment

Women’s rights, the unfinished struggle
 

Women’s rights, the unfinished struggle

To the Editor: Throughout America’s history courageous women have struggled to achieve social and political freedom and equality. They have…
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Comment

Obama’s record needs closer look
 

Obama’s record needs closer look

To the Editor: Carol Adams in her Letter to the Editor (SMN, Sept. 12) asserts that Obama’s record is “not…
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Comment

History has been altered by victors
 

History has been altered by victors

To the Editor: Mr. McLeod, instead of being upset over a Confederate flag flying in the South, perhaps you should…
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