Let first principles guide us

To the Editor:

A Google search reveals this simple concept: First principles thinking (or reasoning from first principles) is a problem-solving technique that requires you to break down a complex problem into its most basic, foundational elements. The idea: to ground yourself in the foundational truths and build up from there. 

GOP once knew what honor meant

To the Editor:

I recently finished reading Liz Cheney's book “Oath and Honor.” Liz Cheney represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023.

We need to deal with the bully

To the Editor:

“No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of president or vice-president, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

No one is above the Constitution

To the Editor:

A historic constitutional battle is brewing.

Local Jan. 6 defendant pleads guilty

A Sylva man arrested for his involvement  in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot  at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty last week to a felony charge.

Meadows an embarrassment to his former state, district

The recent revelations regarding Mark Meadows and his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the events that led up to it are eye-opening. The man who went from Jackson County restauranteur to White House chief of staff has fallen hard, his ethics and patriotism in question due to his blind support for Donald Trump and his stolen-election lies. He may even find himself in court.

Plea agreement delayed in Sylva man’s Jan. 6 case

Lewis Easton Cantwell, a Sylva resident facing charges related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building, was expected to strike a plea deal during a virtual court hearing last week but instead announced a change in representation, along with a request to continue the case into 2022. 

Cawthorn refutes bombshell Rolling Stone allegations

An Oct. 26 report in Rolling Stone  based on the claims of two anonymous sources places Western North Carolina freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-Henderson) at the center of the planning of the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative firebrand Cawthorn responds to furor over insurrection comments

Western North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn is known for making controversial statements, but video footage from a recent Macon County Republican Party that showed him speaking about insurrectionists and another possible rally in Washington has the internet up in arms, and people from both parties again calling for his removal. 

Sylva man arrested in connection with Capitol riots

The world watched with bated breath Jan. 6 as what is normally a perfunctory proceeding — the Senatorial certification of Electoral College results — turned violent. At the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., then-President Donald Trump was whipping attendees into a frenzy of anger over what he continues to claim was a stolen election, and as he spoke the roiling crowd made its raucous way to the U.S. Capitol a couple miles away.

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