Let me know when this is published
To the Editor:
The only extremists in this country are the people who support publications like yours. Liberals support child groomers and other vile people and live in some fantasy where they think the world belongs to them.
Balancing act: Robinson, Stein offer competing visions of the future in North Carolina
They couldn’t be more different. But it’s not about race, religion or party affiliation.
Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, and Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, a Republican, present strikingly different views not only on their priorities if elected governor but also on the 30,000-foot view of what North Carolina is and will be.
This conservative says it’s OK to disagree
I wish to respond in a general way to the two columns on the Opinion page of the Dec. 27-Jan 2024 edition of The Smoky Mountain News — to Scott McLeod’s and to guest columnist Rob Schofield’s.
On-air disruption: Pete Kaliner returns to broadcasting
It’s been a long, strange trip for radio host Pete Kaliner, who came into the industry just as it was beginning an era of dramatic change. In many ways, his 20-something year career in Western North Carolina broadcast journalism mirrors the ebbs and flows of the modern media waterline.
What happened to true conservatives?
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist
The two most abused and misused words in America are “conservative” and “populist.” Politicians and the media are the grossest offenders.
Safire’s Political Dictionary defines “conservative” as “a defender of the status quo who, when change becomes necessary in tested institutions or practices, prefers that it come slowly, in moderation.” It also came to stand for resistance, sometimes rational, sometimes not, to taxes and regulations. What all American conservatives shared, however, was a healthy concern over the potential abuse of political power. They also venerated the Constitution and all of our fundamental institutions.
Don’t rely on fake Fox News
By Norman Hoffman • Guest Columnist
It is truly amusing to see an apparent “conservative” say that liberals are out of touch with reality because they don’t watch Fox News. I tend to watch several networks and frequently have found that what Fox talking heads are saying does not match the facts. Not only do they tend to have a strong bias to saying what conservative want to hear, their “facts” are often wrong or distorted.
Understanding how to disagree and still respect
Nineteenth century poet Walt Whitman once wrote “I hear America singing.”
Ah, those were the days.
Contentious ‘Dangerous Faggot’ tour brings alt-right punditry to WCU
Feminism is cancer. Patriarchy is good for everyone. The wage gap is a myth. Islam is not a religion of peace. Fat shaming works.
The Left still has something to learn about tolerance
I’ve been observing something for years — though recently it has snowballed — and it has always struck me as hypocritical: the intolerance of progressive liberals toward conservatives who hold diametrically opposing political and social views. The hypocrisy, of course, is that progressives espouse a philosophy of tolerance and openness. Bring a climate change denier, an evangelical Christian or a supply side, free market capitalist to the party, however, and many of my liberal friends will write off said individual’s political and social commentary before they’ve tossed back their first IPA.
Political and racial discussions continue at WCU
Sidewalk chalk was all anyone was talking about as campus woke up Thursday morning (April 21) at Western Carolina University. The chalk was everywhere, its biggest explosion around the fountain behind the A.K. Hinds University Center, colorful dust spelling out phrases running the gamut from “Build that wall” and “concealed carry saves” to “Hillary for prison,” and “blue lives matter.”