Force is not the same as power.  

Jesus exuded power. Nelson Mandela exuded power. Mother Theresa exuded power. Our current administration is using force, and the reason their efforts aren’t landing is because power and force are polar opposites. To truly understand this distinction will give you some hope and optimism for the future. 

President Donald Trump recently cast the Democrats as “the party of hate, evil, and Satan.” This incendiary language serves a dual purpose: it presents an easy target for political scapegoating while deflecting attention away from critical issues afflicting the nation. This tactic of blaming an enemy — real or imagined — has become a hallmark of authoritarian regimes throughout history and is a dangerous practice that undermines democratic discourse. 

Congressional redistricting  — the process of drawing electoral districts to account for population changes — was conceived by the Founding Fathers as a once-per-decade redrawing of district lines following the decennial U.S. census.

Hello from 30,054 feet somewhere above rural Missouri. The Delta flight is currently holding steady at 517 miles per hour. And here I sit once again. In motion, in real time. Onward to the next adventure.  

Sometimes fictional books, when they’re written well, can give the same, if not more, insight to a people and culture than a history book can. Alan Paton’s “Cry, the Beloved Country” (Scribner, 2003, 316 pages) is one of those novels. 

The garden gnomes stared at me from our cluttered carport, dirty and bored, no blooming flowers to observe or tomato vines to tickle their bellies. I was holding on to them well past their desire.  

Early Tuesday morning. Sitting in the dentist chair, I stared blankly out onto the parking lot, only to then notice the bustling traffic on nearby U.S. 276. It was at that moment when the nice dental hygienist asked if a date and time in mid-September 2025 would be ideal for my next teeth cleaning.  

In the 26 years we’ve been publishing this newspaper, I don’t think we’ve ever had the onslaught of letters to the editor as has been happening since November.

The looming 1980 presidential election was all over the news, the unpopular incumbent Jimmy Carter facing the charismatic former actor and California Gov. Ronald Reagan.  A college junior in Boone walked into the Watauga County Board of Elections sometime in September and registered to vote in his first presidential election.

Editor’s note: Bob Clark coached the Tuscola boys and girls discus and shotput athletes for the past three seasons. Prior to that he coached the boys and girls throwers for four seasons at Waynesville Middle School. Six of those seven years he was a volunteer.

This spring Tuscola High School’s principal, accompanied by the athletic director (AD), threw $30,000 of taxpayer money away to change the color suggested for the new Tuscola track.