Opinion
Knowing the difference: fact versus opinion
To the Editor:
A few weeks ago Smoky Mountain News Editor Scott McLeod wrote an interesting article spelling out the differences between folks who choose to read or listen to media sources that provide facts and those who get their news from media that primarily give opinions. There’s nothing wrong with opinions if they are backed up by facts. Otherwise, they’re just noise.
Israeli visit is pure hypocrisy
To the Editor:
A recent edition of a local paper described the visit of an Israeli envoy to bring relief supplies to our area after Helene.
Yet, the same country, Israel, bombs Gaza daily killing thousands of Palestinians with bombs made in the United States.
The meaningful moments that make memories
(I started writing a Thanksgiving column, paused a moment, did a Google search and realized that I had shared this memory 10 years ago. It was published in this newspaper on Dec. 3, 2014. Hope it’s still worth a read.)
Moments, mostly the ones unplanned, are the stuff of important and lasting life memories.
Lessons from Noah’s flood — confessions of a progressive
After reading the point-counterpoint last week from David Lawson and Tom Powers, I was inspired to offer a third path forward. Having moved here last October from the suburbs of Atlanta, my husband and I have been blessed with the culture and kindness of everyone whose paths we have crossed. Having come to Lake Junaluska since the 1960s and 1970s, this place has always been my spiritual home, “Halfway to heaven.”
Destruction from the MAGA storm
To the Editor:
Helene brought destruction and chaos! Homes, businesses, cars, people washed away, roads and bridges washed out, people cut off from aid, etc. MAGA voters have brought a national storm upon us all and chaos is resulting.
Have we lost our way, America?
To the Editor:
As I ponder the implications of the presidential election, I have to ask myself and I ask you to think about what the outcome means in the larger context of our values as a nation.
Beliefs about Biden/Harris just aren’t true
After reading David Lawson’s letter, “Maybe Trump’s Win Was about Policy,” I sympathize with Dr. Lawson’s desire to focus on policy. However, some of Dr. Lawson’s claims about the Biden/Harris administration’s policies are puzzling.
Helene disaster isn’t over
To the Editor:
I was finally able to get through the travel hazards back to Western North Carolina six days after Helene’s historic fury had torn through our region devastating roadways, major infrastructure, entire communities and thousands of lives.
Trump’s election tells us a lot
To the Editor:
The 2024 presidential election revealed one thing in crystal-clear, proof-positive, light-years beyond any reasonable doubt comprehensibility, that the ability and capacity of the average American voter to simply (but so importantly) distinguish between fact and fiction, the ability to grasp (and choose confidently) between truth and falsehood, the aptitude necessary to seek out and determine right from wrong, to diligently and with purpose contrast good and evil, and lastly, the ability and the practiced competence to differentiate and choose the honorable from the dishonorable — no longer exists.
