Letters: Tillis, Burr face a choice on Kavanaugh

With tensions running high on the Kavanaugh nomination, Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis have my sympathy. Rarely are statesmen confronted with such a weighty dilemma. On the one hand, they can send a nominee to the Supreme Court who is far out of the ideological mainstream, whose past public service records are largely kept secret, who has dissembled if not lied to Congress, whose partisanship is passionate, and whose moral character is dubious. The upside of this course of action is that they’d retain their standing with Trump’s base. On the other hand, they could do what’s right for the country. I do not mean to suggest it is an easy choice. The second option would probably jeopardize Tillis’ re-election prospects and Burr’s options for a cushy lobbying position. Doing the right thing in this case doesn’t come cheap. I have sympathy, but I also have hope.

Richard Prust

Chapel Hill

Mirror views

In his column, “Look in mirror before pointing finger at racism,” Michael Jacobs offers good advice. As the Bible says, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” Jacobs points to conditions in Chapel Hill and Asheville that appear to belie attitudes professed by liberal majorities in both cities. We should take heed.

Jacobs is understandably reacting defensively to an unfair accusation of racism leveled at all conservatives, not just those who saw good people on both sides of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

As the liberal citizens in Asheville and Chapel Hill take a look in the mirror as Jacobs suggests, I hope conservatives will do likewise and come to understand that a vote in support of the voter ID Amendment to our state constitution is racially discriminatory.

John May

Chapel Hill

Against silence

I am a physician who has worked with victims of sexual and domestic assault for several years, trying to restore their emotional and physical stability. There are always mental scars. The mocking and attack by Donald Trump at a Mississippi rally recently and his inciting of uproarious laughing and clapping from by the crowd during the speech was a despicable and disgraceful display. Trump’s performance should spur every victim of sexual and domestic assault and their supporters to vote against any candidate (incumbent or newcomer) who enables this kind of behavior. There is no place for this rhetoric in a democracy. The only way to fight this with consequence is to vote. It is a powerful tool and every voter should take advantage of it.

Carole R. Sawicki, M.D.

Raleigh

Native wildlife

I think Tony Avent’s letter missed the intent of Wake County’s effort to use native plants in the landscaping of its new properties. I think Wake County is choosing plants that will add to the biodiversity of the site. Plants that provide food and shelter to the native animals. True, there are many lovely and interesting exotic and cultivated plants in our local nurseries, but many of these are not useful to our native insects and other animals.

Anne Runyon

Garner

Functioning alcoholism

In response to the Oct. 3, 2018 letter titled ‘Fake news,’ I would recommend that the writer do a little investigating before she throws out conclusions she cannot support regarding alcoholics. WebMD estimates that up to 20 percent of all alcoholics may be classified as “high-functioning.” While I do not know if Brett Kavanaugh is an alcoholic, I do know that the letter writer’s assessment of him regarding his academic accomplishments is an opinion and not based on facts. What really surprised me however is that the letter contained no sympathy for Christine Blasey Ford.

Chuck Schroeder

Cary

Trump and the FBI

I fear President Trump would have the FBI at his beck and call, a politically controlled police force and a direct threat to our democracy, not unlike the KGB. As poor a Supreme Court nominee as Mr Kavanaugh may be, his appointment pales in comparison as a threat to U.S. jurisprudence compared to what could be happening to our FBI.

Mike Pedneau

Raleigh

In the past I have voted for Democrats such as David Price; but that will be ending because the Democratic agenda has turned away from justice to “search and destroy.” I served in the military for 33 years and I’ve always believed our country was better than this. It is time for Democrats to stand up and stop this disregard for our time honored principles. I shudder to think what will become of our country if the mere accusation is good enough to convict you.

This story was originally published October 4, 2018 at 6:12 PM.