Counter-protests at white supremacist rallies risk more harm than good

Regarding “Dueling Portland political protests raise fears of violence” (Aug. 3): Why are we showing up to protest at these white supremacist rallies? I know many are outraged at the total disrespect of human rights, but we are giving these people exactly what they want – an audience.

Counter-protesting is not going to make anyone change their stance, it only creates the drama they so desperately seek. If we thought of this more like a toddler having a fit, we would comfortably walk away.

Without an audience, people – white supremacists included – will tend to move on. We need to keep the streets empty. They are not worthy of an audience and certainly not worthy of a life harmed.

‘Stink’

Regarding “13 UNC football players to sit for selling shoes” (Aug. 7): Maybe it is time for UNC to just shut their doors for a while to permit the continuous stink generated by the athletic program to dissipate a little.

Spare the trees

Regarding “Next in North Hills: 33-story Walter Tower” (July 31): Sadly, developer John Kane seems determined to remove all the trees from North Hills and cover every square inch of the land with concrete towers.

Now he’s set his sights on the last 34 acres of mature trees along St. Albans Drive. This will be a huge loss.

If the City of Raleigh won’t step up to protect a portion of these majestic old trees (City of Oaks?) I very much hope John Kane will see the beauty in these magnificent trees and choose to spare them.

Give information

Regarding “Cooper will take Legislature to court over proposed amendments” (Aug. 4): The hypocrisy of the state’s Republican leadership claiming it is Gov. Roy Cooper who wishes to subvert democracy by opposing the proposed constitutional amendments is breathtaking.

First, voters must be given sufficient information to make informed decisions. That information will not be forthcoming on this fall’s ballot. Nowhere in the wording of the Bipartisan State Board of Ethics and Elections Enforcement amendment does it mention that all appointed members of the executive department would be chosen by the General Assembly.

Another proposed amendment would give the legislature power over judicial appointments. These blows against the concept of separation of powers cannot but undermine necessary democratic principles.

In 2016, Cooper won an election in which all the state’s registered voters got a say. He received more than 2.3 million votes. Senate leader Phil Berger ran unopposed and received 68,000 votes. House Speaker Moore also ran unopposed and received less than 26,000 votes. One must ask who really represents our state and its people.

Nix amendments

The State Board of Elections found that out of 4,769,640 votes cast, one fraudulent vote would have been prevented with a photo ID.

We know that 300,000 North Carolinians lack photo IDs. These are people in nursing homes who have been politically active all their lives and still have sharp minds, and poor and disabled people who lack transportation. Notice stories like “Those long lines at DMV? You can blame Real ID, but that’s not all, says commissioner.” (Aug. 8) about how long the lines are at the local DMVs and consider how on earth these people can get a photo ID.

Another problem with this proposed constitutional amendment is that the General Assembly did not spell out which photo ID is acceptable, and will decide after the election. Last time they did this, according to a federal court, they used race data “to exclude many of the alternative photo IDs used by African Americans.” The court struck down that effort and said that the GA had targeted African American voters “with almost surgical precision.”

I have worked the polls for years and I know there are many safeguards to our voting process. These proposed amendments are a blatant power grab and an attempt at voter suppression. We need to vote all six of them down.

This story was originally published August 9, 2018 at 10:44 AM.