Biden critics talk about safeguarding American lives while doing the opposite

Preaching freedom

I’m hearing many critics decry President Biden on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Our government leaders should be questioned and justify their actions, but I heard little from the loudest of Biden’s critics when Trump abandoned our Kurdish allies in Syria to a similar fate in 2019 and then set the course for Afghan withdrawal in 2020.

Some of these critics resisted expanding visas for our Afghan friends and allies in advance of the scheduled withdrawal. Some even worked against the Violence Against Women Act here at home. And, some are pushing to restrict voting rights in many states.

You can’t preach about “freedom” and “safeguarding American lives” when your own actions are a contradiction.

Safeguard American lives by stopping the pandemic that has killed over 600,000 of us. Protect our freedom by protecting voting rights. Don’t try to use the rule of law to subordinate the mothers, wives, sisters, daughters of our own country.

Do this and I’ll give your words weight. Until then it’s just noise.

Jean-Paul Garnett, Apex

Biden’s mistakes

The Biden administration’s planning decisions and actions on Afghanistan are chaotic and catastrophic. Afghans are suffering a human tragedy and our worldwide reputation has declined. Combine this disaster with the chaos on our southern border and we have two massive policy mistakes of execution which demonstrate total incompetence.

The administration has accomplished these twin disasters in only seven months. It is an administration defined by its poor decisions and incompetence. We have three and a half years remaining.

Franklin Smith, Raleigh

Raleigh scooters

Once again the sidewalks of Raleigh are not safe due to fact that the scooters are back. Once again those who use the Lime, Bolt and Spin scooters for short or intermediate trips are leaving them on Raleigh sidewalks when finished. They’re also riding down the sidewalks at a high rate of speed.

I have nothing against users of this mode of transportation. My concern is that of pedestrian safety, particularly for the blind community, of which I’m a member, and the disabled community.

It seems to me that law enforcement could find ways to encourage scooter users to travel on the streets and not leave scooters on sidewalks. I also wonder why there are not places for these scooters to be docked, just as their are places for bikes to be locked.

The Raleigh City Council must hold the scooter companies accountable.

My heart is with those who want reduce their carbon foot print. We all need to have a heart for safety as well.

Robert Parrish, Raleigh

NC budget

Recent N&O articles have highlighted urgent needs in the state: more resources for the N.C. Highway Patrol and courts to crackdown on extreme speeders, more resources to deal with court backlogs, funding for the flood resiliency program, adequate funding for public schools and colleges, pay raises for teachers and state employees, and cost-of-living increases for state retirees.

With N.C. coffers full, what is the reaction of the Republican-controlled legislature? Cut taxes, yet again. Cut or even eliminate the corporate tax.

In defending the proposed tax cuts, Sen. Paul Newton said, “we believe people spend their money better than government does.”

We the people believe that we elect representatives to pursue the public good. Apparently, we are mistaken.

Robert Milks, Cary

Senator Burr

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr recently wrote an op-ed about the role child care and early learning play in the lives of N.C. families and our economy.

He acknowledged the challenges families face in finding affordable, quality child care and reinforced his commitment to ensuring every child has a strong start in life.

As an advocate for North Carolina’s youngest learners, I’m pleased that he took a public stand on this important issue. He has been instrumental in expanding the reach of programs like Head Start and Early Head Start.

Now, Congress is considering President Biden’s American Families Plan, which prioritizes the goals the senator’s article detailed: to reach more children with quality early learning opportunities, with an emphasis on parent choice and state leadership.

Moving forward, I’m optimistic that we can achieve meaningful child care and early learning solutions for N.C. families through bipartisanship and a commitment to a brighter future for our children, especially with allies like Burr.

Muffy Grant, Raleigh

Executive director, NC Early Childhood Foundation

Mask mandates

Much attention is focused on mask mandates, but no one really makes clear what the consequences are for noncompliance and how to report it.

Mask mandates won’t succeed on the basis of voluntary compliance.

Given the delta variant surge, elected officials and public administrators need to ensure compliance — tough as that may be in the current political climate.

The good news is that doing so need not be draconian. Non-compliance can and should be addressed through a proactive and progressive compliance process.

Let’s pray we get these in place now!

Robert Marotto, Rougemont

This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 12:45 PM.