By james art At least be serious
In 2016, a colleague asked me if I was on the Trump Train. I told her I could never vote for a candidate who talked like that about women.
Her response was, “But he’s so funny.”
I was struck by how flippant her response was.
In 2022, I had a colleague tell me that if Joe Biden were your dog, you would kill him.
Again, I was struck by how frivolous his statement was.
Regardless of who you decide to vote for, please be serious.
I worked for the state government in the Department of Public Safety. There I learned how serious it can be to run an organization that is supported by the power of the state.
Please be serious when deciding who you want to vote for.
Joe Vincoli
Clemons
They know him well
I was a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education for three terms … 12 years. In every election as a Republican, I have always been proud and pleased with the principals, teachers and school officials who tell me that they both support me and will vote for me. I think that if people who have worked with me on projects, have seen me in their schools every year and witnessed me listen to them about their concerns, have supported me, then – to quote a song from the Sound of Music – ‘I have to to have done something good.”
It is with this experience that I urge voters to pay attention to who is not supporting Donald Trump for president: his own vice president; five of his cabinet members; 10 executive branch officials who served in his White House; former Republican Vice President; military, security and diplomatic officials who have seen him in the performance of his duties as president and as commander-in-chief of our country; and a host of economic experts who fear the impact of his tariff plans.
With all the “noise” we hear about candidates during election season, it’s hard to know what or who to believe, but surely those who were around and worked closely with the former president should get some significant degree of trust.
Jill Thackery
Winston-Salem
Missing Trump
Not the “border,” “theft,” “illegal immigrants,” “guns,” “Sharia law,” “weaving,” not even “Are you better?” really matters in November. They are just a distraction used to hide the oligarchy created by trickle-down policies and to make Project 2025 a reality.
Leaks have fueled policy-driven gains on Wall Street for more than four decades, led by deep tax cuts in 1981, 1986, 2001, 2003 and 2017. CEOs have created tens of trillions in tax-free profits on shares simply by buying back the shares of his own company.
Climate change denial subsidizes big oil. Medicare Part D subsidizes Big Pharma at all costs. And the ultimate subsidy allowed the federal debt we all share to grow as fast as the markets.
Debt/GDP, reduced by each of the seven post-war administrations from 119% to 33% by 1980, is now 124%. The share of wealth held by the bottom 90%, which +rose from about 15% in 1932 to 40% by 1990, has fallen to 33% and to just 2% for the 50% of households that make less than about $75,000 per day year. America’s once vibrant middle class has lost the American dream and too many households are left living in poverty.
guess what Deep tax cuts and subsidies for corporations and their already very wealthy owners weren’t such a good idea. No predator has cut taxes, created more debt and buyouts, lied, divided America, and boasted about his “record stock markets” more than Donald J. Trump.
Time to wake up, America, before Project 2025 becomes very dangerously real.
Richard Hilton
In advance
Choose wisely
There are many reasons we use when deciding who to vote for. Party affiliation, gender compatibility, position on specific issues, voting habit, perception of likability and mood to name a few. Our Constitution does not dictate what reasons should govern our decision. That is left up to each individual.
Whatever our reasons for voting for a candidate, we are inherently responsible for the consequences of our decision. Choose someone who does well in the office, and we can rightly claim that we have helped achieve the positive results. By choosing poorly, we bear some responsibility for the negative consequences.
If we vote for someone whom we have good reason to believe will not perform the duties of the office well, then we deserve blame because the consequences of our personal choice will also be borne by others.
My fellow guardians of our country, please make your choice carefully in the upcoming elections. For all of us.
Stephen Rapp
Winston-Salem
Election letters
The newspaper welcomes letters related to the November 5 election. We cannot guarantee that all letters will be published, but all points of view will be represented. Here are the criteria:
brevity: Our hard limit is 250 words.
Originality: Letter writing campaigns are unacceptable. Each letter should express the views and initiative of its author.
Deadline: 17:00 on October 28.