Letters to the Editor - October 25, 2018

EDITOR’S NOTE:
It is the policy of The Daniel Island News not to print letters to the editor regarding current political candidates in the last issue prior to an election, which in this case would be our Nov. 1 edition, as there will not be an opportunity to print responses before the election.

READER EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR JOE CUNNINGHAM

Who knew we had such zealous fearmongers living right here on Daniel Island? Mac McBride’s recent opinion piece predicts the demise of America if you don’t vote for Katie Arrington. He laments the party-system of politics in Washington, but goes on to say that one party (D) will lead to ruin, while another (R) will be protective and prosperous. Baloney.

If we look at recent history, it was the Republican Party that handed a nose-diving economy to the Democrats, but then the Democrats handed a thriving economy to the Republicans. The last administration to have multi-year budget surpluses was run by a Democrat. If you think the economic condition on this day in time is due to Trump’s brilliant economic policies, then you don’t understand cause and effect, or the lag-time of economic policy implementation. The proof in Trump’s bullheaded economic policies will come when he hands the mantle over to another president. Those tariffs are going to be just great for South Carolina (insert eye-roll emoji here). And frankly, it’s fearmongering at its best when McBride suggests Democrats want “open” borders (translation: just walk right in) with a red-carpeted express lane for drugs and crime. I think the readership of The Daniel Island News can see through such blatant paranoia. It’s actually pretty insulting.

Let me tell you what we should fear. We should fear government leadership that picks winners and losers (winners almost always being the rich over the poor, corporate interests over constituents, man over woman and white over non-white). We should fear leaders without conscience who are beholden to foreign interests. We should fear economic bullheadedness that could easily lead to environmental disaster (offshore drilling, anyone?). Most importantly, we should fear leadership that has no moral compass. And everyone reading this knows exactly what I mean by that.

Joe Cunningham has already earned support from Democratic and Republican leaders and has a heart and mind for good, healthy governance, while Arrington has won the praise of Donald Trump. Great (insert another eye-roll here). She’s in good company with Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duarte and Kim Jong Un.

I care about this country just as much as McBride, but my moral (and economic, human rights, infrastructure, national defense and environmental) compass is pointing clearly in one direction: Joe Cunningham. And I, for one, am not willing to check my moral compass at the door when I vote.

Jay Karen

Daniel Island

SCARE TACTICS?

Several assertions in the candidate support letter published recently deserve correction. For example, the author of the letter claimed of “the Democrats” that “they have stated they will begin impeachment of President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh” if they gain a majority in Congress. In fact, there has been no such blanket statement from “the Democrats.” Additionally, other false, scare tactic statements in the letter claimed of Democrats that “they” want open borders, a rewriting of the entire Constitution, controls on individual rights, and a “march towards socialism in America.”

Factual statements matter, and scare tactics using falsehoods do not help move our country forward. In the hands of politicians and their political parties, falsehoods are particularly damaging, because they get a lot of media coverage. It is not true that Mexico will pay for our border wall. It is not true that the huge recent leap in the country’s deficit (mainly owed to China) doesn’t make a difference. It is not true that tax cuts have increased wages. And it is certainly not true that recent tariffs have helped American workers (ask the now devastated dry bean farmers and shippers.).

In closing, I argue with the idea that a vote for U.S. Representative should be based only on “which party best represents what is best for the American people.” We have a U.S. House of Representatives so that Congress can consider not only the American people as a whole, but also the people of various regions of the country and states. Issues like deterring coastal drilling, term limits for elected politicians, and getting big money out of election campaigns may be important to only one of our current congressional candidates (Joe Cunningham) and less so to the larger American electorate, but they are vital when we elect someone to represent our district as well as our country.

Katherine Chaddock

Daniel Island

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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