Power grab by NC Republicans is now a national embarrassment | Opinion
Redistricting
Redistricting is supposed to be a process the legislature uses to ensure better representation for the people. Instead, N.C. Republican leaders have turned it into a national embarrassment. This isn’t democracy! This is a deliberate attempt to undermine N.C. voters and secure more power for themselves and their party. Republicans in the legislature are now effectively oligarchs, taking more and more power, upsetting constitutional checks and balances the Founding Fathers laid out. This is reckless. Dangerous. It can’t be allowed to continue.
Jack Dervin, Durham
This is democracy
Regarding “Blame GOP justices for NC maps that stifle democracy,” (Oct. 29 Opinion):
Ned Barnett’s contention that GOP justices “stifle democracy” conveniently overlooks the fact that justices in North Carolina are elected. The legislators who drew the legislative district maps were also elected. Democratic processes gave us the result Barnett decries.
Warren Smith, Charlotte
Fair maps
Drawing political maps by any party to favor the incumbents or candidates is unethical and immoral. When you get right down to it, engaging in gerrymandering is political criminality. The best thing a voter can do is ask candidates if they support fair political maps. Be sure to ask them to define what they think the word “fair” means. If a candidate does not support truly fair political maps, then don’t vote for them.
Robert Mulder, Raleigh
Security patrol
The idea of private security patrols in downtown Raleigh (Oct. 27) is a disaster waiting to happen. There is no substitute for trained, armed, sworn officers to deter crime. Raleigh more than likely needs 200-plus new officers on the street. Paying real police officers realistic wages and making sure there are enough of them should be priority No. 1. In today’s world, we need real officers, not rent-a-cops.
Steven Metzler, Raleigh
Insult to vets
Regarding “NC Veterans Day Parade canceled after Raleigh bans motorized vehicles,” (Nov. 1):
Talk about overreaction. The last-minute cancellation of Raleigh’s annual parade honoring N.C. veterans because of a ban on motorized vehicles was a slap in the faces of our state’s 736,000 men and women who served their country. The median age of N.C. vets is 61, which means many can’t walk or march in a lengthy parade. That suggests they need a ride. What have we come to?
Mike Hoyt, Raleigh
A former teacher
I thought I would teach forever. After 10 years, I left. Here’s one reason: I was a teaching fellow and graduated with $16,000 of student loan debt, which grew to $20,000 despite eight years of uninterrupted payments.
I lived paycheck to paycheck, despite buying my clothes at Goodwill, living with roommates and working a second job. Each August, after going two months without a paycheck, I dug myself deeper in debt to get my classroom ready. It was a vicious cycle.
The only reason I was able to end the cycle and finally get ahead was because I got married. Currently, I’m an intern, making the same as a Wake County teacher with 10 years experience.
We need big change. Now. Or we risk losing more teachers.
Jeanie Aday, Cary
Gun rights
We must come to our senses and quit justifying ownership of weapons of war and unlimited ammunition to civilians by citing the Second Amendment.
There is no justification for us to repeatedly having to explain to families that their loved ones are gone and that there is nothing that can be done because of gun owners’ 18th century Second Amendment rights.
Let’s move into the realities of the 21st century.
Barbara Snyder, Durham
Virginia Foxx
Issac Bailey’s Oct. 27 characterization of Virginia Foxx who shouted “Shut up! Shut up!” to a reporter’s question about Speaker Mike Johnson’s election denial didn’t do justice to the congresswoman. A child’s outburst is without premeditation. Foxx knew exactly what she was doing as an election denier and enemy of American democracy.
Wayne Pein, Chapel Hill
