The American people are too smart to fall for the hysterical efforts to oust President Trump
On the Democrats
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is complaining that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not impartial enough to handle the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
But does Pelosi think that the American people are stupid enough to believe that Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Adam Schiff were actually impartial during the House impeachment hearings?
The House Democrats made it impossible for the Republicans to call any witnesses during their hearings, but now they want to be able to call witnesses during the impeachment trial in the Senate?
Talk about a double standard!
Most of the House Democrats lost whatever integrity they had during their sham impeachment hearings, and I hope that Rep. Joe Cunningham is a one-term congressman for betraying South Carolina’s voters.
Robert Wilder, Sumter
On the double checkout
I am tired of having to deal with the “double checkout” process that you go through at one prominent supercenter.
After you spend so much time shopping and then standing in a long checkout line to pay for your merchandise, you just want to go back to your vehicle and leave; you don’t want to be stopped at the exit door so that someone can check through your items again and make sure that you bought them.
It is ridiculous.
I understand that shoplifting costs both the store and the store’s customers, but this is not the way to crack down on the problem; you are essentially viewing all of your customers as thieves who just haven’t been caught yet. If the store’s security department was doing its job properly, this process wouldn’t be necessary.
Wes Tanner, Camden
On Mayor Barber
Like a great prophet leading the way, Georgetown Mayor Brendon Moses Barber has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Sen Bernie Sanders.
Barber, Georgetown’s first African American mayor, understands what’s best for our city, state and nation when it comes to health care, fair living wages, environmental justice and more. As a Georgetown County resident and taxpayer, I want to thank Barber for his ongoing leadership and for supporting Sanders.
Carol Coney, Pawleys Island
On water bills
I was born in West Columbia 87 years ago. I grew up on the banks of the beautiful Saluda River, and I love Lexington County. But I am greatly distressed by the actions of the Blue Granite Water Co.
We have abundant water in South Carolina, but I feel that we are being charged exorbitant prices for our water compared to what is charged in other towns surrounding us. Blue Granite wants to nearly double our water bills, and it also wants us to help pay for its past mistakes. This is not an acceptable way to do business.
I feel like a victim with no options.
I believe that we must come up with an alternative, such as forming our own local regional water system. I feel that we taxpayers have a right to insist that Lexington County officials put control of our water system in the hands of competent people who will provide efficient management and reasonable billing.
Peggy Burbage, Lexington
On the impeachment trial
If any member of the U.S. Senate votes to not impeach President Donald Trump during the Senate’s upcoming impeachment trial, then they will be suggesting that those who testified under oath against Trump actually committed perjury.
If these senators just vote along party lines and don’t properly weigh the evidence in an impartial way, they will simply reinforce the fact that we badly we need a new Senate.
Barbara Mae Mitchell, Columbia
On supporting local eateries
A recent letter writer complained that people in the Midlands don’t support local businesses; the letter writer went on to ask why people in this area won’t pay for good local food. Well, the answer is the same one that applies when people are asked why they buy imported products: price.
A $40 meal at an establishment in Five Points may be a nice time out, but it is also one that is easy to pass on. And if we don’t tip huge amounts for our meals, we are told that we are being “cheap” and “unfair” when in reality it is the restaurants that are being cheap and unfair by not paying their staffs well.
If local businesses want to whine that we owe them something — and that we are too cheap to patronize them — then there are other establishments that will gladly take our business.
C. Moran, Leesville
On President Trump
A recent columnist insinuated that the Republican Party is primarily made up of angry white men — and a recent letter writer suggested that anyone who attends a rally for President Donald Trump is a white nationalist.
Since 2016, conservatives have heard accusations like these from Democrats and their allies in their bloodlust to remove President Trump from office. And for three years now the mainstream media have flooded our airwaves with their scorn for the president.
During the 2020 election season the Democrats will weaponize the impeachment process and accuse anyone who opposes them of being a racist; the Republicans, meanwhile, will run on the issues that directly impact the lives of Americans. I am confident that the American electorate will do what it did in 2016 and make a wise decision for our nation’s future.
Bob Ortiz, Chapin
On the economy
President Donald Trump likes to boast about how the economy has performed during his presidency. But Trump doesn’t mention that our deficit and national debt are rising at much faster levels than the U.S. stock market.
And while Trump likes to talk about our country’s low unemployment numbers, it’s a good thing that there are so many so-called “jobs” out there: lots of Americans need two or three of them just to pay their rents.
David Lee Miller, Columbia