The Democrats’ treatment of Attorney General William Barr was totally disgraceful

On the Democrats

The questioning of Attorney General William Barr during a recent House Judiciary Committee meeting was deplorable and despicable. The loathsome and venomous attacks on Barr by the Trump-hating Democrats were an affront to all Americans.

The hearing was full of grandstanding and false accusations, and the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee showed a lack of respect toward our country’s Attorney General.

In addition to belittling and insulting Barr, the Democratic miscreants wouldn’t even him to respond to the majority of their moronic questions.

It was apparent that since the Democrats were unable to impeach President Donald Trump on charges of colluding with Russia, they decided to mercilessly attack Barr with lies and innuendos.

The Democrats even had the unmitigated gall to say the protesters are peaceful — only to have Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan refute that by showing various videos of the rioters burning buildings and fighting police in Portland, Ore.

You would think such facts would have shut the Democrats down, but they ignored them and kept on attacking Barr.

In the process these Democrats showed no sense of shame; in fact they acted more like the militant rioters than so-called “representatives of the people.”

Gregory Topliff, Warrenville

On John Lewis

We would all love a peaceful solution to our nation’s problems and concerns regarding race! Unfortunately, we get the same narrative pushed again and again on race that we get when it comes to guns — which is that “we need to have conversations” about the issue.

Jay Ambrose reinforced this tired narrative on race in his recent column on the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis. But Ambrose didn’t address the fact that the same events that were taking place when Lewis was marching for civil rights during the 1960s are exactly the ones happening now in America.

Maybe Ambrose should talk to President Donald Trump and tell him to give credit to Lewis for what the congressman accomplished during his life; perhaps that would lead others to understand that standing up for what is right is not such a bad thing.

Herbert Garvin, Columbia

On science

President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans own the coronavirus pandemic; their anti-science positions have now been proven to be bad politics.

We Americans have held science in high regard since the space race began during the mid-20th century. But over the past several years the science deniers have come into power in our country — which has led to things like:

▪ Pandemic protocols being thrown out of the window.

▪ America’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.

▪ Public land being made available for environmentally dangerous pursuits.

We — you and I — have allowed this to happen.

Let’s hope that we can recover our priorities in the 2020 election; maybe the coronavirus pandemic is a wake-up call for planet Earth.

Nina Newcomb, Chapin

On nursing homes

Certainly COVID-19 has significantly changed the way we go about many things, but when will the doors of South Carolina’s nursing homes open up to family members?

As a gerontologist I see the impact that isolation has on seniors: it can range from increased depression to early stage dementia symptoms. These factors come into play when seniors lack the kind of emotional engagement that is often provided by loved ones.

Currently staff members can come and go to and from the facilities, which potentially increases the risk of COVID-19 exposure and transmission because these staffers are in contact with multiple clients.

So why can’t we put similar precautionary measures in place that would allow one immediate family member to visit a loved one who is in a nursing home?

We need a comprehensive approach that makes it possible to:

▪ Have a schedule that determines who can visit a senior resident — and on what specific days.

▪ Require a family member to complete a “symptoms checker” questionnaire prior to arriving at the nursing facility.

▪ Check the family member’s temperature upon arrival at the facility.

▪ Have the family member adhere to sanitizing protocols while wearing a face mask and practicing proper social distancing.

I certainly do think we need to take a closer look at our current visitation policies in nursing homes. The truth is that depression kills, too.

Macie Smith, Columbia

On the protests

The First Amendment gives people the right to assemble in a peaceful manner, but rioting, assaulting, throwing things and damaging property hardly qualify as assembling in a lawful way.

I have no respect for the riots that are taking place in our country — and that are being inaccurately described as “demonstrations.”

Daniel House, West Columbia

This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 8:08 PM.