Mayor Benjamin is fooling himself if he thinks SC will be a blue state in November

On Mayor Benjamin

I read Mayor Steve Benjamin’s recent op-ed in which he suggested South Carolina could become a blue state in November. Is the mayor kidding? What has he been drinking?

Benjamin is a liberal Democrat who is against school choice and for open borders, raising our already high taxes, enforcing even more government restrictions and socialism.

No one in Columbia or South Carolina wants these liberal polices, and it’s time for Benjamin to wake up and look at the damage that is being done by his way of thinking.

Sorry, mayor, but you will be on the losing side come Nov. 3.

Ronny Collins, Irmo

On the media

In his recent op-ed on the need for clearer data on South Carolina’s COVID-19 cases, Peter Brown wrote that “the media continue to give us their one-size-fits-all reporting.”

But how did Brown get his point across?

Through the media!

Here’s a memo to Brown and all of the other people who enjoy attacking the media: You can’t criticize the media through the media without — wait for it — becoming the media.

People in countries like Iran, Russia and other freedom-suppressed nations can legitimately complain about the media, but people like Brown cannot do so.

Charles Bloom, Columbia

On sports in SC

I absolutely agree with Opinion Editor Roger Brown that that college and high school sports should not be played this fall, but not necessarily for the reasons he gave in his column.

I, too, really like sports: I played several in high school and have participated in others for fitness and fun during my adult years. But sports have now become too political; too many athletes are using sports to promote their social agendas, and disrespect for our country and flag is in vogue.

It upsets me a little bit to see players who are where they are because they live in such a great nation — and who earn big bucks because of American exceptionalism — devalue sports to advance their personal agendas.

I believe that sports at all levels are surely losing lots of fans.

Ronald Shealy, Lexington

On blight

I have noticed that the city of Columbia is looking a little rundown these days; along some major roads the grass is so overgrown that it’s now spreading into the roadways.

For example, just take a drive to the Target store in the Woodhill area and look along the side of the road. There is grass that is so high and overgrown that you can barely walk on the sidewalk. There are rainwater drains with grass growing out of them. And there is trash all over the place.

I guess it’s true that when a Democrat is in charge of a city, maintenance and trash pickup are put on the back burner because there is no money to made through these services. And I also guess that we can safely say that Democrats are too busy to care about voters.

Clean up the city, Mayor Benjamin.

Jiles Templeton Bishop, Columbia

On CNN, Trump

Some years ago I loved to watch CNN, but what has happened to it over the last several years?

I think that an internal memo has been distributed across CNN that reads, “We will do whatever possible to dethrone President Donald Trump.”

If I am a Black American who happens to watch CNN, I would be convinced that Trump is a racist and that Joe Biden would be a better option for me in November.

Yet in less than three years under Trump’s administration, unemployment numbers for all of America’s minority populations have reached record lows.

Meanwhile, many young minorities have more choices on where to receive their K-12 education — and historically Black colleges and universities have received more financial help from the federal government than ever before.

Finally, Trump’s criminal justice initiatives have allowed many minorities — most of them Black men — to be released from prison and allowed to rejoin society.

But you will not hear about any of this on CNN.

Miren Ivankovic, Clemson

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 7:22 AM.