Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Sept. 8, 2016, edition 1 / Page 8
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OPINION The Chronicle i Ernest H. Pitt Publisher Emeritus 1974-2015 617 N. Liberty Street .cvf 4f^ 336-722-8624 * j www.wschronicle.com "v?"!/ "?ily Elaine Pitt Business Manager Donna Rogers Managing Editor WaLI D. Pitt Digital Manager Our Mission 7 The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth to power, standing for integrity and encouraging open communication and lively debate throughout the community. Imagine who could lead U.S. best in another 911 tragedy It was the year 2000, a presidential election year. The campaigning was bitter, but the outcome was even more so. Remember the hanging chads and how the U.S. Supreme Court chose George W. Bush as president over A1 Gore? Then remember that about nine months after Bush was sworn in as president, the 911 tragedy hap pened on Sept. 11,2001. Bush was having photo opportunities in Florida when the attacks came. Many accuse Bush of fleeing across the country as New York City and the Pentagon were attacked and at least one plane was headed to attack another target, possibly the White House, but was stopped. But Bush eventually emerged to take charge from a safe place. He said the United States would fight back, and we did, although the target was wrong. Iraq was attacked, although that country was not directly tied to the 911 attacks. This coming Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of the 911 tragedy. We are in another election year with bitter campaigning. The Democrat, Hillary Clinton, and the Republican, Donald Trump, are in a tight race. We have weeks before the Nov. 8 election. What will the outcome be? Will the U.S. Supreme Court choose our presi dent again? Oh, wait: There are only eight justices working this time. The court split 4 to 4 in voting on a stay of the 4th Circuit Court's ruling against North Carolina's massive 2013 voting law, which means the 4th Circuit Court's ruling striking down the law stands. With the Republicans' refusal to work with President Obama to name a new justice to replace Antonin Scalia, there is no ninth justice on the bench, as there was in 2000. So, the Electoral College's vote probably will decide our next president. . Imagine what would happen if the new president is confronted with a 911-type tragedy months after taking office. Who would you want that president to be? Who could make the quick decisions to make us safe? Who could marshal the military to fight the enemy? Who could be able to work with Congress to get the funding needed to help people, families and businesses recover let alone get the money to bolster the military in the fight against the enemy? Who could give us hope, mourn with us and embolden us to keep going? Donald Trump has shown that he could not make America great again in a time of trouble. He says he knows more than the generals in our military. But how can that be true when he has never fought in a war and in fact dodged fighting in a war? How can he show the temperament and compassion needed to guide the United States in troubling times when dur ing his campaign he changes what he says at the drop of a tweet? What would he do as president when he can't tweet like he can as a private citizen? What would he do with the religious and ethnic minorities? Would he put them in some kind of camps and say that he has to find out why the United States was attacked, so until he does, he will have to put all minorities away? Hillary Clinton has said she would be president for everyone, the people who vote for her and those who don't. She has been in the Situation Room and worked with the military and Congress and has already mourned with us in troubled times. We hope there will not be another 911 -type attack on the United States. But if there were, we believe Hillary Clinton would be the kind of president the United States should have. |<w J i riVJWWf LgopTSi it* m JSsflag LETTERS TO THE EDITOR GOP, Democratic presidential hopefuls are both scary To the Editor: One candidate has "made bil lions" saying "YOU'RE FIRED" and "IN REAL ESTATE," on the backs of small contractors he's bankrupted by building his palaces and casinos. Though running for president, he refuses to disclose any Financial infor mation, even whether or not he pays taxes. He admires Vladimir and Saddam. He accuses his opponent of having every character flaw he flaunts. Where is the media outcry for his tax returns, conflicts of interest, health records and foreign entangle ments? All we know is that he's stiffed small businesses and 'Trump U" students, insulted Hispanics, African-Americans, war heroes, grieving parents, women and Muslims, and manufactures his prod ucts in China and Bangladesh. On international television he tells his opponents "to go F$#? them selves!" He's so utterly unfit for the presidency that he's scary! The other candidate has released 30-plus years of tax returns and spent her entire adult life in public service under the grueling media spotlight - not to become a billionaire reality TV star, but to stand up for her family and all American families. Before she was asked to serve as Secretary of State, her family estab lished a charity that has helped mil lions around the world and is interna tionally respected. She is by all measures the most qualified candidate for President, and one of the best-liked Americans on earth! Nonetheless, every aspect of her life has been under relentless, merciless criticism, because she's scary too! She is, after all, a strong, smart, experienced, passionate and capable woman. Ann Guill Winston-Salem Donald Trump doesn't speak for this black woman, black community To the Editor: Donald Trump doesn't speak for me or the African-American commu nity. It's insulting and offensive that Donald Trump thinks one church appearance will undo the divisive undertone of his campaign. He's played to misleading stereo types about people of color, courted white nationalists with a wink and a nod, and up until now he has refused to speak in front of a black audience. Black America is fully aware of what's at stake with a Trump presi dency, and his vision for America hardly includes us. Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act with out even thinking through how it would hurt African-Americans. He's repeated by likened inner cities to war zones, and he refused to dis avow an endorsement from former KKK leader David Duke four times in one interview. Hillary Clinton gets it. She began her career working for the Children's Defense Fund, where she investigat ed segregation in Alabama schools. Clinton helped expand Head Start, and sponsored laws to end racial pro filing. There couldn't be a clearer contrast between the Democratic and Republican candidates, and I'm standing with her because I know she'll stand with me. Virgie M. Rollins, a Michigan native Democratic National Committee Black Caucus Chairwoman Detroit, Michigan President Obama got it right: Sentencing reform needed in UJS. To the Editor: House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers Jr. (D-Michigan) and House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D Texas) released the following state ments after the White House announced the commutation of the sentences of 111 individuals last week: Conyers: "We are grateful for having worked with President Obama to make reforms to our crim inal justice system. Without his per sistent leadership, this would not have happened. It adds to the legacy of the 44th President. This is the right thing to do, but it is only a par tial solution to the problem. My position consistently has been that Congress needs to take action to reform sentencing laws to prevent unfair and unjust sentences from being imposed in the first place. I appreciate the President's sup port for legislation we have been working on to reform sentencing and other aspects of our criminal justice svstem." Jackson Lee: "I am encouraged by President Obama's commutation of sentences of 111 individuals - who were all victims of unjust sen tencing. Nearly all of these men and women would have been released and contributing back to society already had they been convicted under today's laws or reform propos als. I welcome and applaud the com-, mutations of the sentences of these . individuals. Incarcerating people for unwarranted lengths of time serves no constructive purpose. The President has recognized this, as has Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and I hope the Administration's Clemency Project will continue to address the multitude of cases in which sentence reductions are appro priate. Of course, the need to engage in such a broad review of sentences exists largely because our sentencing laws and policies, particularly for drug offenses, urgently need to be changed. We need to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing and let judges impose appropriate sen tences based on the facts and circum stances of each case, and we should eliminate the higher penalties for crack cocaine relative to powder cocaine offenses. I am heartened that there is a growing, bipartisan recognition of the problem of over incarceration and I hope this will lead to sentencing reform this Congress." U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D Michigan) U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) House Judiciary Committee Members Washington, D.C. We Welcome Your Feedback Submit letters and guest columns to let ers@wschronicle.com before 5 pm. Friday i J or the next week's publication date. Letters intended for publication should be iddressed "Letters to the Editor" and include >our name, address, phone number and email iddress. Please keep letters to 350 words or ess. If you are writing a guest column, please nclude a photo of yourself, your name, iddress, phone number and email address. J ?lease keep guest columns to 550 words or 1 ess. Letters and columns can also be mailed ir dropped off at W-S Chronicle, 617 N. Jberty St., W-S, NC, 27101; or sent via our vebsite, www.wschronicle.com. We reserve the right to edit any item submit ted for _ clarity or brevity and ^ determine when and f II V whether material will I be used. Invl ? ^ We welcome your k comments at our Also, go to our ^acebook page to comment. We are at facebook.com/WSChronicle. Send us a tweet on Twitter. We are at twitter.com/WS_Chronicle.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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