Pierce is jumping the gun on GOP headquarters site 

Apparently Commissioner Pierce doesn’t have my email address. I’m a member of the Rowan County Republican Party Executive Committee, and he missed me and several other members of the Executive Committee about his SUGGESTION that the Republican Party Headquarters be placed at West End Plaza. I would have thought  placing this on the agenda for the commissioners’ 3 p.m. meeting on Monday is a bit premature as the Republican Party Executive Committee doesn’t meet until 6:30 p.m. Monday evening to consider MULTIPLE offers of a location(s) for their election headquarters that BEST serves all the members and potential members of the Republican Party of Rowan County.

It’s just my opinion, but I am sure that the commissioners have much more important issues to consider than a premature approval of a lease that may never happen. Commissioner Klusman is correct that this is NOT a decision for commissioners.

— Donald Vick

Salisbury

Vick is a member at large of the Rowan County Republican Party Executive Committee.

A godless nation 

On the issue of the LGBT rights to use a bathroom, what about my right for my wife to use a restroom in private? Who in their right mind would want a transgender in a restroom with their wife and kids? Why not put locks on the doors? Then only one person at a time could use the restroom.

I know some judge is going to repeal HB2, and then some men will use that to claim they are transgender so they can go into the ladies restroom. If one of these men tries to use a restroom with my wife, I have two words for you: hell, no. I know there are other men out there that feel as I do. To the transgenders, God made you ether a man or a woman, not half and half, no matter what your sick, warped mind tells you.

Folks, can you see how our rights are being taken away so the godless LBGT get rights? Something is wrong here.

Donald Trump says he will make America great again. Sorry, Donald, that will never happen. Here’s why. The godless, LGBT, ACLU, Obama-hand-picked judges have seen to this. Matter of fact, it’s going to get worse. America used to be one nation under God; now it’s one nation under satan. God has been taken out of everything. No one respects us anymore. Race relations are worse. The godless, LGBT and others have all the rights. If you are a Christian, you are forced to do what the godless ACLU wants. The more vile and wicked things are, that’s what people want, not what’s right or wrong.

What is gong on with drivers? All the time you hear about drivers crossing the center line and killing someone or running off the road and hitting homes. Drivers are not watching the road. If they were, these things wouldn’t be happening. I see drivers using cell phones, weaving all over the road. If you can’t drive, then park it.

— Jim Younts

Salisbury

HB2 exploits fear

Regarding HB2: This is how the wealthy and connected exercise power in North Carolina. It is not new. In fact, it is a standard move from a very old playbook. It has been used many times before. The reason it keeps coming back is simple: it works! You are supposed to be afraid — this time the object of your fear is the bathroom predator. You are supposed to reject what is progressive — this time it’s tolerance for the LGBT community. And you are supposed to shrink into the arms of those who stoke your fear of whatever seems new.

This is the same play the former slave-owning planter class used to drive a wedge between white populists and black progressives at the dawn of the 20th century. The cry was raised that white women were threatened by black men and their menacing ways. It went unbelievably far in those times — riots, lynchings, denial of voting rights to legal citizens, even America’s one and only bloody coup d’etat. That could never happen again!

And yet, it did. A few decades later, the same tactics were revived to prop up a segregationist regime. This time the bogey man was Northern blacks and Jews coming South to tear away the fabric of Southern society and unleash the dreaded sin of “mixing” of the races. Demonstrations, riots, beatings, bombings and murder ensued. What was really at stake? Tradition? Or a desperate attempt to preserve the position of a fortunate few?

Here’s my one suggestion: This time, think about it. Who wants you to be afraid of the deadly bathroom predator? They entreat your moral outrage, your sense of morality, your religiosity. But that’s not what inspires them. This is the distraction. Something is happening off-stage, and it’s worth a lot of money to someone. Who? How much? Who gains by your fear? North Carolina is in a desperate race to the bottom of the heap, and your legislators are determined to win.

— Jeff Sharp

Salisbury

Meeting The Boss 

I cannot believe Bruce Springsteen is letting his thinking get his art slowed down over this (HB2) bathroom issue.

I met Bruce in Asbury Park, N.J., on March 9, 1995.

He let us in to listen to him because of the cold. He wanted to take all of our cameras, but I was using a very expensive film and didn’t want my day ruined, so I was allowed to keep my camera “put away.” But I had my Cabbage Patch Doll and was resting my sore arm on it as I was still recovering from a car accident in which I had been hit by a drunk driver in 1989.

Bruce jumped down and wished us happy birthday and signed books and records for people. All I had was my Cabbage Patch Doll, so I asked him to sign it. He said, “I don’t believe I am signing this doll” … and then the camera came out and we all had a good laugh over it.

I had to put cotton in my ears because his music was so loud, but good. It was the first concert I ever attended, and with nerve damage from head to toe, also my last.

So I find it a shame he nixed the show in North Carolina. My son had moved to N.C. I called him up and told him the story. He said, “Mom, you hated Bruce’s music. You sold his picture at our yard sale.” I said, “I know, he just wished me happy birthday and signed my Cabbage Patch Doll.”

I lost the doll when I moved to N.C. in 2003. But I hope some little child is playing with it now.

— Joyce Orphanoudakis

Salisbury

Honoring those who serve  

The month of May is a special time to remember and honor our military veterans who have served and are serving our country.

Armed Forces Day is May 21 and a special ceremony will be held at the Patriots Flag Concourse at 11 a.m. at City Park. Rowan County Commissioner Mike Caskey will be the featured speaker. A flag-raising ceremony will honor veterans from all branches of military service.

Memorial Day is May 30 and another special ceremony will be held in the U.S. National Cemetery at the Salisbury Veterans Administration Hospital at 10 that morning to remember all veterans.

May is also the final month for the special 50th Anniversary Exhibit of the Vietnam War on display at the Rowan Museum in Salisbury. If you or your family have not yet seen this incredible exhibit, please make time to visit the museum during one of the final weekends in May. This is also an excellent opportunity to thank Kaye Hirst for her many years of outstanding service as the director of our Rowan Museum. Kaye will be retiring at the end of May.

— Janis Smith

Salisbury

Working for the public

May 1-7 is Public Service Recognition Week. Across the country and in communities like Salisbury, federal, state, county and local government employees serve us every day. Please join me in publicly acknowledging the good work done by the over 138,000 active and retired federal workers in North Carolina.

At a time when much of the talk about federal employees is biased or uninformed, let’s use this week to talk about what federal employees really do. They work alongside our military at home and abroad to defend our country. They conduct cutting-edge research to improve health and prevent disease. They regulate food and drug products to keep us safe. And when natural disasters strike, they are there to provide relief and help us rebuild

Despite popular belief, 85 percent of federal employees work outside of Washington, DC. All around this country, federal employees help seniors get their Social Security benefits, guide airplanes safely through our skies, and care for our veterans and wounded warriors.

During Public Service Recognition Week, please join me and the other members of Salisbury Chapter 720 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association in recognizing the important work of the public employees in our community and thanking them for their service.

— Ron Buffaloe

Salisbury 

Buffaloe is president, North Carolina Federation of Chapters, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE).