The biggest change I saw in Panthers’ owner David Tepper | Opinion

Being a Charlotte native and always a Panthers fan, no I didn’t like the changes owner David Tepper made to the organization when he bought the team. I believed that his constant meddling was a major factor contributing to the Panthers’ poor performance. Now I like to think that he was doing that until he got the right people in the right places to set the Panthers up for success. Sure, that took a few years and a few missteps along the way.

But I also like to think that now that he has the right people in the right spots he will step back and let them do their jobs. He did that this season and that worked out pretty well. Hopefully, he will continue to let his team work on their own and lead our team to even better years to come.

Kris Newton, Charlotte

When do we get to the “great” in MAGA?

We have now experienced the first year of Making America Great Again. Here are just a few of the results:

1. $1.8 trillion added to national debt;

2. A hollowed-out DOJ focusing on Trump’s retribution agenda;

3. An abusive and unfocused DHS deportation effort (employing Gestapo tactics) that sweeps up and “disappears” American citizens and others with legal status;

4. Provoking foreign conflicts at the expense of much-heralded America First efforts;

5. Imposition of tariffs, leading to higher prices for Americans;

6. Significant weakening of the legislative branch due to Congressional cowardice.

These are just a few of the MAGA highlights, also known as the Assault on Democracy.

James Witek, Charlotte

Let’s be honest about healthcare costs

Why is honesty so difficult ? It appears that no one is truly committed to reducing healthcare costs. Instead, political discussions revolve around shifting the financial burden onto taxpayers through subsidies, while failing to tackle the root issue of unsustainable rising costs.

Mike Howard, Marvin

Inevitable crackdown tragedy

The aggressive immigration crackdown is bound to create dangerous situations. Anyone viewing Renee Good’s shooting death in Minneapolis can see her wheels were aimed to escape toward the right of the ICE agent, not at him.

Rather than admit a fatal lapse of judgment by one man, the administration tried to protect the crackdown by trotting out statements by Kristi Noem, J.D. Vance and the President himself telling the public to disbelieve what they saw, and labeling it domestic terrorism. Furthermore, the investigation will be done internally leading to a fox watching the hen house situation. No wonder trust in government is at an all-time low.

Vincent Keipper, Concord

MLK and militarism

As we honor Dr. King with his national holiday, remember that he also understood the intersectionality of civil rights and militarism. In his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize speech, he stated: “I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction.”

January 22 is the fifth anniversary of the coming into force of a fruit of international democracy -the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, which has now been ratified by a majority of nation states. Dr. King would urge our government to support this treaty as well as to accept Russia’s offer to extend for a year the 2010 New Start Treaty that expires on Feb. 5. Without this extension, the last remaining treaty limiting deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 each will expire, accelerating the current arms race.

Bert Crain, Hickory

Propaganda

I have seen a lot of presidents come and go in my lifetime, but I have never seen an administration spew out such a continuous stream of propaganda like this one with every executive branch department participating.

The common themes are glorification of the president, antagonism towards foreigners, defense of “the homeland,” boasts about military might and a sense of entitlement towards the land and natural resources of other countries. These themes have historical context that have never ended well.

Arnie Grieves, Huntersville