We need a nonpartisan judiciary

Get party politics out of judicial elections

Our nation was founded on three independent branches of government acting as checks and balances on each other.

The judiciary was to be nonpartisan with no connection to any party.

This basic design has served the country well. However, in recent years as the country has become so deeply divided politically this elegant design has been eroded.

Judges, whose allegiance should be only to the law, are now also tied to party ideology and to wealthy donors who supported them.

A prompt return to the original system where judges were recommended on their merits with no party labels, acting independently of the other two branches, would serve us all better in the long run.

The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing. We should heed their advice today.

Kennedy brothers are why Congress acted

Forum writer Phil Van Hoy knows better. Because of the Bobby Kennedy appointment, in 1967 Congress enacted 5 U.S. Code § 3110, prohibiting all branches of the federal government from hiring relatives, including spouses and in-laws.

As head of Bill Clinton’s health care initiative, Hillary Clinton was unpaid and not an employee.

Trump doesn’t seem to get free speech

When Donald Trump used police – who are paid with funds from “We, the people” – to “Get ’em outta here” at election rallies, who can be surprised that he thinks Vice President-elect Mike Pence was being harassed at the Broadway musical “Hamilton”?

H.L. Mencken must’ve seen Trump coming?

I have come to the conclusion that the great newspaperman H.L. Mencken, “the Sage of Baltimore,” was an avatar of Nostradamus. Witness:

“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron.” -H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920.

Tone down the Trump vitriol

I think people should wait until after his inauguration and until he proposes an objectionable bill.

We certainly have the right to free speech, but the rampant speculation occurring at the present time about what Trump might do is fruitless.

As witnessed in past campaigns, promises to lower the deficit and provide low-cost health care never did happen. I am confident some actions Trump talked about will never materialize.

Let Kuechly incident be a wake-up call

Football is more violent than ever. Is not the sight of Luke Kuechly crying as he was carted off the field a wake-up call?

You have many more gifts than just football. Take care of yourself so we can enjoy your company and even those corny TV commercials!

What’s it take to get jail time these days?

Did anyone else notice the article about the SWAT team standoff over a reported “assault with a deadly weapon and someone possibly shot”?

According to the article, the suspect had been arrested in 2016 for robbery with a dangerous weapon, burglary, kidnapping, possession of a gun by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm, marijuana possession, and probation violation.

What type of crime does one have to commit nowadays to go to jail?

Please publish his attorney’s name, he must be good.

This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 2:04 PM with the headline "We need a nonpartisan judiciary."