High school volleyball game is no place for racial, sexual slurs

The government is corrupting our youth

As a teacher, I will never be able to ignore the power that modeling has on creating a desired response in students. In a nation where racist and sexist statements are being hurled from our highest governmental offices, it is clear our children are listening and it will destroy us.

Two of the girls on the Mallard Creek volleyball team have become like daughters to me over the years. The anger, tears and mistrust created by the hateful, racist comments hurled at them at the game at Lake Norman High School in front of hundreds of complicit fans will certainly not go away through sportsmanship training.

This is not an issue of sportsmanship. It is an issue of racism, sexism and misogyny and it should be treated as such.

Democrats are just scared to lose

The precedent for decades has been to accept the wording of Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution that gives the president the power to nominate a Supreme Court justice followed by a Senate vote for approval.

Never has there been such a chaotic hoopla as we are experiencing with the Brett Kavanaugh nomination.

There is one reason and one reason only. The 7-2 ruling on Roe v Wade in 1973 gave women the right to have an abortion under the Due Process clause in the 14th Amendment; the Holy Grail of the Democratic Party. They are terrified Kavanaugh would attempt to overturn their most cherished ruling.

The unsubstantiated accusations against this gentle, brilliant, decent man have been almost criminal. The Left should be ashamed.

McConnell is the one we should focus on

The actions of Sen. Mitch McConnell throughout this Kavanaugh debacle manage to go largely unnoticed, as President Trump continually manages to steal the show. McConnell performed every trick in the book to escort this ill-tempered, unqualified, dishonest candidate toward a seat on the Supreme Court.

He can argue that Democrats used to do the same, but that does not justify his actions. We want to live in a world that evolves over time to recognize higher standards, and McConnell’s actions do the opposite. We can only hope that someday the voters of Kentucky realize that the country deserves more than McConnell’s despicable leadership.

False abuse claims are as bad as abuse

Allegations of abuse in child custody cases often lead to temporary orders separating children from their accused parent. By the time the case is heard in court, judges usually keep the status quo, awarding custody to the “safe” parent and visitation rights to the other.

Is this too not another example of “guilty until proven innocent”? False allegations of abuse are themselves abusive, not only to the children who basically lose one parent but to true victims of abuse who then find it harder to be believed.

Let’s focus on the cultural divide

I can only ask, what history books have you been reading, Ralph Levering, to say Eric Reid is wrong about black history? Perhaps Eric Reid can suggest some others for you to consider. Perhaps Mr. Reid’s teachers, his readings, and his lived experiences and reflections as an African-American have given him a different perspective on what it means to be black in these United States.

As an elderly white man who was raised in a segregated South in the 1940s-60s, I have spent my whole life growing in my awareness of continued inequalities.

I wish that we as a nation spent more time discussing across cultural divides the impact of “systemic racism” and “white privilege” than we do arguing and debating about kneeling for the national anthem at a football game.

Don’t vote against your best interest

Approximately 43 million Americans live in poverty as of 2016. This fact exists whether or not it fits anyone’s political agenda.

While the economy has created millions of jobs since the last recession, many of these jobs are not the same as the jobs lost.

The GOP agenda for 2019 is to reduce benefits from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, public housing and fuel assistance programs, etc. I am not sure why the good folks that struggle with poverty continue to vote against their own best interest.