Letters to the Editor: Discrimination is never right, so why does Asheville OK ‘reverse discrimination’ for HRC?

Why is it so hard for the City of Asheville to realize that discrimination is never right, no matter who is victimized?

Referencing the Mountain Express reprint of the press release of 9/6/23 from the WNC Citizens for Equality, this is happening again! But in reverse!

A committee, named The Human Relations Commission, which is funded (more than $4 million) by both Asheville City Council and Buncombe County (Board of) Commissioners, is working — on (the basis of) reverse discrimination!

The Human Relations Commission is allowed to operate with stipulations as to who is acceptable to serve; not any whites – unless disabled, under age 25, or live in public housing or is considered another select demographic.

Non-whites “are automatically qualified to serve,” which certainly can’t be right.

You would think that after decades of a history that began to give back civil rights, after years of demonstrations and protests that woke up the legislators to provide the very things this commission claims to support – “a voice in the city’s growth” – that the commission would welcome more “diversity”.

For sure, there are whites who are sympathetic to the disadvantages of others and would be glad to assist that effort.

Even the city’s own lawyer advised the commission to change the racial requirements, finding them unconstitutional.

With the recent redistricting of line, I’m asked how this will affect elections. Here is my response:

There are many folks who’ve inquired about the possibility of running for elected offices in Buncombe County in all districts. It’s too soon to know who’s running as the districts have not been finalized by the legislature. Once the official districts are ratified, all political parties will have a better picture.The new lines for District 116 look to be a more balanced representation of Democrats and Republicans.

Wouldn’t it be healthy if more than one party were represented in 2024 in Buncombe County!

Regarding October’s Letters to the Editor (in the Daily Planet), Mr. (H.K.) Edgerton is my favorite — and I always go right to his page.

He commented that his Yankee friends don’t want all of our children to know that the evil of Hitler, Putin and Hamas comes right out of the playbook of Abraham Lincoln. He may have had too much coffee when he enlightened us with this information... All this time, I thought Lincoln freed the oppressed and inslaved people.

I think he may have gotten (meant to reference) the acts of rogue units pulling back from search-and-destroy campaigns — without Lincoln’s direct orders.

Mr. Edgerton is a thought-provoking teacher and an asset to the paper. Thanks for the chance to exchange barbs in a good-natured way.

The Maine mass killing is the worst of the year. There will be more just around the corner. Very soon a killer will attack another elementary school and massacre little children.

I have a plan that will cut the mass killings in half. We will have to enact the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which must for a limited set of circumstances redact all or some parts of the fourth, eighth and fourteenth amendments.

What I am about to say will shock the conscience: We must bring back torture for those convicted of a mass shooting.

Legally, we must do away with due process of law. A judicial tribunal shall try the accused within 14 days of the shooting. Conviction will require a guilty vote by all three judges. No appeals shall be allowed.

We must build pillories on the county courthouse grounds all across the nation. Only medium-type torture will be allowed.

Whipping the bare back with a cat-o nine tails without lead tipped ends and whipping with 3/4-inch flexible canes shall be the only forms of torture.

The convicted shall be whipped each day at noon for a half-hour while securely in the pillory. The convicted shall remain secured to the pillory from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

All time attached to the pillory shall be televised on a selected YouTube channel. The prisoner shall receive a medical grade salve to the wounds as needed.

At 8 p.m., each day, the prisoner shall receive three slices of enriched bread and one gallon of purified water.

We shall make every effort to apprehend the shooter alive so he or she can receive the punishment.

At the end of the 30-day whipping period, the prisoner shall be remanded to his or her cell, with only bread and water — for the remainder of his or her life.

The progressive mind? It’s surely the ‘Ted Rall edition’ of silly rants

I’m glad you printed the misguided rantings of syndicated columnist Ted Rall, (headlined) “Clueless on Gaza” (in the Oct. 25-Nov. 7 edition of the Daily Planet)...

Mr. Rall wrote that the security fence, sensors and other security measures Israel has installed to protect its citizens makes Gaza “the world’s biggest concentration camp.”

This desecrates and minimizes those murdered during the Holocaust, where Nazi concentration camps were industrial-scale factories used to kill 6,000,000 Jews, three times the number of people in Gaza.

Nothing Israel has done to defend itself resembles nor warrants such a foolish comparison. His use of the term is shameful.

Mr. Rall blames Israel for the failings of any semblance of governance by Hamas, who run everything in Gaza.

Understand, despite the constant tension, Israel provides water, electricity and cellular services in Gaza.

The Hamas officials have taken billions of dollars in foreign aid and used it to build a war and propaganda machine that uses its own people as human shields building tunnels and fortresses underneath hospitals, mosques and schools.

The Wall Street Journal reported Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is worth $4 billion and lives comfortably in Qatar. Hamas has raised a generation of young people to hate the Jews and that they all need to be killed at the hands of Hamas martyrs.

Families of those martyrs are paid a stipend by Hamas. Hamas does not care about its people. They are merely pawns in Hamas’ effort to annihilate the Jews.

On October 7th, Hamas marauders invaded Israel and committed unspeakable crimes against innocents. Their acts of savagery were recorded as they occurred, so no doubt remains about the cruelty and savagery these barbarians perpetrated against the Israelis.

Yet, in Mr. Rall’s view, these heinous acts were justified as the killings were used to confront what he states is “Israeli oppression of Gazans.”

I want to address the notion that Israel is occupying Palestinians land. Nonsense. The history of the Israelites in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas was documented 3,000 years ago. This predates the Islamic faith by millenia.

Additionally, in 1947 the United Nations, under international law, conferred statehood for Israel as the Jewish Homeland.

The “progressive” ideology has brought numerous policies to bear on our daily lives. Decarceration, no-cash bail, not charging crime, changing the shoplifting threshold for criminality to $950 per day, permissible open-air drug use and tent cities are among the policies destroying our cities. The “progressives” say we should have no border walls in Gaza or Mexico.

This policy has resulted in millions of illegal entries into our country. The five million or so under the Biden administration have created a huge burden for our communities, as the migrants consume services and resources that could be used by our citizens.

Critically, the open border represents the risk of exposing all of us to an event similar to what transpired in Israel.

Remember we are the Big Satan. We have no idea who has come into our country and now lurks among us.

It is extremely likely terrorist cells have set up shop and are planning a mass casualty event. Will Mr. Rall acknowledge this?

Our most important ally in the Middle East is Israel. It is the only democracy there.

The Abraham Accords made huge progress in aligning the interests of some Arab countries and Israel.

Iran has been enabled by some fantasy that if we remove sanctions, they will halt their nuclear weapons initiative.

The nuclear negotiations and sanctions relief have enabled terrorist organizations to grow. They seek an end to Israel and the West.

If Iran develops a nuclear warhead, they will assuredly use it against Israel.

I particularly like his column called “Clueless in Gaza.” I don’t think enough people know the entire history of Israel in relation to the Palestinians, and I don’t think most people know the details of what’s been happening in recent years.

I’ve tried to educate myself in relation to the issue, and I wish I knew more than I do, but I totally agree with Ted on this topic.

I also very much agree with the letter from Jamie Trowbridge on this subject. I am so grateful to him for speaking out about it. This is not a popular stance to take on the subject, and I’ve been reluctant to speak out to anyone about where I stand.

I am not Arabic and I am not a Muslim and I don’t happen to know anyone who is, unfortunately.

I have simply tried to research the subject as well as I am able to, so I feel that I can be fairly objective on the subject.

Black Americans deserve reparations. And so do gay Americans — and for similar reasons.

Anti-gay laws and discrimination and prejudice and second-class citizenship hold down gays — and held down their participation in the U.S. economy and prevented gays from acquiring generational wealth.

And during the AIDS epidemic, our government and medical system and researchers wanted gays to die from AIDS and purposely held back seeking vaccines and cures and effective treatments.

I dedicate this letter to the gay pop star JoJo Siwa, who is the inspiration for my becoming a gay rights — and gay pride — supporter!

Thank you, JoJo, for being a champion of your people in their fight for freedom and justice and equality and equity and reparations!