How to fix Hilton Head

Ex mayoral candidate here ...

Whose bright idea was it to sell beer and wine 24 hours a day, seven days a week? What good ever came from a case of beer at 3 o’clock in the morning?

Add lights and safety for our visitors and vacationers. Protect our most precious source of income: tourists.

Open the gates. We should be one island, not seven private, gated plots of land.

We need a real Main Street. Real neighborhoods.

We need more dog parks. Everybody has a dog around here. Give Fido some room to run.

Rein in the chamber of commerce. Stop the bleeding and use the money more wisely.

Thanks for reading.

Make rules apply to all

A recent letter to the editor nailed it. The writer points out, factually, that the judiciary’s rules on misconduct do not apply to the Supreme Court. Thus, she reasons that nothing is likely to come of the pending complaints against Brett Kavanaugh now that he has been seated on the nation’s highest court.

As with other branches of government, the rules seem not to apply to the rule-makers.

That is not news, but it has never been as blatantly displayed more than it has since January 2016 when one political party took over every branch of the government. Gone is the separation of power. Gone is the right of dissent. Gone is compromise. In their place is “it’s all about us and what we want, so we’ll continue to make the rules that are good for us while taking away your rights.” It’s all about winning, according to our president.

This is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned for our country. They apparently believed in the honesty of elected officials along with the belief that all should be treated equally when it came to governing a nation for all citizens. If they could see us now!

My Patriot would be appalled. How many who are governing today can claim a Patriot in their heritage? Can President Donald Trump? How many elected officials break the laws that apply to “everyone,” and when caught claim “politically-motivated persecution”?

This country needs to wake up and pay attention to what’s happening before it’s too late. Our constitutional rights and privileges are slowly being eroded. We’re forfeiting civility and respect for one another in the interest of politics. It’s all about winning at any cost and the destruction of anyone who disagrees or stands in the way.

Free speech is not hate speech

I am writing to comment on a string of columns by Brad Bloom printed in your newspaper, directed at me.

Rabbi Bloom claims to stand for truth and decency. And he wants to ban free speech. Rabbi Bloom calls anything he doesn’t like “hate” and he thinks that wrapping his ideas up in an American flag will get people to accept his garbage.

Rabbi Bloom wrote, I believe, in the memory of my dad’s generation, which fought the Nazis and liberated the concentration camps. They died on the shores of Utah Beach, in the Battle of the Bulge, and in the countless towns and nations throughout Europe. Were they liars, too? Are we supposed to besmirch their sacrifices and their heroism for America?

My Jewish friend’s dad was a decorated veteran who is one of the people Rabbi Bloom pretends to represent. I would like to tell Rabbi Bloom that Dad did not fight to ban free speech, he fought for a set of ideas that included free speech ... for all people.

I will also throw in that my Jewish friend’s uncle, a decorated ace, had the same view. So, as my friend’s dad and a lot of other veterans would say, “Rabbi Bloom, you are entitled to attack our Constitution, but do it because you feel entitled to deny your fellow Americans their civil liberties. Don’t do it in our name.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 8:25 AM.