Let’s hope President Trump’s nominee can help the Supreme Court live up to its name
On the Supreme Court
When the president’s nominee for the Supreme Court is confirmed, I hope that this individual brings a more centrist philosophy to the table.
The swing to the left has been so extreme for so long that the “land of the free” — as in entitlements — has brought on a whole new meaning.
And with individual rights and freedoms protected for almost every eccentricity imaginable, “freedom” is more like a “free for all” to me.
During the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s memorial service, Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt said that she was proud to see how much “We the people” has been “expanded and expanded.”
Unfortunately, “the people” have never included those living human beings about to be born. What about their civil liberties and individual rights? You will not hear a single peep from the ACLU.
Then there are some politicians who for greater electability will embrace liberal policies on abortion. (If only the unborn could vote!) And it should have been the Supreme Court to curb those sleazy motives; instead it only encouraged them.
To the soon-to-be appointed justice on the Supreme Court: please, please bring some balance and wisdom back to this Court.
Make it live up to its name!
Gene Ceccarelli, Bluffton
On shorebirds
The beach is our human playground. It is also the only home to marine species including shorebirds.
The birds depend on the beach for their very survival.
Some have arrived from exhausting migrations, others reside yearlong. All of them need a safe place to eat and rest undisturbed.
Our dogs chase birds.
Bikers, runners and walkers plow through them without a clue that each time they force the birds to fly back and forth from their home causes stress and weakness.
How would you feel if your family was kicked out of your house every time your family sat down tor dinner?
We can recreate on the beach without disturbing birds.
They gather in groups at the shoreline. Watch for them, then simply make a wide sweep around the “families” so that they can enjoy a good rest and healthy meal — just as we humans do.
Debby Boots, Hilton Head Island
On incrementalism
It is sad and irritating that for me and many Americans this election is about removing an embarrassment from the White House rather than electing someone who will make the wholesale changes necessary to make America what it ought to be as a country.
The choice must be made, but the 2018 election moved toward an actual liberal agenda, and to slide now toward the middle is not satisfying.
Incremental change is not good enough.
Incrementalism bows to those who like things as they are and will grudgingly change a little.
But you cannot be for incremental change for criminal justice, police reform, equity for all minorities, prison reform, health care for all, women’s health care rights, reining in the finance industry, interpreting the Second Amendment correctly (restricting guns to save lives), immigration, environmental action and more.
These need wholesale change now; they shouldn’t be part of some slow-walked movement that may get there in 10, 20 or 30 years (if not more).
Liberals won multiple elections all over the country in 2018, and they have tried to push the Democrats to do the right things now.
The fact is that Republicans/conservatives will never do much about the issues listed above — except to ensure that the wealthy and corporations are not impacted.
Citizens need to take action to push politicians to implement wholesale change now.
George Bernard Shaw famously wrote: “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’”
This is where we are today, and I say, “Why not?”
Richard Hammes, Hilton Head
On Cunningham
U.S Rep. Joe Cunningham is a good guy!
He’s young, good-looking, has a great family and has had the best intentions to serve the Lowcountry.
He has tried to be a moderate and his major issue — to prevent offshore drilling — was recently approved by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
But Joe is on the wrong team! As a first-term Democrat, he must toe the party line.
He is required by House Democrat leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to vote with them on major issues.
He was also required to vote to Impeach President Trump.
He has not been allowed to condemn the violence and riots in many of our major cities caused by the Marxist Black Lives Matter and Antifa movements that want to overthrow our government.
He has not been allowed to vote for the $1 trillion-plus in additional COVID-19 relief funding that has been proposed by the Senate.
And as a Democrat Cunningham has been required to support the ultra far-left socialist agenda of Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders — an agenda that includes:
▪ Higher taxes.
▪ Open borders.
▪ Defunding the police.
▪ Defunding the military.
▪ Expanding the Affordable Care Act and eliminating private health care plans.
▪ Eliminating local zoning laws that support individual home ownership.
▪ The Green New Deal.
While Cunningham is a “good guy,” as a Democrat he’s not allowed to represent the much more moderate views of the Lowcountry.
This is why I will be encouraging everyone I know to support his opponent, state Rep. Nancy Mace.
Dennis McCafferty, Bluffton