Last week I posted an idea I had on Twitter about creating a weekly newsletter of editorials from across the state. I didn’t mean much by it, but it got a few likes and my boyfriend even told me that it was a good idea. That go me wondering whether or not I should do it. So instead of creating a whole new newsletter, I’m opting to use my very underutilized website to try it out for a few weeks.
So here’s the deal: Each week I’ll highlight five editorials from across the state — avoiding anything in major metropolitan areas like Wake or Mecklenburg counties. The roundup might not have what most of us call “timely” editorials because some papers are weekly or don’t publish a daily editorial. I’ll try to keep them timely though. I’ll focus on hitting at least one paper from each of the state’s regions (or try to at least).
Why in the world am I doing this?: It’s simple — so many of us get wrapped up in our own little bubbles in Raleigh or Charlotte or where ever we are that we forget that there are cities and towns and villages in our own state that are battling some of the same issues we are. We often forget about the small towns, or we write-off their ideas as “Podunk” or “redneck.” We shouldn’t. It’s important to consume ideas and opinions from outside of your comfort zone. And this is what I’m attempting to do.
Here’s the rundown for June 12-16:
The Sylva Herald and Ruralite: “HB200 is well worth backing”
From the editorial: “Not to belabor the point, but gerrymandering creates safe seats where an elected official has no motivation to even attempt to compromise on any given issue. As Bob Phillips, director of Common Cause North Carolina points out, ‘Gerrymandering undermines the fundamental principle of American democracy by depriving voters of a choice in who represents them.’
“And on a point few pundits talk about, gerrymandering doesn’t fit at all with the changing structure of North Carolina’s electorate. Yes, we have a two-party system, with Democrats and Republicans working to gain and keep power, but those two choices are carrying less appeal to North Carolinians.”
The Carteret County News-Times: “We’re out of Paris”
From the editorial: “We applaud President Donald Trump for making good on his campaign promise to have the United States exit the Paris Climate Change Accords, one of the greatest political frauds ever perpetrated.”
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“We have urged withdrawing from the climate accords ever since former President Barack Obama wrangled the U.S. into the arrangement. Passed in late 2015 by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and signed by 195 nations, it was a pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions over 10 to 15 years to avert a total temperature rise of only 0.306° Fahrenheit by 2100.
“The economic cost of remaining in the accords would have destroyed America’s economy and lowered the standard of living.”
The Robesonian: “Court: Commissioners can’t be random in granting permits”
From the editorial: “The benefit is plain: Solar farms produce clean energy, they generate income for property owners whose land, much of which used to produce income by growing tobacco, has been sitting idly, they don’t require electricity, sewer and water to prosper, and they generate property tax dollars for the county that can be put to work for all of us.
“The blemish is also plain: Solar farms are ugly, though their scarring of the landscape can be mitigated with buffers.
“We will be adding a solar farm locally because last week the N.C. Court of Appeals determined that the Robeson County Board of Commissioners had wrongfully denied a conditional-use permit that was needed to establish a solar farm on 40 acres of a 54.37-acre tract on St. Anna Church Road in Pembroke, a denial that was then upheld by a Superior Court judge.”
The Transylvania Times: “Loyalty To The Constitution, Not Individuals”
From the editorial: “With government, we want individuals who are loyal to this country and the democratic principles upon which it was founded, but that is quite different than being loyal to any individual in government. A country’s leaders can lead it down the wrong path and promote unjust and immoral acts. The soldiers of Nazi Germany were loyal to their country just as the soldiers of the South were loyal to the Confederacy, but they were misled by their leaders.
“In this respect, blind loyalty can become obeisance, setting individuals up for easy manipulation and coercing them to repress their individual conscience. An immoral or unethical act is okay because their leader has demanded or approved it – either explicitly or implicitly.”
The Bladen Journal: “Ego wins out over frugality”
From the editorial: “And hanging photos of county commissioners in the courthouse and other county buildings is just that … frivolous.
“If there is a lesson these five elected officials need to learn, it comes from a line in the 1985 movie ‘Brewster’s Millions’ that was uttered by Rupert Horn (played by Hume Cronyn): ‘I’m gonna teach you to hate spending money. I’m gonna make you so sick of spending money that the mere sight of it will make you wanna throw up!’
“We will take this time to applaud the votes of Commissioners Charles Ray Peterson, Ashley Trivette, David Gooden and Daniel Dowless against the motion.
“Britt stated the folks at the nutrition center are charged $5 for lunch, so it would seem that $1,450 could have been used far more sensibly had the board voted to send that money to be used for meals until the next fiscal year’s budget kicked in.”
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Anyway, that’s all for now. If you have any thoughts about what to include in this or how it should be formatted, let me know! Who knows, this might be the one and only roundup, but I hope not.
-LH