Six local writers offer a sampler of important opinions on our current state of affairs. From the East Wing to DOGE, we’re not staying quiet in Rowan County!

Marie Sofley: 10/28/25 – What Say You?

Who needs Congress? President Trump decides who is naughty or nice and rewards accordingly pardoning, nominating, bullying or prosecuting. He decrees who works without pay, stays or gets fired. Who eats and what and is entitled to medical services. Crime is under his command as masked ICE agents and the military with guns patrol streets of cities he chooses. Declaring war and negotiating peace he considers within his domain. He can do it all so who needs Congress. What say you?

Read more at: https://www.salisburypost.com/2025/10/28/letter-what-say-you-8/

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Judy Smith: 10/26/25 – The heart of the nation

It is sad when history is destroyed. It is happening. Trump has destroyed the East Wing of the White house. It was always an entryway for guests and the site of the office of all first ladies. Their influence and pictures displayed by portraits hanging on the East Wing walls. I read that Betty Ford once said, “If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, the East Wing is the heart.” Worse yet, Trump is also chipping away at programs that actually help people. He is in the center of a government shutdown where health care is at stake. He is alienating nations with the pretense of making money for the U.S. from tariffs. I don’t think any American feels they will be helped by a $300-million ballroom. It is happening, but we will not lose our hearts or our history. Our history is embedded in all of us through those who sacrificed before us for freedom. Unite and vote for candidates who respect history and the constitution. … I just hope those portraits of the first ladies have been preserved.

Read more at: https://www.salisburypost.com/2025/10/26/letter-the-heart-of-the-nation/

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Alvin Safrit: 10/26/25 – Stay Incredulous

If the Republican Party continues to supports Adolf Trump’s policy’s and criminal actions, I hope every one of them is voted out of office. It’s no surprise he pardoned George Santos. They’re two of a kind. He keeps trying to convince people that he’s not a crook, but his actions prove that he is. Every time he’s on the news he can’t help but lie about most of what he says. Just yesterday he lied about the White House not being damaged while you could see in the background it being torn down. He has turned the Republican Party into a criminal empire.

Read more at: https://www.salisburypost.com/2025/10/26/letter-stay-incredulous/

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Evelyn Uddin-Khan: 10/23/25 – Who Created Gender Inequality? (excerpt)

There will be equality between men and women when men stop interpreting the words of God in their favor, for their benefit, to make them look like God’s chosen gender…

…What can be done? Nothing! Politicians are still making new laws to oppress women and interpreting civil laws and the holy books and women are still at the mercy of men’s charity. Between politics and religion, women do not stand a chance. Those women who do make it to the glass ceiling are perhaps the chosen few. In this the 21st century, women have proven that between the top of the moon to the bottom of the ocean, in science, technology, medicine, the arts, they are not only equal to men, but sometimes better.

Read Evelyn Uddin-Khan’s entire letter at: https://www.salisburypost.com/2025/10/23/evelyn-uddin-khan-who-created-gender-inequality/

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Scott Huffman: 10/19/25 – DOGE: The Catastrophic Data Leak Threatening Every American’s Identity (excerpt)

Data breaches at big companies are bad. But a federal project called DOGE, led by Elon Musk, threatens something much worse: the personal information of every American could already be exposed. That’s not an exaggeration. According to a new report from Senator Gary Peters, chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, DOGE has been collecting and storing our most sensitive data — including Social Security numbers and employment histories — in a system with shockingly little security protection…

…Last word This isn’t about politics. It’s about you. From the president to a high school student opening a bank account, we’re all in the same data pool. If Musk’s DOGE continues unchecked, the next “data breach” won’t hit a company — it’ll hit the entire country. Senator Peters’ report is a warning. America’s digital house is on fire, and the smoke is already rising. If the government doesn’t act now, DOGE could become the biggest data disaster in U.S. history, touching every paycheck, every family and every identity in the nation. It’s time to pull the plug and protect the people, this will put Americans First.

Read Scott Huffman’s entire opinion at: https://www.salisburypost.com/2025/10/19/scott-huffman-doge-the-catastrophic-data-leak-threatening-every-americans-identity/

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Carole Pomeroy: 10/14/25 – The Truth, the Whole Truth (excerpt)

No one is disputing the fact that the murder of Ukranian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte on Aug. 22 was a horrific and tragic event. Decarlos Brown Jr., the man charged with this murder, has a history of mental illness with paranoia delusions…

…On Aug. 21, 2014, Brown was arrested for robbery with a dangerous weapon. He was subsequently convicted of that crime in 2015 and sentenced to five years and seven months in prison. He was credited for the 176 days he spent in jail awaiting trial. This is the incident that the president, vice president and other republicans have used to try and discredit former N.C. Governor Roy Cooper who is now the preferred Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate from N.C.

Republican Michael Whatley who is challenging Cooper in the 2026 U.S. senate race said that Cooper bears “direct responsibility” for the murder of Iryna Zarutska, an accusation that is totally without merit. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) purposely edited video footage of Roy Cooper to blame him for the stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska. The edited video made it look as if Cooper endorsed pretrial release for criminal defendants as part of a task force that he created in 2020. Cooper was accused of having Brown released before serving his full sentence for the armed robbery that took place in 2014.

Read Carol Pomeroy’s entire letter at: https://www.salisburypost.com/2025/10/14/carol-pomeroy-the-truth-the-whole-truth/