In our paper two weeks ago, Chase Pellegrini de Paur wrote about Chapel Hill town leaders’ quandary over what to do with the town’s many citizen-led volunteer boards and commissions. We received the following message from reader Steve Peck:
Insulting the citizens who give their time to town created boards is not [the] way to right size and reshape town boards.
A cheeky response would be to question the value of some of our town council members. While getting it right as to [the] mission for town boards is critical, some of the comments seen tinged with the notion that some council folk did not like the message from the citizens who populate the boards. Given that many town council members over the years came from the same boards they now seem ready to jettison, we should carefully consider how we reshape town boards and for what reasons.
My experience is that citizens who become members of both town boards and town council sometimes forget their number one mission to serve the whole community. I salute them for their willingness to serve and gently remind them who they serve.
Also in our paper two weeks ago, Voices columnist Desmera Gatewood explained why she voted no preference in the presidential primary election in March, along with 14 percent of other voters in Durham who cast a Democratic ballot. The print version of the column ran with the headline “My Noncommitment to Hypocrisy.” Readers had lots of thoughts about Gatewood’s piece.
From reader Sam Wilen in Durham:
Gatewood says in her [opinion] piece about Israel and Gaza: “Even by Biden’s own admission, Israel must do more to “protect the lives of civilians. Still, there’s a simple answer: Stop the bombing.” True enough. But there is another answer that is equally simple: “Free the hostages that were taken last October.” Return them and the bombing would stop.
Better still would have been for Hamas to have acted with intelligence and responsibility. None of this would have happened if over a thousand people had not been killed in October and if hostages had not been taken. None of this would have happened if Hamas would have actually accepted the existence of Israel and used the money that has been given to them over the past two decades to build up the Gaza economy rather than build hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles of underground tunnels and smuggle weapons into the area. None of this would have happened if they had accepted the challenge that the Israeli government gave them in 2005 to govern Gaza responsibly rather than fan the fantasy that Palestinians will return to Israel after driving the Jewish inhabitants into the [Mediterranean] Sea.
The bombing has become a travesty. On that, I agree with Gatewood. But Hamas governance has also been a travesty. Let’s at least try [to] look at both sides of this awful tragedy instead of pretending that there is a simple answer.
From reader Lewis Beale in Raleigh:
It’s bad enough that Desmera Gatewood’s anti-Biden screed fails to mention the nearly 2,000 Israelis who were killed, raped, tortured and held hostage by Hamas. Guess they count for nothing in Gatewood’s world.
But Gatewood’s refusal to acknowledge what a Trump win could do to this country is even worse. A racist misogynist backed by Christian nationalists and the most far-right elements in this society would be a disaster for reproductive, LGBTQ, worker and immigrant rights. It would favor the 1% over everyone else, do nothing about climate change and cut taxes even further, pushing us even deeper into debt.
Maybe Gatewood has forgotten what Trump’s presidency was like. Maybe Gatewood is living in Oz, and really doesn’t have a clue what Trump 2 could accomplish.
No matter what, if the Gaza ceasefire types refuse to vote for Biden, and Trump wins, the chaos that ensues will be on them.
To quote Gatewood: Full stop.
From reader Jerry Doliner in Raleigh:
In 2005 Israel unilaterally returned governance of Gaza to the Palestinians who lived there. They left behind any built infrastructure, housing, farms. They even disinterred the Jewish dead and took them to Israel for reburial. Hamas won an election a few years later and have governed (with no subsequent elections) since. Hamas spent the next almost 20 years shooting missiles at Israel, launching terrorist attacks in Israel, and taking aid money to build a terrorist state.
Where does [Gatewood] think the money came from to build missiles and the underground tunnels? Hamas ripped up water, gas and sewer pipes to build missiles! The WRITTEN, STATED goal of Hamas is the destruction of Israel and the killing of every Jew who lives there. THAT is Genocide.
Desmera also fails to mention the deranged attack, torturing, hostage taking and killing of 1200 Jews on Oct 7. Hamas said at that time they want to do that over and over till there are no Jews left. THAT is Genocide. Hamas [is] funded by Iran, and almost directly funded by The USA through the UN and lack of will by the Biden Administration. On top of that, Desmera believes the kill numbers furnished by Hamas.
They need to get some facts before accusing Israel of Genocide. Outrageous and unacceptable!
From reader Peter d’Entremont in Durham:
The headline caught my eye, “[My] Noncommitment to Hypocrisy.” What does that mean? I thought. The writer tries to make the point that a moral stand is necessary in the face of evil and that present evil is inextricably connected to so many other issues that the writer considers compelling. Fair enough.
Then the argument is made that our current policy toward Israel, in particular the Gaza war, should disqualify President Biden to be our moral choice. Two problems. This kind of moral absolutism is a prime example of the “perfect being the enemy of the good.” We can’t turn a blind eye to (is that the hypocrisy?) what goes on, with our help, in Gaza—or Ukraine, or here in Durham. We can direct our efforts toward real progress. President Biden, right now, is the vehicle we have, and the best agent we can hope for to help the people of Gaza.
Then there’s the “none of the above” attitude that I find so very dangerous. We live in a particular country with a particular method of choosing leaders and developing policy for the greater good. When you abstain from voting, or misuse your duty as a citizen to cast a protest vote you are wounding your fellow citizens and damaging what shred of democracy we still have.
No preference means you abdicate your responsibility to the rest of us and open wide the door to even more evil. The people of Gaza will not thank you.
Finally, from reader Richard Cramer:
Desmera Gatewood’s April 10 “Noncommitment” article requires response.
She considers the “evils” of both Trump and Biden to warrant not voting for either of them in November, even if she suggests that Biden’s “evils” are the lesser of the two. But Biden has done his best, given a divided Congress, on almost every other issue that she mentions: addressing food insecurity, immigration injustices, student debt, and health-care issues, as well as other important matters, like abortion restrictions, gun violence, poverty, and tax inequities.
Gatewood should see that a Trump return to the White House would assure a worse future for our country on all of these issues and would do even less to try to mitigate the tragic situation in Israel-Gaza.
Backtalk: “When you abstain from voting, or misuse your duty as a citizen to cast a protest vote, you are wounding your fellow citizens”
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In our paper two weeks ago, Chase Pellegrini de Paur wrote about Chapel Hill town leaders’ quandary over what to do with the town’s many citizen-led volunteer boards and commissions. We received the following message from reader Steve Peck:
Insulting the citizens who give their time to town created boards is not [the] way to right size and reshape town boards.
A cheeky response would be to question the value of some of our town council members. While getting it right as to [the] mission for town boards is critical, some of the comments seen tinged with the notion that some council folk did not like the message from the citizens who populate the boards. Given that many town council members over the years came from the same boards they now seem ready to jettison, we should carefully consider how we reshape town boards and for what reasons.
My experience is that citizens who become members of both town boards and town council sometimes forget their number one mission to serve the whole community. I salute them for their willingness to serve and gently remind them who they serve.
Also in our paper two weeks ago, Voices columnist Desmera Gatewood explained why she voted no preference in the presidential primary election in March, along with 14 percent of other voters in Durham who cast a Democratic ballot. The print version of the column ran with the headline “My Noncommitment to Hypocrisy.” Readers had lots of thoughts about Gatewood’s piece.
From reader Sam Wilen in Durham:
Gatewood says in her [opinion] piece about Israel and Gaza: “Even by Biden’s own admission, Israel must do more to “protect the lives of civilians. Still, there’s a simple answer: Stop the bombing.” True enough. But there is another answer that is equally simple: “Free the hostages that were taken last October.” Return them and the bombing would stop.
Better still would have been for Hamas to have acted with intelligence and responsibility. None of this would have happened if over a thousand people had not been killed in October and if hostages had not been taken. None of this would have happened if Hamas would have actually accepted the existence of Israel and used the money that has been given to them over the past two decades to build up the Gaza economy rather than build hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles of underground tunnels and smuggle weapons into the area. None of this would have happened if they had accepted the challenge that the Israeli government gave them in 2005 to govern Gaza responsibly rather than fan the fantasy that Palestinians will return to Israel after driving the Jewish inhabitants into the [Mediterranean] Sea.
The bombing has become a travesty. On that, I agree with Gatewood. But Hamas governance has also been a travesty. Let’s at least try [to] look at both sides of this awful tragedy instead of pretending that there is a simple answer.
From reader Lewis Beale in Raleigh:
It’s bad enough that Desmera Gatewood’s anti-Biden screed fails to mention the nearly 2,000 Israelis who were killed, raped, tortured and held hostage by Hamas. Guess they count for nothing in Gatewood’s world.
But Gatewood’s refusal to acknowledge what a Trump win could do to this country is even worse. A racist misogynist backed by Christian nationalists and the most far-right elements in this society would be a disaster for reproductive, LGBTQ, worker and immigrant rights. It would favor the 1% over everyone else, do nothing about climate change and cut taxes even further, pushing us even deeper into debt.
Maybe Gatewood has forgotten what Trump’s presidency was like. Maybe Gatewood is living in Oz, and really doesn’t have a clue what Trump 2 could accomplish.
No matter what, if the Gaza ceasefire types refuse to vote for Biden, and Trump wins, the chaos that ensues will be on them.
To quote Gatewood: Full stop.
From reader Jerry Doliner in Raleigh:
In 2005 Israel unilaterally returned governance of Gaza to the Palestinians who lived there. They left behind any built infrastructure, housing, farms. They even disinterred the Jewish dead and took them to Israel for reburial. Hamas won an election a few years later and have governed (with no subsequent elections) since. Hamas spent the next almost 20 years shooting missiles at Israel, launching terrorist attacks in Israel, and taking aid money to build a terrorist state.
Where does [Gatewood] think the money came from to build missiles and the underground tunnels? Hamas ripped up water, gas and sewer pipes to build missiles! The WRITTEN, STATED goal of Hamas is the destruction of Israel and the killing of every Jew who lives there. THAT is Genocide.
Desmera also fails to mention the deranged attack, torturing, hostage taking and killing of 1200 Jews on Oct 7. Hamas said at that time they want to do that over and over till there are no Jews left. THAT is Genocide. Hamas [is] funded by Iran, and almost directly funded by The USA through the UN and lack of will by the Biden Administration. On top of that, Desmera believes the kill numbers furnished by Hamas.
They need to get some facts before accusing Israel of Genocide. Outrageous and unacceptable!
From reader Peter d’Entremont in Durham:
The headline caught my eye, “[My] Noncommitment to Hypocrisy.” What does that mean? I thought. The writer tries to make the point that a moral stand is necessary in the face of evil and that present evil is inextricably connected to so many other issues that the writer considers compelling. Fair enough.
Then the argument is made that our current policy toward Israel, in particular the Gaza war, should disqualify President Biden to be our moral choice. Two problems. This kind of moral absolutism is a prime example of the “perfect being the enemy of the good.” We can’t turn a blind eye to (is that the hypocrisy?) what goes on, with our help, in Gaza—or Ukraine, or here in Durham. We can direct our efforts toward real progress. President Biden, right now, is the vehicle we have, and the best agent we can hope for to help the people of Gaza.
Then there’s the “none of the above” attitude that I find so very dangerous. We live in a particular country with a particular method of choosing leaders and developing policy for the greater good. When you abstain from voting, or misuse your duty as a citizen to cast a protest vote you are wounding your fellow citizens and damaging what shred of democracy we still have.
No preference means you abdicate your responsibility to the rest of us and open wide the door to even more evil. The people of Gaza will not thank you.
Finally, from reader Richard Cramer:
Desmera Gatewood’s April 10 “Noncommitment” article requires response.
She considers the “evils” of both Trump and Biden to warrant not voting for either of them in November, even if she suggests that Biden’s “evils” are the lesser of the two. But Biden has done his best, given a divided Congress, on almost every other issue that she mentions: addressing food insecurity, immigration injustices, student debt, and health-care issues, as well as other important matters, like abortion restrictions, gun violence, poverty, and tax inequities.
Gatewood should see that a Trump return to the White House would assure a worse future for our country on all of these issues and would do even less to try to mitigate the tragic situation in Israel-Gaza.
Comment on this story at backtalk@indyweek.com.