Conway resident urges fellow citizens to support pro-democracy candidates in November

Save democracy

The Jan. 6 hearings have wound down for now, but I won’t forget what I learned — what happened that day was part of an ongoing criminal conspiracy to undermine our freedom to vote and to choose our elected leaders.

Trump and his pals worked together to try to stop the peaceful transfer of power because the 2020 presidential election didn’t go their way. Now, they’re working to make sure future elections go their way, whether we vote in their favor or not.

Never before have we seen so many candidates running for office on a platform that promises to destroy our democracy.

Worst of all, many of these extremists are looking to take over election administration, running for offices like secretary of state and county clerk. Once they’re sworn in, many won’t hesitate to overturn future elections.

The only way we are going to protect our elections is to fight back and make our voices heard.

If our vote wasn’t powerful, insurrectionists wouldn’t be working so hard to take our freedom to vote away.

It’s up to us to hold election deniers accountable at the polls and elect democracy defenders up and down the ballot on Nov. 8.

Doris Ward, Conway

Support equality

When one group of people is singled out, we are all at risk for losing our rights.

In 1967, had my husband and I been of different races and married in South Carolina, we would have been charged with a felony. Since we were white and different genders, we could legally marry.

The government was wrong then, and what some are trying to do today is equally wrong.

We are still a government of, by, and for the people. Our government is supposed to work equally for all of us.

Unfortunately, the goal of some is to make our country less of a democracy.

As a result, we can no longer assume that any of our rights are protected because of Supreme Court decisions.

I urge Senators Graham and Scott not to let their personal beliefs compromise their vote for equality, but to instead respect the right for consenting adults to legally marry, and vote “yes” on the Respect for Marriage Act.

Betty Rankin, Catawba

Save the butterflies

The plight of the monarch butterfly has been reported on recently with suggestions of how we readers can help. Plant milkweed and quit using pesticides.

There is a dearth of all butterfly species on our coast, and the numbers of birds are declining. One of the prime reasons is the random overuse of pesticides that kill beneficial weeds and bugs.

Caterpillars are baby butterflies and moths. Birds eat insects, especially for the fat and protein during nesting season, and bees, wasps and other insects pollinate half the food we eat.

Toxic pesticides wash into nearby fresh and salt water, harming all life there.

Why isn’t anyone asking questions? Making rules?

Residents can help butterflies by taking charge of your own properties and tolerating the beneficial bugs we depend on.

Tell your landscape company to quit using toxic pesticides. That one action could help save the Monarch and all the other missing butterflies. Then buy some neonic-free milkweed seeds or plants.

Debby Boots Hilton Head

In America

Women get to have abortions in America.

Gay people get to marry in America.

LGBTQ people get to have all the human rights that all enjoy in America.

Our culture wars are not liberal versus conservative. They are American versus un-American and were settled at our inception: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.”

These rights are also clearly delineated in our Constitution, which states its purpose is to: “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility . . . promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

These culture war issues were settled in 1776 and a “full stop” was put on that in 1787. All that is left is for us to live up to who we profess to be as Americans.

It’s plain as day in the Constitution, y’all.

Glenn Boylston, Bluffton

This story was originally published July 31, 2022 at 6:00 AM.