The News Courier encourages letters to the editor. Submissions should be no more than 400 words and include name, address and telephone number for verification. Submissions that do not meet requirements are subject to editing. Writers are limited to one published letter every 30 days. Send letters to P.O. Box 670, Athens, AL 35613 or email to adam@athensnews-courier.com.

Thankful for a great community

Dear Editor:

I wanted to express my thanks to the Athens-Limestone community. On Monday, we had the funeral for my great-grandmother, Bernice Martin, who passed away at 101 years old.

As we left the church where the funeral was held and began the procession to the cemetery, I was incredibly touched to see every car the procession passed stop and pull to the side of the road as we made our way across the county, from Reid to Copeland Cemetery. From the rural county roads to the busy four-lane U.S. 72, every single vehicle that we passed took the time to stop and show respect to my grieving family.

I grew up in Limestone County, so I used to take for granted that everybody did this. However, I have spent the last several years in a different place for school, and I’ve realized that is definitely not the case.

There are many reasons that I am proud to call this community home, but the biggest is the people that make up this community. So, to all the people who call this area home, on behalf of myself and my family, thank you for making this community what it is.

Sincerely,

Will Harris

Athens

Send rebel to D.C.

Dear Editor:

While checking Smoky Mountain Knife Works to order my CHRISTmas present, I found a knife that I not only had to order but that also inspired me to write this.

It is called a Rebel Yell trapper. Among other embellishments, one blade is etched “If you claim ya heard it and you weren’t scared, then you ain’t never heard it.”

I immediately thought of Judge Roy Moore. It dawned on me that the Washington establishment and Mitch McConnell are afraid of him. They are so afraid of him that they are fighting a new War of Northern Aggression against Alabama. Why? Because he is a true conservative, not a liberal RINO Republican.

But that is not the worst of it. He is also a Christian. He believes and espouses Christian principles. The Washington establishment and Mitch McConnell simply cannot abide that.

That is why McConnell poured $30 million into the primary and runoff campaigns to try to defeat him. That didn’t work so now they are using this smear campaign against him. They don’t care if he is innocent or guilty. They just don’t want Roy Moore in the Senate.

Alabama, let’s not let Mitch McConnell and the Washington establishment pick our next Senator. Let’s send Mitch McConnell that conservative rebel he can’t manage.

Let’s send Mitch McConnell and the Washington establishment a Rebel Yell that will have them quaking in their boots. Let’s send them OUR Rebel Yell, Judge Roy Moore!

Sincerely,

Charles Sample

Athens

Make your vote count

Dear Editor:

Many eligible voters will sit out the Special Election this coming Tuesday. Many voters will refuse to cast a vote for either Roy Moore or Doug Jones. There will also be those who will hold their noses and vote for a candidate they disapprove of, choosing the one the consider to be “lesser of two evils.”

If you think that one of the candidates is the right person to serve the state of Alabama as a Senator, then by all means vote for that candidate. But if you find neither candidate acceptable, the right thing to do is vote accordingly, to cast a blank ballot, to vote for “None of the Above.”

When you stay home from the polling place, you are passively accepting the outcome of the election. You are not voicing your opinion. Your non-vote will be looked upon as resignation or apathy.

When you vote for one candidate only because the other candidate is worse, you are not voting according to your convictions. A vote for Jones will be counted as a vote for Jones, not as a vote “against” Moore. A vote for Moore will be counted as a vote for Moore, not as a vote “against” Jones.

But a blank ballot actually does count as a vote against both Jones and Moore.

When you put a blank, unmarked ballot into the voting machine, it will ask you to confirm that you want to cast a blank ballot. When you do so, the ballot will be accepted, and it will be counted.

When the votes for Jones and Moore are tallied, the vote count will add up to less than 100 percent. The remaining percentage represents those who voted against both candidates.

Be a responsible citizen. Vote your conscience and make your vote count!

Sincerely,

Kevin C. Moore

Athens

No love for Moore

Dear Editor:

In 2013, I worked as a law clerk with the Administrative Office of Courts when Roy Moore was sworn in as Chief Justice. Upon his election, Moore terminated all but one of the attorneys working at AOC.

The AOC attorneys were career attorneys who had been with AOC for many years. Their positions were not political appointments, and they had worked under both Democrats and Republicans. They were good attorneys and had no reason to be terminated. Fortunately, my position was spared. Nonetheless, the terminations rubbed me the wrong way.

I do not know if the women accusing Moore are telling the truth, but the supporting evidence indicates their stories are credible. I do know for certain that Moore was suspended from office on two occasions (removed once, and would have been removed a second time had he not resigned) for not following a court order. In my professional experience, when a court issues an order, I am obligated to follow the court’s order or face consequences. It is as simple as that.

The nation’s current perception of Moore is not good for attracting industry to the state and it reinforces Alabama’s negative stereotypes. If elected, this perception will no doubt stick with Moore throughout his time in the U.S. Senate. Alabama has all the resources available to be one of the best states in the union, but we continue to elect officials who put personal agendas first. Let’s change that on Dec. 12.

Sincerely,

Chase Estes

Montgomery

Media bias against Moore

Dear Editor:

In 2006, Roy Moore was running for governor. I was going door to door. Many people liked him and some graciously disagreed.

Some believed he broke the law, not understanding that the federal courts were breaking the law instead of him. Still, others believed separation of church and state was a law, or even the belief of our founding fathers. Neither are the case.

The term separation of church and state comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote making the point we should not have mandated government church (denomination) as England had.

These disagreements are not what I want to address. At one point, I was chased down the sidewalk by a man screaming curse words. As a young man, the hate I witnessed changed my life, and my view of the compassionate liberal (tolerance and politically correct) mindset. I saw the false paradigm that has invaded our country.

It sounds appealing because they believe they are loving and all accepting, which makes anyone who disagrees bigoted and a hater. They can be screaming threats and accusations, yet be justified because they feel right.

If you believe all lives matter you’re called a women hater, denying women choices. If you don’t believe in changing the definition of marriage held for 6,000 years, then you are labeled politically incorrect or worse.

What about freedom for bakers and probate judges who can’t approve the change? You are called uncaring if you want to repeal Obamacare, but funding must be taken (stolen) from someone who earned it. The idea that compassionate liberalism loves everyone is false, they just feel justified and are blinded to their own intolerance.

In researching Judge Moore’s accusations, I found that discrepancies and motives are easily uncovered. However, because the liberal, national media did not like Judge Moore from the start, they feel justified in dwelling on the accusations rather than real investigative reporting.

They have even ignored the legal freedom that makes our country great, the basic right of innocent until proven guilty. Some of the news channels have picked up on discrepancies, but seem to glance over them dwelling instead on he said, she said. This is why there is the frustration with the liberal media bias.

Going door to door I have witnessed first hand this bias against God and Judge Roy Moore, and am not surprised by the false paradigm that obscures a love for truth, and real tolerance that allows differing opinions.

Sincerely,

Zach Wahl

Athens

Moore not qualified

Dear Editor:

One of the two main candidates for the open Alabama Senate seat disqualified himself for the job years ago.

There is no place for sexual predators in the U.S. Senate, especially not from the great state of Alabama. The state of Hellen Keller and Rosa Parks deserves better. The state of Harper Lee and Lilly Ledbetter deserves better. The state of Condoleezza Rice and my daughter and your daughter deserves better. All of Alabama’s daughters deserve better.

To quote Harper Lee, “before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

Let us vote our conscience and say no to a sexual predator. Let us tell our daughters this behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. We are Alabama and we do not tolerate this behavior.

Sincerely,

Quinn Leonard

Athens