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in Asheville, Buncombe County and North Carolina to do the same. It is our firm commitment to reach a goal of 100 new or re-registered voters before the municipal elections in November. We hope that by example, we can encourage increased participation in the election process and fulfill the charge that our mayor, Terry Bellamy, made on Aug. 6 to ... "practice voting.” Anyone who wishes to see how the Downtown Market helps with this most essential work and potentially institute a similar mechanism elsewhere in Asheville or beyond may stop by any time. — Lance Hardcastle Asheville
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You decide I mostly read the Asheville papers for news about food and new restaurants. But I keep seeing articles about the breakdown of society in Egypt, and about the breakdown of democracy in Raleigh. In both cases, a suppressed minority came to power, and exercised that power by taking revenge
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on their political enemies. New laws were passed daily, with no input and no regard for the other 49 percent of voters, justified only by the idea that it is finally “our turn” to be unreasonable. That is a pretty poor excuse for democracy. The fallout from this approach has already begun in Egypt, but not (yet) in North Carolina. I would hope that the Republican Brotherhood is watching and learning from the news, but they seem to be doubling down on their suppression of alternative views. Nathan “Take No Prisoners” Ramsey, and Tim “Hand-Grenade with a Bad Shave” Moffitt are leading the charge in taxation and voting laws that would continue their government jobs on the backs of less wealthy N.C. taxpayers who will now bear a larger share of the taxes that support their “anti-government” agendas. Are they clueless or hypocritical? You decide. — Glen Reese Asheville