Letters to the editor, Jan. 16
New Democratic Coalition encourages precinct chair candidates
Want to improve local politics? Become a precinct chair. Democratic voters elect precinct chairs to the Delaware County Democratic Party in the May primary. The only way to have an active and accountable Democratic Party is to elect new precinct chairs, as they decide who leads the party and which candidates the party supports for local, statewide, and federal offices.
The New Democratic Coalition encourages people to run who are committed to reforming and reenergizing the party. Delaware County comprises 78 precincts. Find yours here: bit.ly/precinctmap21. For more information, attend an information session on Jan. 13 or 19 (bit.ly/NDCInfoJan) or contact ndcdelco@gmail.com. Filing ends Feb. 5.
Elected every four years (Republicans elect them in 2024), precinct chairs are the backbone of both parties. They elect party leadership, assist candidates, and select people to fill office vacancies. If a Democratic city councilperson steps down, for instance, precinct chairs from that district select the replacement.
Related: Anitra Davis resigns from Muncie City Council for new job
Unfortunately, these positions are often not filled democratically. If no one runs in a precinct, the county chair may appoint someone, who need not live in the precinct. In 2018, only 27 of the 78 precinct races were contested. This all but ensures party leadership remains the same.
Our county Democratic Party has been on a five-year losing streak. Its reputation has been marred by corruption. If you are a Democrat but have been discouraged from participating in local politics for these reasons, now is the time to get involved.
Sarah Vitale, New Democratic Coalition
Muncie
Trump probably right about 'stolen election'
Donald Trump insists that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and he is very probably right. The corrupt and partisan media insist just as firmly that it was not stolen, only because their preferred candidate, Joe Biden, was declared the winner. No one can say how many valid votes were actually cast for either candidate.
The Democrat-loving media, who have shown virtually no interest in investigating Republican allegations of election fraud, just assume that their boy won fair and square. For years, though, they tried to convince us that Trump colluded with Russians and thereby stole the 2016 election, unwilling to admit to having colluded with the Clinton campaign in perpetrating a hoax designed to delegitimize Trump's presidency.
The Democratic Party has a long history of fraudulent election practices. Believing that no crisis should go to waste, Democrats used the pandemic as an excuse to make sweeping changes in election procedures, changes that increase rather than decrease the potential for fraud and therefore work to their candidates' advantage. It should be easy to vote, but it should not be easy to cheat.
Considering that Biden spent most of the 2020 presidential race secluded in his basement, it is beyond comprehension how he could have legitimately beaten an opponent whose policies had created one of the most robust economies in American history. Many voted for Biden because the Democrats and the media encouraged people to hate Trump. Unsurprisingly, 16 million Biden voters say they now regret their vote.
Kevin Wingate
Muncie
Dumbing down of America is real today
Carl Sagan, in 1996, wrote about the dumbing down of America and every word is as true and real as it gets in today's America. I think about the QAnon movement and not sure that I could believe that stuff back in fifth grade but thousands today take it as fact. Or the woke crowd who I can’t get aboard with those thought processes.
I was involved with county elections for several years and will attest any widespread fraud is not possible, you have an occasional nutball or dead person vote but widespread is simply not possible. Today, you have Republicans manipulating the process state by state and folks should be terrified of the possibilities for elections to be manipulated in the future. I considered the fall of Rome and the loss of political control and can see the mighty U.S. heading down the same path.
The greed and distortion of Capitalism and Democracy has been stamped and approved by the Supreme Court and it appears our best days are behind us. It blows my mind daily that we have become an Idiocracy where lies and ridiculous claims are the norm and reason and logic is absurd and weird.
As I write this with our planet warming, methane is being released globally and most think it is a joke and prefer consumption and a big ole SUV, IPhone and a night watching Tik Tok. As someone said, eat, drink and be merry — as Rome burns.
Rich Stahl
Muncie
Smart people have lost the ability to process opinions
My wife and I were relaxing after a nice day and she inadvertently turned on Fox News and Tucker Carlson. When it appeared on our TV, we paused and then decided to watch for a few minutes. Now I understand. If a person chooses to be brainwashed by the lies that come from the mouth of this type of entertainer, and then professes to know the truth as a result, our democracy is doomed.
A truthful and independent news source is a requirements of our system. Without it, our nation will degrade to a something similar to China or Russia. When the citizens become totally uninformed, (or worse yet misinformed) they will make the wrong choices for all the right reasons. Here we are. We have arrived.
Please don't think I have singled out the extreme right. I have similar feelings about the left media. My issue is that smart people have lost the ability to process opinions and commentary and arrive at facts. We can do better. Please try.
Rick Deneau
Upland
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This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie letters to the editor, Jan. 16
