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Analyzing the results

Dear Editor,

Election results set a record for the Pickens County Republican Party, with the largest percentage Republican turnout of any county at 76.2 percent. That’s a record I predict will stand indefinitely. We are one of only 17 counties voting greater that 50 percent Republican, and one of only six exceeding 60 percent.

In races all across the county, including the presidential race, we chose a new direction. For too many years, we’ve heard a lot of talk but little conservative action from our representatives. Whether it’s enormous school debt incurred over the last decade, misplaced priorities in education spending, lack of economic development or crumbling roads, voters are weary of political promises. There’s been too much talk and too little progress on smaller, more efficient government, which is the cornerstone of the Republican Party. I’m thankful for such a resounding call for less talk and more action on limiting government.

In the presidential race, Donald Trump received 73.8 percent, while Hillary Clinton received 21.1 percent, a solid rejection of the Obama years. I’m very happy to be associated with a county party so knowledgeable of why Mrs. Clinton’s continuation of the Obama agenda deserved defeat.

Statewide results are less encouraging than ours and may explain the lack of progress on a conservative agenda in Columbia. With a 67.8 percent voter turnout statewide, Mr. Trump received 54.9 percent of the vote, while Mrs. Clinton received 40.6 percent. That’s not as resounding as I’d like in a self-described “deep red” Republican state. Conservatives made progress this election cycle, but we have work to do.

Phillip Bowers

Chairman, Pickens County Republican Party

Trustee, Pickens County School District

Clinton backer now Trump supporter

Dear Editor,

I voted for Hillary Clinton, and now support president-elect Donald Trump. Why? Because I love my country.

Trump said reprehensible things on the campaign trial. So reprehensible that he developed a following by hate groups like the KKK, White Nationalists and the American Nazi Party. But president-elect Trump won, and he will be my president. He is already understanding the heavy burden of the presidency. You saw it in his gracious acceptance speech and his subdued actions over the last week. I view this as positive. I pray it continues and will pray every day that he keeps my family safe as America faces unimaginable global challenges.

I voted for President Obama during the last election after voting Republican in 11 straight elections. Why? The unadulterated hate emanating from the Conservative Right during Obama’s first term. The onslaught continues today as vile, despicable insults are hurled at President Obama and his family. Not just by the electorate, but by many duly elected Republican officials. What has been President Obama’s response? He held his head high as he brought respect to the Oval Office while attempting to fix the many systemic problems in our country. Much of the vitriol has to do with his race by people who say, “I’m not racist.” Right. Got it.

Pray this does not happen to president-elect Trump. I am not so sure he will handle it as well. All men have a breaking point. Some sooner than others. President Johnson’s “Waterloo” was the response to his actions regarding Vietnam. The White House became his prison, as he was hectored day and night outside his windows by protestors screaming and displaying body bags. Emotionally drained, he declined a second term.

What about the Trump protests now happening in cities across the country? If you think this is even close to what President Obama has been subjected to, you lack objectivity. So call me a Trump supporter. You should be, too. The future of many generations to come rests on his shoulders. He needs every bit of this support to maintain his stamina as he tackles the most complicated job in the world.

Chris Rouen

Seneca

Time to take responsibility

Dear Editor,

Hardly a morning goes by that there’s not the report of a shooting or stabbing. Human life seems to mean nothing anymore. When the life of an unborn child is considered of no worth and can be taken, what do we expect? We live in troubled times. Many think it all started in the ‘60s, however America began to fall apart during WWII. While the fathers went overseas to fight in the war, the mothers went to work in what were called victory factories. This left the children to themselves, and they were raised by the streets without any adult supervision.

After WWII, America steadily slid down the primrose path toward Hell. These children left to fend for themselves during the war years became know as juvenile delinquents. The most important part of a structure, no matter how small or great, is the foundation. The home is the foundation of any nation. The Chinese have a saying, “When there is harmony in the home, there is peace in the nation.”

Children only know of the world whatever they grow up around. They think all of life is the same. They don’t understand not all people are alike and that they are good ones, too. Proper raising is very important to not only the children, but to the nation as well.

We are not animals, yet we could learn a lesson from them. Animals don’t abandon their young, lay around expecting to be fed, get drunk, high or go to war against other animals. They, as my late Father once said, “do what God created them to do — only mankind rebelled.”

This is very true. Children are now killing children, and times keep getting worse.

Two books that show what happens when adult supervision is absent in children’s lives are “The Blackboard Jungle” and “Lord of the Flies.”

In both, when the children are left to themselves with no adult supervision they turn into savages. Until we have people who take responsibility for home and family, we needn’t exspect anything to change for the better, ever.

Eddie Boggs

Westminster