What an immoral defense of ads attacking Roy Cooper | Opinion
Regarding “Whatley supporters tie SC homicide to Cooper in misleading NC Senate ad“:
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I guess Chris Gustafson, the communications director for The Senate Leadership Fund, can pretty much justify anything given his ability to defend this blatantly fictitious ad campaign. Regardless of which side of the political aisle you’re on, it’s sad that we’ve sunk this low. I guess using the phrase “Look, at the end of the day…..” will allow you to pretty much do or say anything these days. Morality be damned.
Brad Bradshaw, Raleigh
Andrew Dunn postulates “socialism is growing in North Carolina” and infers this may influence Democratic candidates. His evidence fails to support his claims. Activists at a meeting where there is a unanimous vote for a data-center moratorium — a position popular with Republicans and Democrats — shows participation, not influence. And 29% telling Elon pollsters “democratic socialist” describes them “somewhat well” measures comfort with a label, not commitment to a program; plenty of libertarians vote reliably for Social Security and Medicare.
Dunn is right about one thing: organized minorities can have a disproportionate affect in elections like the right-wing Tea Party influence in the 2010 elections. That influence threatens programs Americans love and has curtailed individual rights so that many feel physically, financially, constitutionally, and emotionally violated.
This shouldn’t be an alarm about socialists in a political party. It should be a wake-up call. More citizens need to pay attention to their governments and vote.
Jim Saranteas, Raleigh
From the party that gave us the Willie Horton saga in days of yesteryear, we have yet another alarmist “the sky is falling” story. To deflect attention from their failings, the new bogeyman is now the not-well-understood concept of “democratic socialism,” which is ridiculously equated with Russian, Chinese or East German communism.
While democratic socialism comes in more than one form, most have democratic processes such as free and fair elections along with private ownership of small and large businesses. The tax burden is shared more equitably than it is now, a basic social safety net exists, the availability of health care is broad, more public support is provided for education, and a more level playing field for workers and their labor unions exists.
As opposed to autocracy, some form of social democracy tailored to America seems far more preferable to me, perhaps along the lines of what some Scandinavian countries do, i.e. all of us taking care of each of us. I’m not sure, but didn’t Jesus say something along these lines?
Jim Witek, Apex
The 2026-2027 state budget provided teachers an average raise of 8 percent but still falls short.
The raises do not provide adequate pay. After adjusting for inflation, beginning teachers still earn less than they did a decade ago. Teachers with 15 to 24 years of experience remain stuck with a salary plateau, and average teacher pay in North Carolina remains below the national average.
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The state is leaving local governments to cover much of the largest raises. The largest raises — 10 to 17 percent — went to less-experienced teachers, whose positions are often locally funded. Because the state passed its budget after counties had, many planned for a typical 3 percent teacher pay raise and now must cover the difference, which could be upwards of $13 million.
The state could fund adequate teacher salaries without shifting costs onto counties, but continuing tax cuts mostly benefiting corporations and the wealthiest erode that capacity.
Jennifer Nguyen, Durham
I worked as a caseworker for Military Affairs for three fine U.S. senators and just cannot believe the callous treatment of the 19-year-old sailor who jumped overboard in despair from the U.S.S. Lincoln. The military now claims he went AWOL. He is facing disciplinary charges for malingering and being absent without permission. He and others onboard were experiencing mental health crises stemming from a record 250-plus days at sea with sparse provisioning and plumbing problems.
These are charges that could dock the young man’s pay by half and signal to others that their suffering won’t be treated with compassion.
Jean Joyner, Raleigh
Your front page article Aug. 31 reported that the Trump government has found Duke Law School guilty of favoring the wrong kind of diversity in its admissions policy — by failing to favor students with the highest LSAT scores.
What if Duke Law wanted to graduate some students who, along with qualifying grades, took time to tutor a neighborhood child or care for a dying relative or volunteered at a soup kitchen or as a big brother/sister? Isn’t it ok for Duke, or any law school, to want to graduate citizens who seek to do more than make money or defend corporations or run for political office?
Duke Law should be able to attract good students, at least some good students, who also have a strong social conscience. A qualified applicant who survived an abusive step-father might just make a terrific attorney some day.
Rabbi Jonathan Gerard, Durham
This story was originally published September 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline “What an immoral defense of ads attacking Roy Cooper | Opinion.”
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