So the second-in-command during (U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd) Austin’s “still-happening hospitalization” was on vacation in Puerto Rico, the news says, so we have defense one and two both defending remotely and how?

With nuclear (war) possibilities, these top-security USA  government defense officials would then rise up — as in press the hospital bed to lift them up- — or press the side lever of a possibly new beach recliner to address warfare???? Are you serious???

How is this not the most historic f--k up of our country?

So, still, we have number one in an unknown hospital bed, as the world already is in wars ... as are we funding many other wars.

And they (America’s enemies) are reading all about this — so I hypothesize... What could possibly go wrong????

This — once again — is the worst government administration I have known in my lifetime!!

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter to the editor by Jim Fulton was preceded by these questions and comments: “Do you have an influence on tonight’s decision? What are your thoughts on the absence of any merit-based salary increases? I don’t think a case has been made in favor of the rapid salary increases this person has received.” 

Buncombe commissioners need to provide more transparency 

In reviewing the agenda for the Jan. 2 Buncombe County (Board of ) Commissioners meeting, I was dismayed by the lack of detailed justification for the proposed salary increase for the (Buncombe) Board of Elections director.

The item listed, “Consideration of Board of Elections Director Compensation,” lacked performance-based evidence to support the increase.

Sharon Burke, the county’s HR director, notes the salary was benchmarked against similarly situated counties.

However, there are trouble discrepancies between reported salaries. According to the county, the 2022 salary was $101,810, increasing to $109,222 in 2023. 

Meanwhile, the Board of Elections records a 2022 salary of $95,400, increasing to $99,969 in 2023. Such variance in figures raises serious questions about the transparency and methodology of these financial decisions.

Without a performance-based pay structure, how can we ensure that our public resources are being managed effectively and fairly? 

The absence of performance metrics and clear, consistent financial reporting sets a concerning precedent. We must advocate for a system that is transparent, accountable and rewards actual merit.

I urge the county commissioners to provide a detailed explanation for these discrepancies and reconsider the proposal, based on a more rigorous and transparent set of criteria.

It’s crucial for the public to become more vigilant  and informed about these decisions affecting our community.

Reconciliation Memorial’s removal termed outrageous; Warren urged to â€˜come clean’

Since the Reconciliation Memorial cenotaph in Arlington National Cemetery has been torn down (removed on Dec. 20), we of the South have no obligation to President (William) McKinley to silence our voices about the War for Southern Independence.

And  we might as well start with that lying (U.S. Senator) Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proclaiming that somehow she is righting the wrong done to black veterans and the blacks of the South by removing the names of military bases after Southern white Confederates. 

Another tactic like (Abraham) Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation as he told to General (Daniel) Ulman, who was just released from a Confederate prison of war camp.... “It is just a war document meant to ‘suade Europe from doing business with the Southern Confederacy, and to incite the n-----s into rebellion.” 

Black folks fought for years in your segregated, white supremacist, bigoted armed forces with the same patriotic zeal alongside the Southern white man, and the Northern white and black man with no attention paid to the names of Southern heroes posted on their bases. Only when they heard the names called; a sense of pride was enveloped in their being. 

Elizabeth had the nerve and audacity to stand on the Senate Chamber floor — where the Honorable President Jefferson Davis gave his farewell speech to a packed house, with men and women on both sides of the aisle crying and weeping like babies because of his departure — as she (Warren) continued to try and separate Southern blacks from their Southern white family. 

Elizabeth, if you truly want this nation to come clean, then you would recommend to the Senate and Congress to take the purse strings and do like what was done for the Yankees and pay the Southerners for the losses of their property,and that includes not only what you burned, looted and stole, but also for the slaves, who you offered as property under the protection of the Constitution, which you supposedly set free.

And we, the Southern blacks, will take our chances that the Southern white man will do right by us. And this includes the property — seized from Anthony Johnson of Virginia — being returned to his black family.

Elizabeth, recommend to the Senate and Congress to put it all back.....our cenotaphs, the names of our heroes and heroines, our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, and adherence to the rule of law of our National Constitution and compact forged by our Founding Fathers.

And Elizabeth... you’ve got enough dirt to dig up with your Northern contingency in Arlington and beyond, starting with your colored signage, segregated burials, back-pay due your first black officers... And Mr. Lincoln is next in Part 2 of this report, in his “root-hog-or-die” policy.

God bless you!

It isn’t right that American voters must choose between Joe Biden, who is mentally retarded, and Donald Trump, whose most intellectual advice to men was — “you gotta grab them by their (expletive deleted)!”

The most-qualified person for the job of president is JoJo Siwa, the 20-year-old pop star and social media influencer and philanthropist and humanitarian and social justice warrior whose intelligence exceeds that of America’s most-intelligent presidents — Kennedy, Clinton and Obama — and whose wisdom and good judgment and good sense put her in a class of her own.

This country should remove the requirement that a person must be 35 or older to run for president and to be president and should draft JoJo Siwa for president and should elect JoJo Siwa president in the next presidential election, if she will accept the job!

This country is coming to resemble the futuristic dystopia long foreseen by science-fiction writers and by futurists and by Hollywood screenwriters and by movie directors.

If Americans had any sense at all, they would put JoJo Siwa in the White House because she is the BEST and BRIGHTEST American!

It’s the only chance 21st Century, postmodern America has at temporarily avoiding shaping into the futuristic dystopia foreseen by those with the ability to see decades into the future.

JoJo Siwa cannot help America avoid a Frankensteinian transhumanist future of brave new science and technology, where man and machine will merge, and where artificial intelligence will enslave or destroy us.

However, JoJo Siwa can do a better job than anyone else in problem-solving America’s social problems — and problems of the heart!

P.S.  — I love giving you the truth. What you do with it will give it meaning.