Ken Burns’ Holocaust documentary gave me chills with its parallels to today

Startling parallels

Watching Ken Burns’ PBS documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust” while witnessing the modern day antics of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis literally gave me chills. We’ve all heard the aphorism that history repeats itself, yet seeing parallels between the 1930s and the 2020s when it comes to manipulations and power-mongering was gut-wrenching. Russian assaults on Ukraine, plastered in lies. The undeniable self absorption and tenacity of Trumpism. Hitler’s — and Putin’s — wanton disregard for human life. Our inexplicable tendency toward self-destruction over comity. I wish that everyone, regardless of politics, religion and ethnicity, would watch this series and ponder its lessons.

Dr. Ted Tsomides, Raleigh

Biden must act

The war in Ukraine is at a crucial point, with horrifying dangers for everyone on the planet. Maybe Putin is just bluffing about using nuclear weapons, but the dangers are real. Now is the time for serious peace negotiations.

Clearly, the U.S. is a central party in this conflict. If Biden wants to go down in history as the leader who averted nuclear war, he must seize this moment and call an urgent peace summit. The window of opportunity is closing. I hope he will rise to the occasion.

Christine Mayfield, Pittsboro

Ted Budd

When first offered a chance to say whether he’d accept the 2022 election results, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd declined to respond. After public pressure he implied he would, but never directly said so. Budd’s response should disqualify him as a U.S. Senate candidate.

If the N.C. Republican Party and the majority of Republican voters in this state were committed to upholding the principle of government by the people, Budd wouldn’t even be on the ticket.

This is an altogether sad situation that underlines the danger democracy faces in our country. Budd is too dangerous to be entrusted with a powerful office.

Bill Grothmann, Raleigh

NC court’s role

Regarding “Supreme Court elections case is not a ‘threat to democracy’” (Sept. 20 Opinion):

Contributing columnist Pat Ryan questions if the N.C. Supreme Court should be allowed to rewrite legislation passed by supermajorities. The court’s role is to assess the constitutionality of legislation, not its popularity. This is why we have and need the courts.

Allan Thunes, Apex

Wake GOP gala

The moral and patriotic bankruptcy of the Wake County GOP was on prime display with its invitation to Marjorie Taylor Greene to headline its Sept. 23 fundraiser.

She denies the result of the 2020 presidential election, promotes the asinine conspiracy theories of QAnon, accuses Democrats of running child sex rings, equated COVID measures to the Holocaust, and she’s also a fan of Vladimir Putin.

The Wake GOP has a lot of explaining to do.

Peter Aitken, Chapel Hill

The No. 1 priority

Polls show that climate change fails to rise to the top of most voter’s priorities. While it is understandable that the economy, jobs and social justice top the list for most people, it illustrates that we don’t fully realize how important climate is to every other priority on the list. Quite simply, it is the most important issue. Without a healthy, stable climate we won’t have a great economy, jobs, or social justice.

A quick look at 2022 shows the prevalence of drought, forest fires, floods and heat waves and how they ruin people’s lives. They stress our economy by reducing food production, causing power outages, and destroying homes and businesses. If we don’t have a healthy climate everyone suffers, either directly or indirectly. Climate must be our No. 1 priority.

Jack Unruh, Raleigh

Bring back CTC

It is so good to see that reinstating the child tax credit is back in the public dialogue after new data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed a 46% decline in child poverty. 46%! In 2021, monthly payments to eligible families kept 5.3 million people, including 2 million children, above the poverty line.

In a Sept. 13 statement, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, Michael Bennet, Sherrod Brown and Reps. Rosa DeLauro, Suzan DelBene and Ritchie Torres said: “We should have never allowed this critical program to lapse, and we should not extend corporate tax breaks at the end of this year without also extending the expanded Child Tax Credit.”

I completely agree.

Patti Maxwell, Cary

Gen Z voters

Regarding “Reasons why young people are more energized to vote than ever,” (Sept. 12 Opinion):

I’m an old man now. My generation promised peace, love, equality and ecology but delivered perpetual war, division, racism, ecological catastrophe, and Donald Trump. I would say to op-ed writer Victor Shi and Generation Z, take extra care not to abandon your ideals as you mature.

I was still a child in the ‘60s. We thought we’d be living like the Jetsons by now with colonies on Mars. Such was the future that we “boomers” anticipated, but this godforsaken nightmare is the future we made instead.

You who would pull humanity from the brink of self-extermination must never give up.

Jonathan C. Halperen, Raleigh