Dottie Foote and Herb Gullatt from Mount Airy NC are Great Americans!

Check this letter, in response to the one below. Folks, this election is creating change.

The letter that appeared in the Mt. Airy News, to the Editor on 10/14/08, from Mr. Garland Smith took me by surprise. I did not think the newspaper would print anything so openly full of spite and prejudice. What a disappointment.

But I would like to reassure Mr. Smith that with Barack Obama, he has nothing to worry about.What we all must be cautious about are the following: ignorance, smear tactics, half truths, lies, racism and irrational fear. Let’s be respectful of everyone’s freedom to vote their conscience. There’s no need to call people dumb or brain washed if they don’t agree with your choice. Mud slinging like that doesn’t do your candidate any good.

Enough already! A little mutual respect will go a long way. Maybe then we can get all the way to election day behaving like thoughtful adults.

Thank you,

Dotty Foote, Mount Airy

And this from Herbert Gullatt:

To the Editor,

No where in my letter (published in The Mount Airy News Oct. 15) did I object to The Mount Airy News right to publish Mr. Smith’s letter nor did I object to Mr. Smith’s right to say what he did.“Free speech exercised both individually and through a free press is a necessity in any country where free people are themselves free.” Theodore Roosevelt 1918

Those who call for the murder of a sitting President or the murder of candidates for that office should not be surprised when the Secret Service knocks on their door as the Secret Service does not take this lightly. If Mr. Smith meant this when he wrote “at all costs” then that is Mr. Smith’s problem.Just as shouting “FIRE” in a crowded theater is not protected speech neither is calling for the assassination of the President or a candidate for that office just ask the Secret Service as they have hauled people to court who made passing threats in a bar.

The McCain/Palin campaign is appealing to the worst elements in our society when they permit people at the rallies to call for the murder of a candidate as neither McCain or Palin have given any objection to this.When you sow the whirlwind you should be prepared to reap the fury that at times comes with it. And that fury will come both from the extremists on the right and the left if and when they get their wish.They know they can not win on the issues so they sling mud. The McCain/Palin campaign themselves have said this and that the only chance they have of winning is to sully Obama character.

Herbert Clayton Gullatt
Senior Chief, U.S. Navy Retired