[Regarding “TDA Discusses Concerns Over the Decline in Tourism,” Sept. 6, Xpress:]
Liberals said of the homeless, “Let them be. They’re not hurting anything!” So, the cops backed off. Asheville has wide-open arms for the homeless. Now they camp where they want to, crash in your yard and refuse to move on until you show them a shotgun barrel. Now tourists are being accosted (in the wee hours) and robbed. Doesn’t take this retired truck driver an eye blink to figure out the decline in tourism.
Close the floodgates! The panhandlers require a placard permit. If that is not prominently displayed, the police can ask for it and ID these people. Not far enough from the roadway? In the median? Same deal! The thought of being identified will send most of the homeless packing.
Not enough police? Deputize me and other citizens who can stand up to the background checks! I’ll do it with my own vehicle. I would rather do that than pay the taxes that are crushing me for two homeless hotels and all of the other handouts!
—Bob Rupert
Asheville
Hey Robert.
1st off, congrats on your sobriety. Keep it up!
2nd, your term “floodgates” sounds suspiciously like the dehumanizing dog whistle “open borders”. Like the latter, the former does not exist outside the crazed minds of fox news viewers who rabble on and on about “do the research” while doing no such research of their own.
3rd, according to voting records, you live at least 30 minutes from Asheville, so how would you know what happens downtown? Most folks in your area tend to stay in that area due to familial reasons and/or habit. Doubt very much you bother going into Asheville proper.
4th, how gross to threaten folks with weapons, then hilariously pretend you would make a good deputy. Your bias is apparent, as is your inability to have compassion. As a devout church-goer you would think the teachings of Christ would rule your choices. Sadly, you would rather demonize the poor and blame them for your problems when it’s you that has the problem.
5th, and finally, taxes are not crushing you. Your taxes pay for police, fire, roads, sidewalks, etc before they ever get handed over to any help for the houseless population – which, if you ever bothered to check, has actually gone down. You just want an “other” to hate on because you are bitter.
Hope you look into your heart and faith a bit deeper.
Cheers
Bob may or may not be an actual Asheville resident; but expecting his first name is Robert he is at least not anonymous.
One concept: Scapegoating the unhoused who are often disabled.
Next, the words “liberals” and American Liberal Democracy coordinate. But American Liberal Democracy can get hijacked and the ‘floodgates’ of stuff like Reaganomics and the Trump Administration flow downhill on the rest of us.
The US housing insecurity population is 25 percent of us. Probably Ultra Conservative people end up homeless at times and on the way down end up trying everything to prevent that.
Panhandling isn’t a life and death issue in Asheville like Illegally Manufactured Fentanyl. Just screaming at each other as city hall politicizes their public safety prioritizations isn’t getting more of us the unity and future we require on these tough issues.
I wonder if this guy is a Veteran since many of Asheville’s homeless are Veterans. How about a special panhandling exemption for Vets and an ID that confirms it. This guy probably never served so if he did I apologize and who knows there are a lot of Nazis in NC these days and maybe he is one of them ?
why do progressive leftist democrats use the nazi or racist or others so quickly? And I am a veteran by the way, what about you ?
Vietnam Era USN 1972-76 and you advocated using gun violence on the homeless and said you were going to enforce the law yourself !! By the way Nazis and Militias all over the country are doing what you said in your letter.
Don’t believe I ever said or advocated using violence. Wasn’t my letter, just a reply which I only asked a question. About you idiot progressive leftist democrats screaming racist, nazi, whatever like those terms have any meaning anymore. Read my response again. I’ll accept your apology in advance
I just emailed a link to this letter over to Mayor Manheimer asking her to refer this letter writer to the APD for investigation because he comes very close to advocating Vigilante shotgun violence against the homeless
I’d rather deputize the homeless to drive Bob out of town.