A Response to Re: "Broken Promises"

 Published in the Towns County Herald and North Georgia News June 17, 2026

Dear Editor,

A writer last week challenged part of an earlier letter to the editor (“Broken Promises,” May 27, 2026) that stated Trump broke his promise not to start wars (“Re: Broken Promises,” June 10, 2026).  Of course, Trump has used the qualifier “Forever Wars” in his more recent speeches as the writer claims, but he also made the same promise without the qualifier when running for office as he did in June 2024 when he proclaimed his election was a choice between “war or no war.”  

In July 2024 at the Republican National Convention he said, “With our victory in November, the years of war, weakness, and chaos will be over.  I don’t have wars.”

In August 2024 at a rally in Pennsylvania he promised, “Under Trump, we will have no more wars, no more disruptions, and we will have prosperity and peace for all.”

In his victory speech in November 2024, after a win predicated on those earlier promises, he included this statement: “I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars.”

Trump has a habit of dodging accountability by adding modifiers to earlier unambiguous promises so they seem to fit with his current and contrary actions when he breaks those promises.  The writer picks up on his later statement about “forever wars” while ignoring the times he did promise no wars under his presidency.

Of course, the other problem with the argument presented by the writer is that it is an example of cherry picking one aspect of the earlier letter to undermine the entire point being made, which is that Trump has broken other promises.  Trump’s promise to lower prices mentioned in the earlier letter is obviously broken given inflation is running at 4 percent and the letter writer does not defend Trump on this point.

This other broken promise also finds echoes in the promises above.  Under his presidency we have had nothing but chaos and weakness (Iran has us by the Hormuz).  We see nothing but disruptions and a loss of prosperity in his handling of the economy.  And, if the stories are true about the most recent peace agreement he is making with Iran, he will pay Iran for that peace and earn nothing but a vague promise to deal with whatever nuclear threat the Iranians pose in future negotiations – the very thing the writer accuses Democrats of doing.

Finally, as far as Trump confronting the threat of a nuclear Iran, I remember in his own words he “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear program in June 2025.  Apparently that was one more lie he had to modify to fit his current and contrary actions.

David Plunkett
Young Harris

Towns Democrats to hear about "Roadless Rule" proposed repeal

MountainTrue's Callie Moore will focus on the proposed cancellation of the "Roadless Rule" when Towns County Democrats meet Thursday, June 11, for their monthly meeting at the Towns County Senior Center, 954 North Main Street in Hiawassee.

The meeting will begin with the Democrats' biennial caucus at 5:30 p.m. to elect six members to the 12-member Towns County Democratic Committee. Anyone who is registered to vote and identifies as a Democrat is invited to participate as a candidate or voter in the caucus if they meet the residency, registration, and affirmation requirements of the state party bylaws.

Ms. Moore's program will begin at 6 p.m.

Callie Moore

A U.S. Forest Service proposal would remove protections from Inventoried Roadless Areas nationwide, opening these lands to road building, commercial logging, mining, and other development. In north Georgia, Inventoried Roadless Areas are located exclusively within the Chatttahoochee-Oconee National Forest, totaling up to approximately 64,800 acres of ecologically sensitive ecosystems, iconic hiking routes, and native trout habitats. Tray Mountain Roadless Area is the largest contiguous tract that would be affected, spanning roughly 36,300 acres in Towns, Rabun, Habersham, and White counties.

In western North Carolina, affected areas include South Mills River, the Black Mountains, and Tusquitee Bald. That includes more than 150,000 acres in Pisgah and Nantahala national forests alone. 

The Forest Service adopted the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in 2001 to protect nearly 59 million acres nationwide of national forest lands from road building, logging, and industrial development. The rule safeguards clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and back-country recreation opportunities.

In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to cancel the Rule. If finalized, the rollback would affect nearly one-third of all national forest lands in the United States. This potential repeal threatens up to 88% of Georgia's roadless areas, which could open them up to new road construction, commercial logging, mining, and other developments.

Ms. Moore served as director of the Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition for 17 years until the organization merged in 2019 with MountainTrue, where she is southwestern regional director.  She has a master's degree in water resources from Indiana University and is a graduate of West Carolina University's Environmental Health Program.

Ms. Moore previously worked with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources as a river basin planner for the Division of Water Quality, during which time she worked extensively in several regional river basins, including Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, and Savannah. Other prior work experience includes water quality monitoring, sediment/erosion control compliance inspections, and environmental education for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Valley Authority.