Sound Off

Sound Off: April 8, 2026

By Sun Herald

April 8, 2026 3:00 AM

In this handout image provided by NASA, Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, during the Artemis II crew's flyby of the moon. — IN SPACE - APRIL 06: (EDITOR'S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images' editorial policy.) In this handout image provided by NASA, Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew's flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth's day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater's formation. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images) NASA NASA via Getty Images

Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics.

Space exploration

What an incredible moment for humanity. We’re back to exploring space and pushing boundaries, it’s amazing to see.

Artemis

This mission has been to me at least a taste of hope that has been sorely missing for what feels like an eternity.

What we can do

Artemis shows the amazing things humans can accomplish when we work together. What an incredible achievement.

Milestone

What an incredible milestone for Artemis II and the future of human spaceflight. Every mile closer to the moon is a step closer to humanity’s next era of exploration.

Our legacy

NASA is sending people on an exploration around the moon with a hopeful return soon. Our president is profanely vowing to blast another country back to the Stone Age, in what could be considered a war crime. What a contrast in the potential our country can leave behind as a legacy.

Iran

I believe that Iran is a danger to the world. I am also, sadly, beginning to believe the United States might be one, as well.

America First

I’m feeling pretty good. We finally have a president who doesn’t take any guff. He speaks his mind in plain language. When he wants you to know he is done trying to get your attention, he resorts to language I personally don’t use in front of women and children. But I do use it to those who need to be assured I’m serious. As for NATO, they have been a bunch of useless slugs for far too long. We can’t afford to pay the bills any longer. They need to step up or we step out.

NATO

At the risk of sounding dumb, is NATO serving an actual purpose?

Fiscal time bomb

America is sleepwalking toward a financial abyss. Our unfunded liabilities, Social Security, Medicare, and other promised benefits are projected at $250 trillion to $289 trillion. If policymakers attempt to paper over these obligations with more quantitative easing, the result will not be temporary relief! It will be economic ruin, eroding savings, crushing the dollar, and bankrupting generations. Immediate reform and responsible fiscal action aren’t optional, they are existential. The alarm is real. The time to act is now. Our legislators and government are failing us!

Welcome back

There are few things better than the first home game of the baseball season. Welcome back, Shuckers. I missed you.

WWIII

Y’all told me that if I voted for Kamala Harris, we’d end up in World War III. It’s beginning to look like y’all were right.

What I’m feeling

Do I like everything President Trump says or does? No. But this sums up my feelings pretty well: Rep. Jodey Arrington said this on FOX Business: “Thank God we have a commander in chief that is not full of empty rhetoric, because we’ve delayed this inevitability for 50 years. President Trump is a man with a bias for action.”

Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com.