Letters To The Editor
IDAHO VIEWPOINTS
Coeur d’Alene study a total waste
When is the city of Coeur d’Alene going to quit throwing our money away on the downtown area?
This consultant that came here to analyze the downtown area and charged $45,000 for information we already knew was a waste of time and money. Spend that money on midtown, Northwest Boulevard or the lefthand turn lanes on Government Way.
Downtown is not the place for a library; it should be in the northern part of town, where the growth is.
McEuen Field belongs to the people, not the city. As long as I am a member of the people, I say leave it alone. The last time they tried to steal it, we should’ve started a war chest and hired a good lawyer to file a lawsuit.
I knew Mae McEuen, and she did more for Coeur d’Alene than anyone I knew. So leave it alone. Oscar S. Peterson Coeur d’Alene
Hassell badly underappreciated
Thank you, Mayor Al Hassell, for a job well done.
During your time as mayor, you achieved many things for Coeur d’Alene that will be felt and appreciated for many years to come.
Because you are not boastful, flamboyant or a self-gratification-seeking politician, many of these things went unnoticed by some and will take years to be fully implemented. Hopefully, when noticed, they will be credited to you and not the current powers that be.
I was once asked what one word I would use to best describe our mayor. The word “honesty” immediately came to mind. But there are so many others I could have said: intelligent, caring, soft-spoken, thoughtful, dedicated, considerate and respectful are some.
I am so sorry you will be leaving the mayor’s office. You gave dignity to the title of mayor of Coeur d’Alene and will be greatly missed. Donna L. Erickson Coeur d’Alene
Snowmobilers not against rules
On Nov. 3, the Spokesman-Review reported on the off-road vehicle meeting regarding potential licensing of ORVs and all-terrain vehicles.
For whatever reason, the reporter chose to cast snowmobiling in a bad light. The article made it appear that snowmobilers have a considerable conflict with the regulations. That’s not true. Most snowmobilers will not be affected by the changes and have been cooperating with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department to make trails safer. In fact, about 10 percent of the meeting actually pertained to snowmobiles.
Due to the increased number of snowmobilers, especially from out of state, it has become very difficult to accommodate various types of users in a safe number. Only through a cooperative effort with the Forest Service, sheriff’s department and Kootenai County can a program be developed that will improve the winter riding and provide necessary control of those who make it unsafe for the public.
Staff writer Ward Sanderson’s report of the tone of the meeting did not accurately reflect the snowmobilers’ input. Karen D. Kimball Dalton Gardens
Read on, Oliveria - past the pictures
I always enjoy D.F. Oliveria’s column; those Huckleberries are so often right on the mark. He plays an important role through his willingness to stir things up a bit. We need to be able to laugh at our blunders and admit our foibles.
Oliveria, I hope you’re able to admit when you’ve made a mistake. Perhaps you are even capable of running a Huckleberry about yourself: Local columnist does not read newspaper, runs stories based on looking at pictures only.
We have not lost the war on drugs in Pinehurst. Had you read the caption under the picture of 300 kids lined up, spelling out the word “yes,” you would have seen the message has indeed changed.
The message is to “say yes to a healthy life.” Had you read a little further, you would have discovered students were involved in many Red Ribbon Week activities. These included designing and painting banners with messages of “Stomp Out Drugs,” “Say No to Drugs and Yes to Sports” and “Walk Away from Drugs.”
No one argues the Shoshone News-Press is as large, or covers as much news, as The Spokesman-Review. However, it does cover local news and makes every effort to cover school events.
In this case, rather than refer to them as the Show-No-News-Press, it would be more accurate to say that you Read-No-News. Perhaps you did not realize they print news because you only look at the pictures? Kathy M. Nansel Kingston
President’s not after clean rivers
Regarding the Nov. 6 article about the president’s illegal American Heritage Rivers initiative and my bill to eliminate funding for it, I wanted to point out the program has absolutely nothing to do with cleaning up the rivers, as the headline implies.
The bottom line is that, in a time when the President of the United States is saying the age of big government is over, he’s creating another federal bureaucracy to control one of our most precious resources, our water.
The issue is not river cleanup. The issue is, as your reporter notes, federal control. U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth Boise
RAPE AND RESPONSIBILITY
‘Now the newest victimless crime’
I am writing in regard to the Nov. 7 editorial, “Act provocatively and you provoke,” by D.F. Oliveria.
The cultural myth perpetuated by Oliveria is that men - good, wonderful, innocent men - (read Adam) are quite simply sexually out of control through no fault of their own. Women - evil, horrible, sinful women - (read Eve) have the full measure of responsibility to avoid rape. This has been and will always be the position of the rapist.
One can only imagine the surprised delight of the rapists Friday morning to find editorial support for their view in The Spokesman-Review. Harmful as he was in the first half of his editorial, Oliveria was not finished. To make sure there was no mistaking his bias, he ended his column by concluding the subject of rape is not the victim.
Rape is now the newest victimless crime - like a parking ticket but just a little more personal. Norman L. Gissel Coeur d’Alene
So, temptation is a valid excuse
I hope your readers noted carefully that the entire editorial board agreed with editorial writer D.F. Oliveria’s Nov. 7 editorial on rape.
According to you, a woman can do something which entitles a man, or presumably any number of men, to rape her! And this man (or men) really doesn’t need to feel responsible for his sexually predatory behavior because, according to this article, “Sometimes, women lead men into temptation.”
The editorial board goes on to imply that women who drink too much can be raped without the man (men) worrying about it. Hey, Oliveria and editorial board, can men who drink too much be raped without any penalty to the rapist(s)?
If women who do “stupid” things can be raped, can men who do stupid things be raped? Maybe men who write and endorse stupid editorials can be raped? What do you think, editorial board, should stupidity be rewarded in such a way?
Stripping, partial or total, allows any man (or number of men) to rape. Therefore, all exotic dancers, who are earning their daily bread, deserve rape, and men can rape these employees without penalty because they were “provoked?”
Who are these “radical feminists” who you claim say that consensual sex can be rescinded the next day? I’ve yet to hear any woman from any group make such a claim. But then, you can print any damn thing you want in your editorial to make it sound more convincing. Susan K. Smith Coeur d’Alene
Rape is about power, not sex
Rape is not about being teased or led on. It is not the result of clothing choices or provocative behavior. Rape is assault. The victims are girls and women, boys and men, and the elderly. Rape is anger, power and violence. Rape is not sex. Lynn H. Everson Spokane
Victim partly responsible? Nonsense
Re: editorial writer D.F. Oliveria’s Nov. 7 editorial regarding the woman who was reportedly raped at North Idaho College.
Suppose a person is walking late at night in a city, in an area known to be the wrong part of town. As he passes an alleyway, a mugger attacks him, takes his money and leaves him for dead. Everyone can agree the man attacked did something stupid, but that in no way makes him wholly or partially responsible for what happened. There can be no argument here that he was not the victim.
The girl who was raped at NIC was in a similar situation. She allegedly did something stupid and ended up paying for it. Oliveria, however, seems to be saying she was in some way responsible for what happened to her and should not be treated as a victim. He stops short of saying she asked for it.
This is a stupid argument on Oliveria’s part. Are we to begin treating all crime victims as being partially responsible for the crimes committed against them if they at some point did something stupid to encourage the crime?
If our society ever reaches the point that we become callous, I think America will be a terrible place to live. Edmond J. Stowe Coeur d’Alene
Rape is purely violent aggression
Re: the Nov. 7 editorial debate of the question: “Should women ever share responsibility for rape?” The answer is a resounding no.
No one deserves to be raped, and both editorial writer D.F. Oliveria and managing editor Scott Sines are clear that rape is a crime. Those of us who work daily with victims of rape and sexual assault appreciate recognition of the violence and brutality involved.
However, the headline on Oliveria’s editorial, “Act provocatively and you provoke,” along with the inset note, “Sometimes, women lead men into temptation,” suggest that men must be reduced to hormonal reaction alone, without the ability to make a conscious decision. It suggests that bad decisions by a female will lure males into uncontrollable actions.
Rape isn’t about sex or temptation. Rape is about power and control. Rape is about rapists deciding to take what they think they are entitled to. It’s about wresting from the victim the most intimate choice she can make. Rape is a violent act that causes untold trauma and injury to another.
There are some definite instructions to women on college campuses given in Oliveria’s column. He lists a lot of times a woman should say no. It’s an interesting exercise to spread that capability around by changing the sex of a few words and turning the intentions in another direction.
Humans make good and bad choices, and are all accountable for those choices. Rape, however, is not the acceptable result of some bad choices.
Everyone has the right to be free from bodily harm. No one has the right to exert power and control over another in order to inflict emotional, sexual or physical harm. Holladay W. Sanderson Coeur d’Alene
THE ENVIRONMENT
Global warming a socialist conspiracy
The fake crisis of global warming, destruction of the ozone layer, killing of the planet by pollution and the destruction of Mother Earth’s ecological balance have all been propagandized by the political left as a global threat to all mankind and to the survival of the planet itself.
A major socialist effort to control people, human behavior, private property, business, world population and governments at all levels has been launched by the radical environmental movement, which has become the primary vehicle to take us to world government via the United Nations.
In order for the globalists to control people and establish a world socialist government, they must seize and control three essential areas of our lives: our private property, our children and our guns.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) bill, HR 1146, The American Sovereignty Restoration Act, is to provide for complete withdrawal of the United States from the U.N. Ask your representative to support this bill. Nellie M. O’Connor Dayton, Wash.
OTHER TOPICS
Rosemond has it right
Re: the letter by Mary Tinnell (“Rosemond out of control,” Nov. 8).
Tinnell has clearly never had an out-of-control child in her care. Whether the child was merely cross in his or her wishes, was autistic or was a child with serious psychological problems, the response by the adult in charge must be the same.
Keep him from harming himself.
Keep him from harming the person in charge.
Keep him from doing serious damage to the surrounding area, which could cause harm to the people involved.
To accomplish these things, observe the following rules:
Do not abandon the child. Hold him, facing him away from yourself to protect yourself.
Try to find a padded surface upon which to lay him and you so he can be as comfortable as possible.
Croon, murmur, hum, sing, or do anything that may calm the child.
I’m not a child-care professional. I’m a 66-year-old lady who has been a big sister, a baby sitter, a mom, a granny and a great-granny, with seven siblings, three sons, eight grandkids and three great-grandkids.
It works. Hold them down as tightly as possible, sing or pray, if it suits you, until they are calm. Ease up and do the “there, there” bit. Then, get on with life.
Dr. Rosemond is right. Joanne M. Batty Spokane
Boundless hypocrisy about protesters
Opinion editor John Webster’s hypocrisy, and the hypocrisy of the Spokesman, knows no bounds.
He praises those who protest China’s human rights abuses by saying,”The United States needs those idealistic young protestors, to remind us all that there are values more precious than the cash register that guides White House policy.”
Yet what do Webster and the Spokesman call “idealistic young protestors” who attack illegal and damaging timber sales, or climatologists who warn of global warming? They call them “environmental extremists,” or “Chicken Littles” who are making “an unfounded assault on industry.”
What’s the Spokesman’s response when police hit handcuffed and helpless environmental protestors in Eureka, Calif., with pepper spray from a range less than three inches? Silence. When these police force open protestors’ eyes to swab on more of this irritant? Silence. These acts fall under the legal definition of torture.
What was the Spokesman’s response Oct. 23, when a driver intentionally ran his log truck over a protester, breaking the protester’s legs? Or when police routinely use pain compliance holds on people who attempt “to remind us all that there are values more precious than the cash register that guides” the Spokesman’s editorial policy?
The Spokesman’s editors should be ashamed to mention “idealistic young protestors” elsewhere, considering the scorn they heap on those at home. Derrick B. Jensen Spokane
Priggee is Review’s downfall
Your political cartoonists really had to stretch to obtain the subject matter for the Nov. 6 Spokesman-Review. Socialists such as staff cartoonist Milt Priggee never trust the voice of the people. It amazes me every time I see another one of his inane cartoons that you don’t have the good sense to fire this man with such a vicious agenda.
The following is a quote from writer Steve Myers. “Investors’ Business Daily (Aug. 27) reports the American Society of Newspaper Editors is to spend $1 million over three years to find out why the public doesn’t trust newspapers. Now, try to keep a straight face. These folks are seniors! We’ll gladly save them the time. As Isaiah said, ‘The watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark, shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seek his own gain.’ (Isaiah 56:10-11) Or in four simple words: bias, trivia, no-think and double-think. Now, gentleman, about that million dollars.”
Continuing to publish cartoons by Priggee diminishes you and the stature of your newspaper. Douglas C. Griffiths Libby, Mont.