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Opinions from past add perspective

Tue., April 12, 2016

Editor’s note: Looking Back reviews opinions published in The Spokesman-Review during this week in history.

Fuel is habit-forming – April 13, 1976: Two years after Arab states shocked the U.S. economy with an oil embargo, an editorial lamented the lack of progress toward energy independence, noting that America used more imported oil than ever in 1975. It noted:

“We are, by far, the highest consumer of energy on the world – even among industrialized nations. Western Europe consumes half of what we do even though that part of the world has 75 percent more people. Apparently, we have not yet realized that our energy appetite is abnormal and self-destructive and the frivolous purposes to which energy is being put are still very much with us.”

Hackey-sacked? - April 14, 1986: An editorial examined proposed Spokane City Council solutions to reports of drug-dealing, loitering and other unsavory activities in Riverfront Park.

“So, determined to give police better tools with which to restore order, the City Council has on its drawing board a package of proposed ordinances which (as soon as the legal staff figures out how to do it constitutionally) would make a variety of practices illegal.

“Playing ‘hackey-sack,’ playing loud music, sitting on bridges and using abusive language would be forbidden in the park. Is that the best way to use scarce police manpower? We think not. Police are needed in the park not to monitor radio volumes but to deter crime.”

Shape the future - April 16, 1996: Weigh in on the city’s 20-year comprehensive plan, urged an editorial, by attending a forum at the Ag Trade Center. It pointed out:

“A comprehensive plan packs a wallop. It guides city officials when they decide, for example, whether your neighborhood is to be protected from traffic and undesirable development. It guides the city’s stewardship of its parks, its downtown core, its tree-lined boulevards. It can determine how welcome pedestrians and bicyclists are in neighborhoods and along streets. It can help developers and policy-makers by indicating where growth should go as well as where it shouldn’t. It also guides the city in matters related to housing, culture, social needs and governmental attitudes.”

Don’t ask - April 16, 2006: An editorial bashed the military’s efforts to purge its ranks of gay and lesbian soldiers. It noted:

“Those who can rationalize homophobia in the name of shower-room anxiety say you have to cleanse the military of gays and lesbians for the sake of morale.”

One such victim was Air Force Maj. Margaret H. Witt of Spokane, who had a proud 19-year career as a nurse. She fought back in court and eventually won. The editorial concluded:

“Some enlightened day, many years from now, Americans will look back with regret and disbelief on a time in history when bigotry still held our higher values hostage. By then, they will be able to point to a generation that dug in its heels and said, ‘No more!’ Let this be that generation.”

Four years later, Congress would pass a repeal of the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, thus allowing gay and lesbian members to openly serve.