No loss at Fairchild

Once again in the land of the Fairchild, there’s lamentation for what might have been. Our commercial princes are denied a tiny kickback on the taxes we lavish upon our voracious, entitled and moribund military machine. If only we valued the earth and humanity as much as war and welfare programs for defense contractors and Air Force civilians, we would end the silly airborne refueling of long-range death flights.

As Sen. Patty Murray fought for Fairchild to land the costlier tankers, I asked her if the new planes would dump fuel into our air as routinely and wantonly as the KC-135s. Apparently, her office had no form letter for that question, but my skepticism has been validated by a more reliable source.

The next time you fight for Spokane’s economy, make sure it’s not the economy so cherished by media, millionaires and political parties, but the economy that directly affects you and life on our planet. A better way to kill people on the other side of the world is not worthy of your support. And no one has proved Albert Einstein wrong since he said “You cannot simultaneously prepare for war and peace.”

Rusty Nelson, Spokane Veterans for Peace

Rockford