Letters To The Editor
BUSINESS AND REGULATION
Blame-shifting won’t wash
On Aug. 8, your paper ran a full-page, paid advertisement for Mr. John Schreiner. He called it an “open letter to our community.”
In that letter, Mr. Schreiner blames the attorneys of Spokane County for his recent troubles with the state insurance commissioner.
The insurance commissioner had conducted an investigation of Mr. Schreiner’s pricing practices and found them to violate several provisions of state law. Pursuant to that finding, the commissioner is threatening to suspend Mr. Schreiner’s license for six months. Mr. Schreiner has the opportunity to ask for a hearing and appear before the commissioner in order to attempt to persuade her that her investigator’s findings are in error.
Despite what Mr. Schreiner alleges, his troubles didn’t arise because of attorneys. They arose because of his own practices.
If Mr. Schreiner requests a hearing or if judicial review is sought, I’m sure everyone will keep an open mind as to the validity of the insurance commissioner’s findings until the matter has finally been settled.
In the meantime, blaming other people or groups of people for one’s own apparent indiscretions is irresponsible. Greg Smith, president Spokane County Bar Association
Businessman gets it right
My hat’s off to John Schreiner, owner of Spokane County Title. Here’s a local businessman who calls it like it is.
There should be no state regulations on closing real estate transactions. Certainly, fees based on a percentage of the sale are ludicrous.
The price of the real estate sale has virtually nothing to do with the amount of work required in closing. Closing a real estate transaction is a simple procedure and high fees charged for closing service are unwarranted.
I’ve been closing my own real estate transactions for years and only use an attorney when there’s an apparent legal problem. Mr. Schreiner should be applauded for helping bring down the cost of the American dream, i.e., buying a residence or other real estate. Vern E. Ziegler, board chairman Ziegler Lumber Co.
IN THE PUBLIC EYE
Reno acquitted herself well
Attorney General Janet Reno was in the hot seat the first week of August. The Waco hearing was in full swing and she was grilled relentlessly by a congressional committee. The focus was the 50-day standoff at Waco, Texas, and events preceding the grisly fire in April ‘93 that destroyed the compound of cult leader David Koresh and 75 of his followers.
Reno was superb. The committee members fired questions day after day - “shades of McCarthyism.” She was strong, calm, polite, patient with detail, and in the end, took full responsibility, in retrospect admitting some mistakes.
Reno explained that every alternative was explored. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms pleaded with Koresh to leave the compound. Koresh had a cache of weapons. Cult members killed two FBI agents and injured others. Koresh was reported to be molesting children, and a 14-year-old girl testified before the committee the she had been sexually assaulted by Koresh.
When the FBI finally forced its way into the compound by tank and non-lethal gas, Koresh set the place on fire.
Reno deplored the loss of life and said she’ll remember the event forever. The “blame game” will continue. It’s become the clarion call of anti-government militia groups throughout the country.
Reno acted according to her conscience and the facts. She is one tough, smart and very capable public servant. Her testimony under congressional fire was, indeed, a class act. Jo Hendricks Spokane
Doctor’s letter a bitter pill
Dr. Keith Wilken’s July 29 letter suggesting attorney Pat Stiley take a pay cut was totally unprofessional. Disclosing Mr. Stiley’s personal financial problems over a few hundred dollars was very childish.
If Dr. Wilkens would stoop to using the media to deface another human being’s character over money, I wouldn’t trust him to work on my little finger. Doctors are supposed to help all human beings, not tear up their character over such a relatively small amount of money.
The Pat Stileys of this world are principled, caring, wonderful people. For those who need someone to fight for their rights, thank God for the Pat Stileys. Stiley fights for others’ rights because he believes, with all his heart, in the judicial system and their case. Pat can feel our pain, frustration, depression and becomes the coach who says to his players: “Hang in there for me. I won’t give up on you, so don’t give up on yourself.”
Pat Stiley has given 20 years or more to the residents of this city. He deserves to be treated with respect by any professional. Deborah Baker Spokane
BLAME-FIXING
Keep Amend, dump commission
In the course of his job, Spokane County Coroner Dexter Amend has uncovered a further unspeakable crime against 9-year old Rachel Carver. The practice of sodomy is so vile, even the lowest animals are incapable of such an act. Dr. Amend has identified the type of individuals who practice this form of gratification.
Now comes the Human Rights Commission and others who, without a moment’s hesitation or reflection about the unbearable agony that Rachel experienced, are quickly calling for Dr. Amend’s resignation.
As a taxpayer, I ask the powers responsible to either terminate the commission or replace the members with persons who won’t defend the unbearable defilement this child experienced.
At the next election, let those who support and practice sodomy vote against Dr. Amend. I’m sure there will be enough decent people to ensure his re-election. Ray Hunter Spokane
Amend’s right, sodomy’s wrong
Dr. Dexter Amend had the courage to stand up for what he believes in.
Does it matter if Rachel Carver was sodomized just prior to her death or months or years earlier? The point is, sodomy is not a normal act, no matter how many times they tell us it’s just another lifestyle. It’s not another lifestyle, it’s wrong. Carolyn Handy Spokane
Let child rest in peace
The recent controversy over the bigoted attempt by Dr. Dexter Amend to bring his personal, religious and philosophical views to public light and to a child’s pain is disgusting.
True, Dr. Amend’s blatantly stated views have started quite a bit of discussion about propriety, bigotry and being “politically correct.” The irony of this controversy is, everyone who has reacted to Dr. Amend’s comments seems to have forgotten the most important issue at hand. A child among us lived in terror, fear and pain. She died the same way. This time, we should forget the issue and let Rachel Carver rest in the first peace she’s ever known. Tracy Sand Spokane
Go pro-active against abuse
Because of our coroner’s bigoted, irrelevant comments about homosexuality in the Rachel Carver case, we can expect the Roundtable page to fill with angry letters from gays and lesbians who have been wronged by his uneducated remarks.
Heterosexuals should be equally outraged. Our coroner has temporarily diverted our attention from the many pedophiles who, with the passive consent of their spouses and other relatives, commit unspeakable crimes against our children.
Because these crimes are committed under the noses of mothers and other adults who invariably claim they “didn’t know,” I want this paper, local television and radio stations to blanket this community with a list of warning signs of physical and sexual abuse. These signs are well known to physicians and social service agencies but not to the general public. We need to get this information to the people who need it, so they can put an immediate stop to these horrible crimes.
Our local news industry can’t be expected to accept the full responsibility for an ongoing education campaign, so we must form a group of dedicated citizens to keep the campaign alive, just as the gay community was forced to do in its fight against the AIDS epidemic.
If such a campaign were successful, no mother could ever use ignorance as an excuse for passive complicity in this crime. All adults in a family in which child abuse were occurring could be held legally and morally responsible. Sexual abuse in children is a horrendous crime. We must put a stop to it. Jonni Good Spokane
Meet intolerance with fact, patience
Our Spokane County coroner says he knows all about homosexuals. Yet the statements made by Dexter Amend on Aug. 7 were ignorant and totally off base. Some would say unforgivable.
I hope the gay community rebounds from its initial reaction of anger and instead surrounds Amend with information, education and patience. Ginger Ninde Medical Lake
Knew too little, said too much
Coroner Dexter Amend is probably a fine, decent man. He is saddened at Rachel Carver’s death, just as we all were. He was appalled at autopsy results indicating she’d been sodomized many times during her short life.
Often when our experience is too painful to accept, we depend on defense mechanisms to avoid the pain. Dr. Amend couldn’t accept that heterosexual men, like himself, hurt Rachel over and over. Dr. Amend blamed Rachel Carver’s abuse on homosexuals.
Dr. Amend needs to know sodomy is a common method used by child abusers of boys and girls, and by rapists of men and women. Often, victims are so humiliated by this experience that they can never tell anyone.
Dr. Amend needs to know sexual abuse and rape rarely take the form of the normal sexual act as we know it. It’s often perverted and brutal. Dr. Amend needs to know most child abusers and rapists are heterosexual men who are family members or family friends.
Dr. Amend had no right to publicize Rachel’s shame. Results of the autopsy and possibly his interpretation belong in a court of law, not at a media event.
Dr. Amend needs to know he has wronged the homosexual community with his false accusations. Dorothy Mehl Spokane
Thank you, Dr. Amend
I thank Spokane County Coroner Dexter Amend for speaking out. This tragic act of sodomy against Rachel Carver was a homosexual act.
I came from a family unit with this type of perverted act taking place and it was swept under the rug. It may not kill you outright, but it kills the spirit of the child.
We now have powerful groups of gays and lesbians in force. God forbid. I therefore challenge any person who has undergone this perverted act of child abuse or who knows of other cases to speak out and back up our Coroner Amend for his courage. C. Smith Spokane
Amend ‘an embarrassment’
For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the folks at Holy Family Hospital locked ol’ Dexter Amend out of the hospital. So, now I know and I agree.
The man is uninformed and unquestionably an embarrassment. Ditto his supporters. Bob Crouch Spokane
Spoke before thinking
Spokane County Coroner Dexter Amend obviously hadn’t thought it through before making his wild sexual abuse claims against homosexuals, with regard to the abuse of Rachel Carver.
By definition, homosexual men, those vile people he unequivocally states sodomized Rachel for years, are sexually attracted to males. He seems to have completely missed the fact Rachel was a little girl. Sharon Tetly Spokane
OTHER TOPICS
‘Hope’ piece restores faith
Journalist Steve Massey’s, “Promise of Hope” article on Aug. 13 made our whole year’s subscription worthwhile.
His unabashed and thorough account of his personal and positive relationship with God, his family and his community truly does renew our hope that a change for the better is under way throughout the world, in spite of the sordid stories which dominate the news. Dick Ellis Spokane
Christian nation? Perhaps not
Isn’t it interesting that of 950 inmates in the Airway Heights Corrections Center, approximately two-thirds (632) profess a religious outlook, while about one-third (318) apparently don’t. I wonder how many of those “horrible” secular humanists are incarcerated.
I challenge Ira Lee White (Roundtable, Aug. 15) to explain just where the Constitution declares our’s to be a Christian nation. Kay Hayes Spokane
Rootin’ tootin’ cheap-shot artist
Mallard Fillmore really takes the fun out of the funny pages.
Bruce Tinsley’s Aug. 13 strip about the war stories of a World War II GI and a ‘60s anti-war activist is typical of the conservative mindset. As long as you wrap yourself in an American flag and trumpet the sacrifices of somebody else, you too can prove your courage and patriotism. This from folks who claim liberals are all about symbols and caring without substance.
I’ll wager Tinsley is no different than Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk who like to blast so-called liberals for being wartime no-shows when they were nowhere near a combat zone, either.
I prefer the sincerity of historian Stephen Ambrose, who said: “I was 10 years old when World War II ended. Like many other American men my age, I have always admired - nay, stood in awe of - the GIs. I thought that what they had done was beyond praise. I still do.”
Mr. Ambrose doesn’t cheapen what our GIs and other veterans did by using it to grind a partisan ax or take pot shots based on nothing more than the different historical dilemmas confronted by each generation.
Tinsley could just as easily have juxtaposed the reminiscences of a World War II vet and a Vietnam vet, but that wouldn’t have served his repetitive, divisive and dogmatic sledgehammer approach to editorial cartooning.
Keep hitting us over the head, Spokesman-Review and Bruce Tinsley, so we simple folk can get the joke and become masters of satire just like you! Jack O’Dea Colville
Doctor office delays often justified
Re: Frank Bartel’s article about the extended waiting period patients sometimes experience in a doctor’s office (July 31).
I think he has a legitimate point to make. I’m sure that with some effort, this problem can be addressed and improved. It’s also true that while an individual waits, another patient is often receiving much-needed emergency care or unexpected, necessary treatment.
I work in the medical field and through my professional association with many physicians in the Spokane area, I have found them to be an extremely dedicated group. They try to provide the highest quality of medical care to all their patients.
My uncle recently underwent major surgery. His recovery has been swift. I’m grateful to the medical staff he trusted to provide his care. Kathy Cameron Spokane
Clinton flubs bully pulpit bid
Take comfort, America, the president has decided to redefine himself with another bold, decisive move. He’s bringing the full weight of his office to bear on a new national crisis.
Believing he can stop a behavior by executive fiat, Bill Clinton is going to reach out into communities with his strong, guiding hand and save our children from the evils of tobacco.
Of course, there are already laws prohibiting minors from purchasing cigarettes and businesses from selling cigarettes. But minor details shouldn’t be allowed to confuse such an important issue.
There’s another major break in our non-inhaling president’s chain of logic regarding this stop smoking campaign (campaign? hmm). His experts reason, since our children are doomed to plunge helplessly into highrisk, pleasure-oriented behaviors, we must use our public schools to teach safe-sex techniques.
Instead of flailing away at a target behavior (everyone knows kids are going to do it anyway) the president should insist on condom demonstration-style “safesmoke” classes in public schools. Teenagers would hear the life-saving message: “Now, students, only you can decide if you are really ready to start smoking. If you feel you’re ready in spite of the risks, remember to use safer, approved low tar cigarettes. Very good, now put the filter tips in your mouths …” Robert R. Larimer, Jr. Vancouver, Wash.