Letters To The Editor

TERRORISM

Fringe groups endanger us all

Enough is enough! How much more senseless violence must the American public endure from fanatical groups?

How much can a battered nation take from uneducated, unemployed, racist, mindless groups such as the Aryan Nations and the various militia that seem to be growing like an infectious disease?

Groups like the Montana and Michigan militias are misguided bastard children of the same mindless rhetoric that was spouted by their parents, the Ku Klux Klan and the other various pro-white groups that flourished in the early- to mid-1980s. Their claims of the possibility that a totalitarian age of rule is upon is us are as farfetched as the man with the doomsday sign walking the streets.

They claim certain rights stated in the Bill of Rights, such as freedom of speech and to bear arms, are being violated by the government. These very rights will be infringed upon by public demand because of the fanatical groups’ misguided actions.

Their claim of being American sickens my very being, for no true American would kill or maim his fellow citizens for a misguided cause. No true American would murder 17 helpless and innocent children to avenge the senseless loss of life at Waco.

The time to act against these lawless groups is now. There is no reason for ordinary, hard-working, law-abiding American citizens to live in fear of these dim-witted bullies. It is time to outlaw these radical groups, these promoters of racial hatred, and bring about justice in these matters. Ian Horlacher Spokane

Media misplace blame

In regards to the recent flap generated by the president’s remarks and the subsequent caterwauling by the media over talk radio, I would like to offer the following.

No one in their right (or left) mind, regardless of political bent, would ever condone the tragic events in Oklahoma City. But to even, for a moment, presume that the most fringe elements could be swayed by a voice on the radio is ludicrous. The people who are responsible for this act speak for no one of a rational mind.

The so-called right-wing movement is based on the average person’s frustration with government. However, it does not advocate violence or an overthrow of the best system in the world, only a democratic change of the direction that system is headed. That change will come in the voting booth, not from an act of terrorism.

As for placing the responsibility on talk radio, I remind everyone of what my mother asked me and what has been repeated by every mother for generations: If they told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it? Jim White Spokane

What’s good for the goose …

For many years, conservatives have complained about the effects of the liberal media on American society. They say the message influences individual behavior. This is what Dan Quayle meant when he complained about “Murphy Brown.”

Now, some suggest that the extreme conservative message demonizing government has influenced someone’s behavior. Not so, says Rush Limbaugh, “It’s only talk.” But this contradicts the conservatives’ earlier statements.

The conservatives have established the idea that a message can influence behavior. This standard must be applied fairly.

If a message can influence behavior, then it will have an influence regardless of political persuasion. If the liberal media are responsible for many of the problems of our society by influencing behavior, and I think they are, the conservative media must also be responsible when it influences individual behavior.

If “Murphy Brown” is partially responsible for out-of-wedlock pregnancy, then Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy, et al, are partially responsible for the actions of the Oklahoma City bombers. Michael Ward Spokane

Clinton’s the bad guy in this

The tragedy in Oklahoma City could afford our nation an opportunity to review priorities, review some of our security policies and to cooperate along nonpartisan lines.

The chance for both left and right to unite and discuss policy and priorities and procedures has been this compelling only a few times in our national history. The United States has been most strong and most united in time of war. We have been willing to united along nonpartisan lines against an enemy outside our borders.

Oklahoma City afforded us the opportunity to unite along nonpartisan lines against a common enemy within. Our chief executive officer, President Clinton, has chosen to follow a path in response to the tragedy that does the opposite of unite our country. This is a tragedy in and of itself. This is a poor memorial for those innocent victims of the act of a misguided zealot.

Our president mistook unified support of a nation in mourning and hungry for leadership and guidance as approval of him, personally and selfishly. He chose to polarize and politicize this tragedy for what he immaturely saw as potential political advantage. By using this horrible backdrop as an opportunity to strike out against those who oppose him, he has shown that he is in fact not relevant. Donald C. Zwanzig Spokane

Penalize the nuts, not society

I can’t believe the extreme measures the government is considering after the Oklahoma City bombing. Do officials actually think monitoring all of the fertilizer sales around the United States will help to end this type of terrorist act? It seems so unrealistic.

What is this world coming to?

Why not instead monitor suspicious individuals or groups? This would help to not penalize innocent citizens.

Unfortunately, our world is filled with flaws and the terrible truth is that we will never be able to solve all the problems that arise. We can, though, punish drastically for unnecessary acts of violence.

Government should not force our society to live in fear by taking away the rights of innocent people, but instead eliminate people who act out violence against our communities. Caroline Hoff Cheney

‘When will we ever learn?’

Why are so many people shocked by what has happened in Oklahoma City? Surely, people must realize where all this spewing of hate would lead.

The Aryan Nations spew hate toward Jews and black people.

The many different militia groups spew hate toward our government.

The Christian Coalition group spews hate toward the Democrats and our president.

Rush Limbaugh spews hate for our government, our president and the Democratic Party.

Never in the history of this country has there been so much hate. Some sick minds feed on this hate and eventually there will be more bloodshed.

When will we ever learn to love one another as God commanded?

Will those hate-filled hearts end up destroying this beautiful country? Adey Altmeyer Post Falls

We can die by the sword, too

While so-called conservatives and liberals bicker over what to do about the “welfare state,” our country is slowly being crushed by the weight of its military state.

U.S. imperialism has bred a nation of warriors. When Social Security and Medicare (which are self-supporting) are removed from the rest of the federal budget, nearly 90 percent of the remaining dollars are spent on the military and military-related programs.

Our tax dollars have supported dictators and death squads throughout the world. Our military establishment, television, video games, movies, toys and sports glamorize war. Talk radio has turned politics into a war game as well.

For many years, our schools taught children to hate and fear communists. Today, even Robert McNamara has come to the realization that our fears about communism taking over the world were irrational.

Mikhail Gorbachev has said that the arms race - the one that put us $4 trillion in debt - had nothing to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Yet today, we still spend more than double what the rest of the entire world spends on military programs, all the while arguing over food stamps and school lunches.

History teaches that when warriors no longer have an enemy, they will turn upon each other. That is what happened in Oklahoma City.

With no foreign threat to fight, our most rabid warriors now fear their own leaders. These horrors will continue as long as voters support politicians who spend more money on war than they do on peace. Chris Farnam Spokane

Forget blame game, remember lives

Like millions of other Americans, I have been reading articles on, watching newscasts about and looking at pictures of the disaster in Oklahoma City. I have cried for the dead and I have cried for the living. I have gone home every day and hugged my son and I have thanked God for every precious minute I have with my family.

I am angry.

I am angry at the loss. I am angry for the children. But most of all, I am angry at the excuses and the blame game going on.

So, let me remind everybody of something. Bill and Hillary Clinton did not devise a plan to build a bomb. Rush Limbaugh did not put together that bomb. ATF agents did not park that truck at the federal building. And New Gingrich did not cause it to explode.

This tragedy is not about radical talk radio or Waco or too much or too little government. This is about the 1-year-old pictured on the cover of a national magazine who lost her life, and whose parents will never be able to hold her again.

This is about the innocent sons and daughters, mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters who were killed or who are left to pick up the pieces of a shattered life.

So go home and hug your children and remember that if the system needs changing, then change it through legal nondestructive channels. Hold rallies, make noise, write letters. but don’t murder innocent people and think you can justify it with “It was for the cause.”

I won’t buy it and I hope others won’t, either. No cause is that great. Demeris L. Skaggs Spokane

Pain of loss personally felt

Five days after the bombing, I’m watching the memorial service.

The young, red-haired woman haunts me. She is strangely calm, her mother’s heart too broken to feel. She gives a tour of the bedroom where her two children slept, played and dreamed. She opens the closet where their tiny clothes and the toys live. “What do I do with the clothes?” she asks.

I’m crying, but I can’t change the channel - a luxury she doesn’t have. I clutch my child closer, trying not to wake her.

Next, a photograph of two happy babies in the bathtub. Goodbye, I say through tears. Goodbye, beautiful babies. May the mother of all things hold you to her bosom for all eternity.

The woman’s thoughts are the same as mine: Do the people who did this have children?

Our president promises justice, but the people who did this will never feel the kind of pain they have inflicted. Buildings can be erected anew, but children and mothers’ hearts are more fragile.

My beliefs teach me these killers are part of the web. They are loved by our mother as surely as those babies. The notion doesn’t comfort me.

The woman doesn’t seem as angry as I. Perhaps she’s too busy blocking out memories of long hours of childbirth, midnight feedings, first steps, the echoes of little feet and merry giggles in her now-quiet house.

Maybe she’s a better person than I am. I’m just trying to get through today without crying more, finding comfort in my family and feeling guilty because the red-haired woman can’t do the same. Carolyn Jones Spokane

THE ENVIRONMENT

Savlage is about money, period

Salvage logging is carried out for purely economic reasons. Any statement that it’s for ecological reasons is without scientific basis.

The timber industry has spent millions on advertisements claiming that burned trees must be “salvaged” and “sick” forests must be thinned. Guess who pays for it? You do! While the Republicans in Washington, D.C., talk of eliminating entitlements to children, they’re passing legislation that offers billions in handouts to corporate ecosystem destroyers.

Please contact the White House and urge the president to veto the Craig bill, S391, and the Gorton-Taylor rider, HR1158. Tell him you don’t support corporate welfare, particularly in this era of purported fiscal responsibility.

The timber industry’s and the Forest Service’s massive hoax is going to degrade our public forests by eliminating environmental protections and will cost taxpayers huge sums. They contend that our forest must be massively logged to promote forest health.

There is no forest health emergency relating to insects, disease and fire. According to Dr. Arthur Partridge, a forest pathologist at the University of Idaho, insects and disease are at the lowest levels in 30 years - not at epidemic levels as the Forest Service claims. Furthermore, less than 1 percent of Idaho’s forests were affected by fire in 1994 - hardly “catastrophic.”

Salvage logging is particularly destructive because post-fire soils are every fragile and susceptible to erosion. Salvage logging robs forest ecosystems of their most valuable resource: dead and dying trees. Dead trees promote forest regrowth by retaining moisture, creating shade and recycling nutrients. Scores of species depend upon dead wood. Wade Gruhl Moscow, Idaho

Consequences will come as a shock

D.F. Oliveria’s column, “Greenies cry wolf over environment,” was inaccurate in fact and spirit.

The world’s foremost biologists, such as E.O. Wilson and Michael Soule, give us scientifically irrefutable evidence that industrial civilization is causing the greatest mass extinction in the history of the planet, yet Oliveria calls those who bring these facts to his attention “Chicken Littles.”

Dams and other components of industrial society are destroying the greatest runs of salmon on earth, yet Oliveria calls those who wish to stop the destruction “uncompromising greenies.”

The world’s foremost climatologists give us scientifically irrefutable evidence of global warming - including the heating of the oceans and the melting of the polar ice caps - yet Oliveria calls this ecological disaster “bogus.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration documents that the once-teeming ocean off San Diego has been turned into a “dead zone,” yet Oliveria says, “All environmentalists want to do is run around and scream, ‘The sky is falling.”’

What will it take to pierce Oliveria’s denial about what our culture is doing to ourselves and the world around us? Precisely how much devastation must our culture cause before Oliveria will stop calling environmentalists names and begin to meaningfully address the enormous difficulties that we and our children are facing?

A writer’s responsibility to his or her community is to produce work that is true and that serves life. Oliveria’s work consistently fails on both these counts. Derrick Jensen Spokane

ANIMALS

Greed drives cruel experiments

The knowledge that every three seconds an animal dies in a research laboratory, haunts me.

As a child, I watched my microbiologist father conduct experiments on mice, and asked, “Why?” “For the advancement of medicine,” he explained.

As a teenager, I dissected fetal pigs in science class and asked, “Why?” “To broaden your mind,” the teacher said.

As a medical secretary, I heard the screams of rabbits in the research lab next door and asked, “Why?” “For the good of mankind,” the researchers said.

But these answers rang hollow. I decided to educate myself about vivisection and was shocked by what I learned.

Over 40 million animals suffer and die in research labs every year. Seventy percent of the animals used are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act, and anesthesia is not required by law. Many of the experiments demonstrate research theories that are already widely accepted, and most of the test results cannot be extrapolated to humans.

Billions of taxpayer dollars are spent on unnecessary animal tests while more worthwhile programs are cut. Why? Because vivisection is big business. It means lots of money for the breeders, drug and chemical companies and researchers. Never mind that animal experimentation is cruel, expensive and unreliable. Never mind that sophisticated non-animal methods exist. Vivisection equals greed and profit, nothing more.

I now know that tens of millions of laboratory animals don’t need to suffer and die because humane alternatives exist. Please join me in demanding an end to animal experimentation. Anne G. Sciortino Spokane