Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Hospitality fit for a … con?

I can’t wait to plunk my butt down on the new inmate-made cement benches this January outside our zillion dollar bus edifice in the heart of the Lilac City. What a combo - concrete and below-zero weather. Comfy!

With gold and marble flowing inside the Spokane Transit Authority Plaza, the spendy board of directors headed by our own Councilwoman Bev Numbers dropped a whopping $200 a copy for these harder-and-colder-than-an-iceberg sidewalk loungers for our dedicated bus riders.

STA rent-a-cops, in their fierce desire to keep people moving, may have to be armed with blowtorches to extricate our transit-using citizens from these 500-pound units.

Boy, I just had an economic thought that may pour some loot into our bus line treasury. Why not lease these inmate-created cement attractions to my family and me for next year’s Lilac Parade? What a thrill it would be to stand on these cement attractions and view the Shriners, floats and those special local dignitaries.

To add the chocolate and champagne to our evening’s atmosphere outside this $22 million wonderment, it could be topped-off with service from the five-star restaurants, Orange Julius or Burger King.

Do you suppose the STA board and the folks responsible for this platinum gathering place should be the inmates - the ones making these 500-pound comfort stations? Jonathan Swanstrom Sr. Spokane

Park Board deaf to people’s word

When is Spokane city government going to understand that when the people vote no, it means no - regardless of whether the margin is small or large?

No is no. Again, the Spokane Park Board is trying to shove the Pacific Science Center down our throats.

If the board has so much money to spend, let it spend it on things that need taking care of in the parks. Where will it get $400,000 to pay people to to build it? And that is only the first year.

The board says no new taxes will be needed. Don’t you believe it. Riverfront Park has always been a loser; why bring in another loser?

I see where Steve Clark wants to hire three more consultants to make a study of things in Riverfront Park. If they have that much money to waste, lets get things done that need to be done. It’s time to clean out the Spokane Park Board from top to bottom. Sam Compogno Spokane

Maybe a wooden stake is required

Your Halloween scare story, “Pacific Science Center may get another chance” (Oct. 31) sure tells us that monsters beget more monsters.

Gov. Mike Lowry acted to ramrod the King County stadium through and our city park board follows his lead with its attempt to revive the science center that Editor Chris Peck told us was dead for sure. Take heart, Chris, this is the night of the undead.

If science center opponents had lost by 350 votes, would they now be given a chance to have ballot consideration again, on the grounds that (whine) there continues to be substantial community opposition and (whine) the proponents didn’t win by much and (whine) the question was poorly worded and poorly placed on the ballot?

If proponents really want a second chance, I’d like to offer some suggestions:

Divorce the terms “science center” and “Riverfront Park.” The parking is impossible. Maybe it could be put in the store area that Nordstrom will vacate when it moves into its new place.

Tell voters the true cost of the whole project. Start with the cost of the three consultants you intend to hire as per the above newspaper article.

Don’t let your Steve Clark write the ballot question if he’s going to use grammatical terms like “continued interest among the community” and “favorable and unfavorable votes.” I consider that mine was a favorable vote because I voted to indicate I was not in favor of the project. Richard T. Brown Spokane

VIOLENCE

Banishment for hard-hitting youths

I had just begun a letter to the editor regarding the two lads who so cruelly battered the old gentleman, Peter LaBeck, when I came across Carley Burrell’s letter, “Beating senseless, troubling,” (Oct. 30). My intended letter couldn’t have put it in a more down-to-earth way.

However, I will add that like the two lads who were banished to separate islands in Alaska for their crime, Adrian Washington and his pals should be banished to Liberia, West Africa, where, according to the media, teenagers and pre-teenagers are walking the streets of Monrovia, the capital city, carrying all sorts of assault weapons. In many cases, they’re using these weapons and killing at random. Maybe Washington and his violent buddies would just love that. Major E. Dunne Spokane

Woman-beater cartoon correct

For once, Milt Priggee has drawn an cartoon I totally agree with. His Nov. 1 cartoon portraying a woman-beater as loony hit the nail on the head. There are things a guy could do to be considered a low-life. Beating a wife or girlfriend tops the list. Dave Detrolio Moses Lake

Remember judges’ decisions

What an outrageous affront to women Realtors and all women of Spokane County.

A man is paroled from a life sentence for kidnapping, raping and setting a woman on fire. That same man is now charged with kidnapping, raping and being a felon with a firearm attacking a Spokane Realtor.

When this “man” was arrested, District Court Judge Vance Peterson had the courage to order him held on $500,000 bond. Yet when he appeared before Superior Court Judge James Murphy, that judge reduced this predator’s bond to $50,000, making it 10 times cheaper for him to walk the streets of Spokane again. All voters, women especially, must remember such actions when judges come up for re-election. Carol Capra and Lois Root Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Gingrich gang not on side of angels

In my 80-some years as a voter and citizen, I never believed I would see the day that the Republican Party would go all out with such a demeaning agenda against the honest citizens of our country, who have gone without to finance the best Social Security and health care system in the world, insuring our incumbent Democrat president another time in office.

I go along with some in Congress who would like to examine Medicare and Medicaid on it’s misuse before doing anything drastic.

It brings to mind an old story. It seems Rockefeller’s nephew needed more money to keep his business going and went to his uncle for help. The uncle asked if he smoked. The nephew said he did. He was asked to quit and come back. He then asked if he gambled. He said he did. He was then told to quit, and if he then needed money, he could have some. After quitting these things, the nephew told his uncle he needed no more financing.

A good place for Speaker Newt Gingrich and his cronies to start would be to stop giving all this free care on Medicaid and Medicare to drug addicts and alcoholics, and paying them $700 a month, financing their habits.

Lord bless our president, should he veto this bill. Sam Petersen Spokane

Burden is on the community

I write in response to two recent editorials; Sept. 25th’s “Churches, charities must find a way to replace welfare” and Oct. 3rd’s “Housing aid cuts need our response.”

A variety of social ills, including hunger, homelessness, unemployment, underemployment, lack of affordable housing and the subsequent need for rent subsidies are community problems. These challenges demand the collaborative involvement of the entire community in their successful resolution.

To suggest that churches and charities replace the state’s constitutional responsibility in meeting these human service needs is asking a small segment of the community to carry the burden of responsibility for all.

As the government appears to relinquish its constitutional responsibilities to the less fortunate, it challenges an integrated community to assume its rightful social responsibilities. What is community? Community is you and I. Until each of us is willing to contribute of our time, talent and treasure to find answers to the perplexing social challenges of our day, community can’t develop.

We will continue to identify or establish certain organizations and entities on which to “dump” what are basic community responsibilities that demand the participation of all. Michael T. Ryan Nine Mile Falls

People must make democracy work

It’s difficult for me to understand why the elected officials in United States Congress, who’ve sworn “to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity …” can possibly propose such vicious legislation to eliminate the social programs so beneficial to the general public. I think I know how they got elected.

In 19th-century England, Lord Acton wrote “The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.”

When we consider that 61 percent of registered voters, eligible to vote in the 1994 elections didn’t vote, we see that the victorious party got a majority of the 41 percent of the votes cast, so it appears that we’re presently being governed by about 35 percent of the people. Hardly the mandate they claim. It looks as though Lord Acton was correct.

What can be done? First, we must stop being misled by slogans and cliche’s such as: “All the way with LBJ,” “Balance the budget,” “Win with Wilke” (remembered only by older people along with “Remember the Maine”) and that indefinable term “family values.” Cliches or catch phrases are really excuses to not think.

Second, we must notify the senators and representatives as to how we want them to vote on specific issues.

And third, don’t try to make excuses, but go to the polls and vote in every election. It’s our responsibility as individuals. Robert E. Shankland Spokane

Liberals fit description better

On Oct. 27, Curtis Durrant, an astute liberal apparently educated by dictionary studies, enlightened Roundtable readers by enumerating the characteristics of cults. He gave four points that define a cult. Amazing, how the definition described the liberal Democratic movement, which was not his intent.

One specific point of condemnation we found entertaining was that conservatives are the ones who rely on irrational propaganda and emotional rhetoric. Has he ever listened to President Clinton or Rep. Dick Gephardt? This guy certainly does not watch national TV news or read this newspaper.

Durrant is compelled to condemn people like myself for questioning information from the general media, associating with those of similar beliefs and holding clearcut views. These thoughts suggest a yearning for government quite different than one with freedoms conservatives value.

It is disgusting to hear reports of reduced spending increases presented as spending cuts, relating to school lunches and Medicare. School lunches affect my grandchildren and Medicare affects me. Three years ago, the federal debt, according to the liberals, threatened civilization, but controlling it today will cause the same thing.

The real champions of distortions, exaggerations, extremism and radical statements are this bunch led by Clinton and Gephardt. They wrote the text on scare tactics, fearmongering and lies.

No, I couldn’t disregard Durrant’s letter as people of that mentality have had preferential privileges to destroy our American freedom. Also, I believe I have given taxes more than sufficiently to provide for the takers in our great country. Gordon Landberg Spokane

End less than-majority-vote wins

The fact Clinton administration guru Dick Morse went to California to encourage and help the Ross Perot’s third party get on the ballot is indicative of the tricky politics of Slick Willy himself. The idea being that Clinton can beat a split Republican Party. He did it before and he can do it again, he thinks. If you can just fool enough of the people enough times, or something like that.

This is a very good case for runoff elections. No one should occupy the White House without being elected by a majority of the voters. Gary M. Garrison Kettle Falls, Wash.

Republican tax poor, spend on rich

The Republican “Contract with America” is a cruel hoax on the citizens of this country.

It’s nothing but a plan which transfers taxpayer funds from the poor and hands the funds over to the rich. It guts environmental rules. It guts safety regulations.

All governments, either Republican or Democrat, operate on taxpayer funds so both parties tax and spend. The tale Republicans spread about Democrats being the only tax-and-spend form of government - which gives one the impression that the Republicans do not - simply isn’t true.

As for their claim that there are simply too many rules and regulations, so they’d like to just throw away the rulebook, well, if you aren’t figuring on breaking rules why would they be a bother?

Even a Republican administration will be big and will spend big money. They just spend it on priorities like 50 percent reductions on the capital gains tax instead of on Medicare or school lunch programs etc. Welfare for the poor has became welfare for the rich. Ron Norvell Spokane

Liberals need the intervention

Curtis Durrant’s Oct. 27 letter (“Get Dittoheads the help they need”) claims Rush Limbaugh fans are a cult. His zeal in finding a label word in the dictionary shows his “culpability,” which is on the same page as “cult.”

His use of the term “intervention” signals an intent of self-proclaimed savior and censor. Couldn’t the fourpoint cult definition apply equally well to liberal lawmakers?

Like other cults, liberal lawmakers and followers:

Disregard the people’s wishes (contradictory) and manufacture untrue “facts” for the media to justify their cause.

Only associate with those of similar beliefs to be above the laws the people must live by.

Hold black-and-white views that the “mean-spirited” public is stupid and must be helped into dependency.

Rarely show logical analysis of issues by calling smaller increases major cuts and saying any change will starve children or be a tax break for someone.

Yes, there’s no credibility in such organizations. Yes, these aren’t the types of people we want making decisions in our country. We started voting them out.

Finally, you can tell if you are in the liberal cult if you’re willing to accept, with blind faith, that government is a fix-all, owes you something or has any rights that the people didn’t expressly give it. Try practicing your intervention on liberal lawmakers. Paul Votava Sandpoint

Some got tricked, some got treats

A year ago all we heard from the Republicans was that the crime bill would take away our guns. We heard TV ads over and over on the need for term limits and how then-Speaker Tom Foley had masterminded a pay increase for Congress under the cloak of darkness.

Let’s see now, the crime bill is still there and nobody has asked for my gun. Term limits is merely whispered about in Congress and not one member of Congress has offered to give any of that shady pay raise back.

As Halloween passes, I can’t help but think that election year ‘94 was a trick-or-treat election. It was tricky ads to get elected and then tricks for the low-income, working poor and elderly, with treats for the rich and influential.

We need members of Congress who will stand up for all working families, including those who are low-income and working poor. Craig Gruenig Spokane

NASA not into medical cures

Vernon Boje (Oct. 30) suggests we quit financing space shuttle missions until we find a cure for breast cancer.

While I sympathize with the plight of people suffering from cancer, I don’t believe NASA physical scientists and engineers at Cape Canaveral will be much help in solving biological problems. When I need a surgeon, I’d prefer to be operated on by a medical doctor, rather than a geologist or astrophysicist. Paul Yost Spokane