Letters To The Editor

NEO-NAZIS

Give Aryans a big about-face

Re: “Jewish group wants Aryan parade stopped” (July 4). The essence of the Aryan Nations is hate, violence and ultimately, ignorance. The group’s entire purpose is to incite violence and fan the fires of their opposition. The Jewish Defense Organization plays skillfully into their preachings of hate.

As stated in the article, the JDO “threatens ‘trouble’ if the planned Aryan 100-man march happens.” How are they any different than their Aryan rivals?

It would be a serious violation of constitutional rights - as upheld by the mayor - if the parade were to be denied. Does this mean I support their views? Definitely not. The way that we, as a civilized society, should let it be known that we do not partake in their ideas of violence is most assuredly not through reciprocating violence. The best way to send a message is through confrontational silence. Everyone opposed to the Aryans’ beliefs should attend the parade. And as they march through, in complete silence, everyone should turn their backs.

Violence is not the only way to send a message. Sarah K. Clark Spokane

Deny ‘nutzies’ attention they crave

It seems to me that what the so-called Aryan Nations wants is publicity and attention, which is just what we’ve been giving them. This proposed march in Coeur d’Alene, for instance, has netted that group all kinds of news coverage, plus who knows how many outraged outpourings from irate local citizens.

They are not worth all the effort.

Sure, we need to keep an eye and ear out to keep up with what those nutzies are doing. But quietly! We need to decide, sotto voce, as it were, to give those nutzies no more attention. No attendance at their silly parade. No media coverage of said parade. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

This is one time during which we, the silent majority, need to be completely silent. Let the nutzies march without us. Everyone caught on Sherman Avenue during the parade should simply turn their back in symbolic repudiation. Patricia A. Fica Spokane

Staying away will be no sacrifice

Re: “Aryan march will go on, Butler says,” (July 1). There’s far too much publicity on this nonsense. They have the right to march, even if the rest of us believe their views are pathetic and racist. Why make a huge deal out of some 80-year-old guy and a few shaved-headed, tattoo-covered misfits strolling down Sherman Avenue? Our city officials don’t have to ask me not to show up. I have better things to do. Nancy Lynne Coeur d’Alene

HIGHER EDUCATION

Ills misdiagnosed and mistreated

The recent editorial about Eastern Washington University displays a deliberate disregard for the truth. The faculty are not a liability to the university, but its greatest asset. The same cannot be said of the senior administration.

The gifts to Drs. Mark Drummond and James Hoffman resulted from the pervasive lack of integrity and courage in the administration and board of trustees. Tenure was not at all a factor. Both should have been fired as a result of their own misdeeds and knowing tolerance of the misdeeds of their subordinates.

Tenure is a vital component of protection of the faculty from arbitrary and capricious actions by administrators. The contract with the UFE is another component of that protection, made necessary by a long history of abuse by the administration. Faculty workloads are extremely high as a result of grossly oversize classes, reductions in faculty staffing and the many other professional obligations of faculty members. Last year, the faculty agreed to forgo benefits guaranteed by this contract in an effort to help the university. Their “reward” for this was to see the savings used to benefit the people who created the problem. This year’s token pay raise and these gifts are not at all similar.

What is needed is a dedication to quality, rather than to an unethical political agenda. These “managers” do not need flexibility. They need competence, integrity and honesty, all of which have been very rare at EWU.

Opinion Page Editor John Webster’s drivel does not help, but contributes to the problem. Douglas R. Mitchell Cheney

THE MEDIA

Race crime reporting too one-sided

In Jasper, Texas, James Byrd Jr. (a black man) was dragged to death by three whites in a pickup truck. If convicted of this crime, the three should receive the death penalty.

However, why is it that the liberal, anti-white media only report crimes against blacks and not against whites? Nationwide, there are far more crimes committed against whites by blacks than by whites against blacks. Yet if it’s a white-on-black crime, it’s headline news! There are calls for an FBI investigation, civil rights violations, a hate crime. Jesse Jackson screams racism from coast to coast. Even the president gets involved.

Where were the media and Jesse Jackson when a black youth hit a white teacher over the head with a steel hammer in Chicago? Before the blow, she was called a “white bitch.” A hate crime?

In Springfield, Tenn., Michael Westerman (a white man) was murdered by three blacks simply because he displayed the Confederate flag on his pickup truck. There was no media outrage, no call for a federal investigation, no outcry at all. What gives?

Is the life of a black more meaningful than that of a white? Only white racism is reported. What about black racism?

Until the hypocrisy and double standards are ended there will always be a race problem in America. William A. Hall Spokane

Tell us about police rank and file

Re: “More than 2,000 gather to honor Linda Huff,” (June 23). This madness has got to stop. It’s time that the media take the lead and start portraying police officers in a more realistic fashion.

It seems that the only time you see anything about the police in the media is when one is killed in the line of duty or when someone is suing, or crying their rights were violated.

Why not a series of articles similar to the articles recently on the criminal element in the Spokane area? Why not a series of articles about the grunts in the local police departments, not the chiefs or sheriffs, but the people you see on the street doing the job day to day?

It has been said that true law enforcement work is 99.9 percent routine boredom and .1 percent stark terror.

Start showing some support and maybe, just maybe, things will come under control. Carl G. Ellis Boise

Survey report belabored the obvious

The agenda of political correctness has no limit. Witness The Spokesman-Review article headlined, “Yellowstone visitors richer than average” (June 30). There, we are given the results of a survey that profiled 200 people entering our oldest national park during the summer of 1997. Conclusion: the park visitors are “older, wealthier and better educated that the average American.”

So what else is new? Check out museum visitors and operagoers. You will likely find the same thing. So what?

Well, an anonymous Associated Press writer felt constrained to put a political spin on this unremarkable survey - paid for, incidentally, with your tax dollars.

You see, Yellowstone doubled its entry fee to $20 last year, and we are told that this may be “filtering low-income families out of the visitor mix” and “turning a park visit into an elitist experience.” Imagine that! We’re supposed to believe that a $10 increase really deters people whose trip-planning already allows for expensive motels and meals plus gasoline or airfare.

Besides, no survey predating the rise in entry fee is available to profile Yellowstone visitors before 1997. Apparently, we are to assume that back then the typical visitor was Joe Average - financially, ethnically, educationally and age-wise.

My bet is that Yellowstone visitors have always been somewhat older, wealthier and better educated. So what? Edwin A. Olson Spokane

Franklin wouldn’t fit at Review

The editorial board’s printing of a Benjamin Franklin article might make the editors feel vindication but it just makes me feel the times are a changing. Franklin and his peers had a different set of morals to live by than The Spokesman-Review.

In his ninth point, Franklin writes of the conflict of printing “vicious or silly things” and gives as an example the high sales of Robin Hood songs against the slow moving David’s Psalms. I would like to see that problem in the morning newspaper.

Franklin continues in the 10th, saying, “I myself have constantly refused to print any thing that might countenance Vice, or promote Immorality.” While historians might have a chuckle over that, the society and world Franklin lived in would burn every newspaper they read in Spokane as indecent.

While Franklin’s article is used out of text and is in conflict with this newspaper, the biggest hypocrisy is the fifth, where he says, “both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public.”

But The Spokesman-Review doesn’t print equally those in the community who disagree with the its views. That’s impossible when the staff is a consensus, of both political and social correctness and bias, and in conflict with the average and majority reader, with extreme economic aggrandizement by the newspaper owners.

This newspaper truly does make the news, and that’s called propaganda. James C. Allen Spokane

Ads-to-movie time ratio outrageous

Made-for-TV movies; one frustrating advertisement after another, with an ever diminishing story line.

Recently, network TV had Candice Bergen falling for some young hunk who was mentally slow but who was also sensitive, trustworthy and sexy. How could any woman resist? My wife convinced me we should start this flick to find out how Bergen deals with his disability. Here is what I saw.

The first program segment was 17 minutes long. It was followed by 10 ads and programming promotions taking upwards of five minutes. The next story segment was 11 minutes long, again, with 10 ads.

The third was the same as the first, 17 minutes with 10 ads. That took us up to the top of the hour. Now we are hooked. Who could turn this thing off now? In the second hour, the program slots are shorter.

The network thinks we won’t notice. Now it is eight minutes of story followed by 10 ads and promos.

From here on out, movie segments last 12, 10 and 14 minutes, respectively. What really gets my goat is now the number of ads is increased. One segment had 14 ads and promos.

I hardly remember the story line, yet I counted 66 ads and programming promotions while watching 89 minutes of movie, This is more than a half-hour of ads in a two-hour period.

And they wonder why people rent videos or pay for adfree cable programs or satellite service. Dave E. Graham Liberty Lake

Pope not like Chinese despot

I was offended by the implication presented by the Oliphant cartoon in the July 7 Spokesman-Review. While Pope John Paul II has officially restricted some kinds of dissent within the Roman Catholic Church, there is no comparison to the restriction of dissent within mainland China.

Any member of the Roman Catholic Church who disagrees with what has been declared necessary to believe does have a choice. Catholics accept some decisions as a matter of deference to the teaching authority of the Church, although in our hearts we may question the reasons.

A person in China who dissents has a choice also, but it is between life and death, persecution and imprisonment. It is not the same! Peggy Faust Coeur d’Alene

OFFICER DOWN

No mercy for Huff’s killer

Linda Huff was a wonderful, close friend of mine for 13 years. We did everything together. I will always remember her smile and laugh. She was a hard worker and wasn’t judgmental with anyone.

I cannot express the way I feel about the person who took her life from her family and kids. She had a very strong bond with all of them, including her close friends. We also worked together at Circle K, and that’s where we met most of the officers. She showed interest in law enforcement at that time and rode with the officers anytime she could.

Our lives changed a lot in those 13 years, but we always managed to keep in contact and our friendship was always the same. She loved life and wanted to live her life to the fullest.

As a taxpayer, I don’t think I should contribute to keep the suspect alive. He should suffer rather than be given any hope of living. I pray the system will be fair to Linda, as she would have done the same to fight for fairness for me. Terri L. Jones Caldwell, Idaho

‘Yager always seemed like a friend’

I graduated from high school with Scott Yager and spent some time with him at Coeur d’Alene Lake, goofing around. Yager always seemed like a friend to me. When I saw his picture on the news, being identified as the individual suspected of shooting and killing Trooper Linda Huff, I was shocked. It has haunted me since it happened.

Something must have set Huff’s killer off. Whatever that might be, I hope someday we know, so maybe other tragedies like this can be avoided.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Huff’s family and also to Yager’s family. Both have lost someone they loved. I pray that God takes care of the children and Chad Huff, and also Scott and his family. Jamie D. Howe Orofino, Idaho

Fellow officer respected, missed

Re: “Trooper signed out at memorial service,” (June 30). I am a police officer in the Air Force. I deeply respect everything Trooper Linda Huff represented and I hope I can perform my job as a peacemaker with as much courage, dedication, and honor as she. To her family, my deepest sorrow and regret. Huff will be missed not only in Idaho but around the world. Vance A. Thurman Fairchild Air Force Base

Disparaging words overheard? Tough

I read where the deputies who were guarding Trooper Linda Huff’s alleged killer during his hospital stay are being investigated for overheard remarks concerning him. My, my, the poor baby!

If remarks concerning the alleged gunman offend the nurse, the patient or anyone else, they’d best stay far from our household. For that matter, from barbershops, taverns, restaurants, lunchrooms or workplace conversations. I would wager the comments made there about the shooter would be a lot more offensive to their tender ears than any made by the deputies, who had just lost a fellow officer. I know they would if heard under our roof.

Here is a man, and I use that term loosely, who, as reports go, was seen bending over an already downed officer, holding a gun to her head and placing a final shot into her body. Why would anyone be offended if one would comment about this alleged killer or make reference to his person or ancestry?

In addition, why should there by any doubt whatsoever about requesting the death penalty, should a jury render a verdict of guilty in this matter? It appears it was premeditated.

Feel for the trooper, not the culprit! Bennie Benson Elk