Letters To The Editor

ENVIRONMENT

Clean up needs to be now, not later

Your editorial “EPA Needs to lift its heavy hand” (June 10) is reminiscent of the time you editorially attacked cleaning up mining pollution in the Spokane River after release of The Lands Council’s Get The LEAD Out! video (May, 1996).

While your rhetoric is a bit toned down from “there are no dead bodies lining the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River,” the message hasn’t changed - EPA should limit its involvement to specific locales where there is objective evidence of a problem.

Pray tell, what level of “objective evidence” do you need? More dead tundra swans? More lead in Spokane area drinking water wells? More poisoned children both upstream and downstream from the arbitrary 21 square mile cleanup area?

As Bob Templin said (The Spokesman-Review, June 10), “I don’t know if there is contamination or not. If there is, it should be exposed and we should do whatever it takes to clean it up.”

Now is the time for investigation and cleanup, not when we have dead bodies lining the lake and river. Mark Solomon, Executive Director, The Lands Council Spokane

GOVERNMENT/POLITICS

Clinton’s behavior not surprising

Re: “Trouble foreseen if Clinton forced to testify” (June 8).

The article is pre-empted with the caption, “President would be giving word without knowing all facts Starr has assembled.”

What a pathetic state our country is in when a sitting president is fearful of what facts are already known in an investigation that he is the subject of. How long has Clinton been saying he is innocent and will fully cooperate? No one else who has been questioned or deposed was given advance notice of questions or the content of facts already known by Starr. Clinton has nothing to fear if he tells the truth and nothing but the truth. There should be no fear of a “perjury trap” if Clinton just tells the truth.

Clinton should be open with the people and be the first in line to testify. What a poor example he is setting for the youths of this country and the rest of the world. But after all, he is a lawyer and a politician. What do you expect? William M. Litsinger Sandpoint

Congress, get out of our lives

The Congress wants to protect us from “demon tobacco.” While I agree that smoking is not a healthy habit, I disagree in the strongest terms possible that it should be dealt with in Congress.

Alcohol prohibition didn’t work. The fiasco of drug prohibition is still with us in the drug war. The war on drugs has been a disaster for this country. Increased drug availability and the deaths can be traced directly to the governments attempt to control drugs.

Now, again for our protection, Congress wants to relieve us of the moral choice of cigarettes. If congress succeeds in passing tobacco legislation they will create a new growth industry and black market with smuggled cigarettes.

Most of the congress critters are salivating over the 300 billion in taxes they can’t wait to spend on their pet projects. I suspect their motives. Their success in prohibitions and legislating mortality has been dismal; actually worse than dismal, a disaster because of the loss in liberties and lives.

Congress hasn’t learn even from their own mistakes.

It is time to end the drug war as a lost cause and for them to butt out of our lives.

I would be happier if they took the salary we pay them and then went home and did nothing.

Perhaps it is time for government to stop trying to do good and simply do no harm. Most of our problems we can fix ourselves if you just get out of the way. Paul A. Claussen Spokane

MFN should be renewed

In all the discussions I have listened to regarding the renewal of most-favored-nation (MFN), it seems to me, as a Christian, that I have to come down on the side of renewing it.

As a conservative Republican, I am really torn, but I just don’t think we can ignore a population of 1.2 billion people. I know that Christians have been mistreated, but should that be a reason for them (Christians) and us to give up? We can’t convert anyone if we stay away.

Sen. Symms used to say that we should bomb communist countries with Sears-Roebuck catalogues. If we cut off trade entirely, we only shoot ourselves in the foot.

Does that mean we have to give them our military secrets? Of course not. Was President Clinton wrong in doing so? Yes - and I think he should be impeached for doing so.

Should we allow the Chinese or anyone else to influence our elections? Never! And we should punish those who can be bought.

I’ve listened to stories about people risking their lives to take Bibles into Russia and distributing them. That - and teaching them about freedom - helped bring Russia down.

We should renew MFN, for our sake. Write to your Congress members and ask them to vote for renewal of MFN. Ruthie Johnson Hayden Lake, Idaho

IN THE PAPER

Clarification of article needed

Re: Your June 6 article, written by Tom Sowa, “Soccer center builder has molestation record,” regarding the owner Willi Aigner.

I was misquoted where it says, “As for myself, if he registers or does what he had to do, that’s enough for me.” I did not say that and it was not true. This made it sound like I am personally unconcerned. When your reporter mentioned registration requirements for sex offenders, I said that I thought he should have to comply with any laws on public disclosure.

While I am personally very concerned, I was also very clear to point out that our nonprofit organization (Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association) has nothing to do with this commercial venture and we have no control over individuals who choose to go there.

I was certain that this subject would be of great concern to our members. With public disclosure made, each parent can decide for themselves whether they want to use this facility. David Barlos, president Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association, Spokane

Historical error made in editorial

I am very appreciative of the editorial, “There must be no ‘not knowing”’ by Scott Sines and Doug Floyd, and the accompanying photograph of the Buchenwald concentration camp. However, careful reading of the editorial suggests a serious historical error.

The article refers to “6 million people.” From 1933 until 1945, during the Holocaust, the Nazis’ deliberate and methodical attempt to eradicate all those people that Hitler deemed undesirable, 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million Jewish children, were killed. An additional 10 million people - Poles, Slavs, Catholic priests, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies, Marxists, homosexuals, people with mental and physical handicaps - also died in gas chambers and death camps. In this age of Holocaust deniers, we must be very careful not to overlook these important facts. When racism and hate speak, nobody is safe. Mary M. Noble Spokane

Column reveals true motive

I found Leonard Pitts Jr.’s editorial (“We have a thing for the underdog,” June 6) odious and repugnant.

Pitts lays bare his soul in this piece, and in doing so reveals his motive: pure malice and hatred of the good for being the good. Nowhere in his piece do I find any justification for his willingness to tear down the best in any walk of life. The closest he comes to it is, “Greatness makes us nervous. Contradicts our egalitarian conceits.” In other words, the only “justification” for his opinion is envy, pure and simple.

Pitts acknowledges that this feeling “felt … wrong” and that “the greatness of one ennobles all, by pointing toward the highest potential of our kind.” Nonetheless, he continues to feel this resentment, apparently unconcerned with identifying its cause or implications, or with taking any measures to change his evil views. If he did undertake such an examination of his views, he would recognize that it is not a view he could hold honestly.

Pitts is correct in identifying his feeling with egalitarianism. Given that this feeling underlies the rhetoric and dominant political ideology of the anti-capitalist and pro-socialist Left, I will not be surprised to find this feeling reflected in Pitts’s future editorials when the subject shifts from sports to politics. In both cases, the consequences can only be destructive. Chris Cathcart Spokane

Immigrants welcome - if you’ll work

A front-page article in the June 4 Spokesman-Review, “Activist rescues immigrant aid,” praised a woman’s efforts to restore food stamps to legal immigrants. The activist, Linda Stone, stated, “The rules when they came here said, if you got in trouble, there’d be a safety net. Then they changed the rules.” That is not entirely correct.

By law an immigrant is required to have a sponsor who is responsible for their financial care. This law was passed specifically to prevent immigrants from flooding into the United States to take advantage of our generous welfare laws. I do not believe that it is the taxpayers’ responsibility to take care of immigrants, legal or otherwise.

While Stone’s campaign to provide aid to these people is commendable, it would be much more fair simply to require those who sponsor the immigrants to step up and fulfill their legal obligation.

This country needs to continue to attract immigrants with a strong work ethic and a will to succeed instead of welfare candidates. Our message to potential immigrants should be, if you are willing to work very hard, you will be guaranteed certain inalienable rights that will provide opportunities that few other countries offer.

It should not be, if you come to the United States we will give you free room and board so that you may sit on your butt and watch Jerry Springer all day. Hal R. Dixon Spokane

VIOLENCE

Help stop kids killing kids

Re: Kevin Pacheo’s “Kids Killing Kids” (June 1). I’m strongly encouraged that we, as adults, take action against child violence.

It is a proven fact that children need affection, love and attention in order to grow as an individual. With the absence of any of these factors, it is difficult for a child to mature properly and learn the difference between right and wrong.

We as a society need to direct more attention to our children because, in all respect, they’re not getting enough, resulting in an increase of gangs, runaways, and child violence.

Dealing with the issue about television and its influence of violence, we obviously need to monitor what our children are watching. We don’t need to let ideas about power from violence stray into the minds of young adults. With visions of violence dominating our screens, who could blame a child to learn and react.

I realize that it is impossible to censor every television show that is broadcasted, but I do believe it is mandatory in order to reduce, and hopefully, stop these kids killing kids. Andrea Scott Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Holiday to remember all loved ones

Re: Robert May’s letter on June 2. I believe Mr. May has Memorial Day confused with Veteran’s Day.

From the time I was a small child in the 1930’s our family and all the other families we knew took flowers to our local cemeteries and placed them at our dear departed relations graves. Memorial Day has always been to remember and honor our departed loved ones. Mrs. Darwin Long Spokane

Dress up, not down

Anyone who has visited a school lately or driven by groups of kids at bus stops is probably wondering why in the world would the Chase Youth Commission promote dressing down, using city leaders and businesses to encourage it?

So many kids already dress so sloppy I can’t believe their parents let them out the door.

It’s bad enough parents and schools allow it. Role models should set standards, not lower them. Maybe next year the City Council can all wear backwards ball caps and nose rings. Whitney Porter, age 10 Spokane

Dog breeders don’t buy from ads

Mary Cosentini (Letters, June 8) purports to tell “the true story behind the disappearance of millions of America’s beloved pets.” Her “true” story would lead us to believe that thieves are going to all the trouble of stealing our pets just to advertise them in newspapers as “free to good homes.” Then these “free,” “stolen” pets are sold to USDA licensed dog dealers, puppy mills, breeders, dog fighting rings, satanic cults and biomedical research laboratories.

I am responding as a dog breeder of some 30 years standing. A dog breeder would never buy a “free” puppy or pet from a newspaper ad. Our dogs are selectively bred. We do pedigree research and comparisons to ensure that our animals are sound physically and correct in temperament. Most of us breed within a selected gene pool in order to maintain control over the genetic integrity of our breeding animals. I can trace my dogs’ pedigrees back to the 1830s.

I’m not unique among dog fanciers. Pedigree research is the backbone of any successful breeding program. Stolen pets just don’t come with the accouterments necessary to become part of a breeding program.

Each breed has a representative parent club or organization that operates nationally, or internationally. Breeders and fanciers are members of these clubs. We obtain our breeding stock from our peers. We attend dog shows. We operate in a completely different arena from pet owners. We don’t advertise in newspapers, but rather in dog publications and catalogs. Some of us have web pages to educate the public about our breed. Cherie Graves Paragon American Staffordshire Terriers, Newport, Wash.

Defacing deserves stiff punishment

I could not believe my eyes when I read about the defacing of one of America’s greatest monuments, the USS Missouri!

I served in the U.S. Navy, and my final duty station was in Bremerton, where the USS Missouri was previously moored. Every day I would see the “Mighty Mo” and automatically I would think of all the times it defended not only American peace but also world peace. This is the site of one of the biggest moments in world history. This was the site where the last “great war” came to an end. I was totally against the moving of the “Mo.” Now this just reinforces why.

Something like this never would have happened in Bremerton. It is my belief that the three teenage suspects, if found guilty, should be punished to the extreme. I don’t mean a few hours of community service and a small fine, either. I consider what these three (allegedly) have done not only to be offensive to every proud, flag-waving, redblooded American, veteran or not, but also to the men who fought and died on that boat so we could be free. They might as well have spray painted the Statue of Liberty or the traveling Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall. Or how about burning every red, white an blue that waves proudly in the air?

I just wonder sometimes if kids today have knowledge and respect for what Americans before them have done to preserve their freedom. Alex C. Arnold Pinehurst, Idaho