Letters To The Editor
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
Let’s see how cowardly this bigot is
To the gutless letter writer at Gonzaga University:
I’m 51 years old. I have a bad shoulder that limits what I can do and I’m a diabetic. I’m also a tired former Marine who has a lot of pride and a lot of hope for this country.
I spent a lot of hours in psychology courses at college discussing the gay lifestyle. Not being a gay person, there was a lot I didn’t understand. I’m not a woman, either, so I’m sure I can’t understand everything about their lives. I’m not Indian, Asian, Latino or African-American, either, so I lack a lot of knowledge about their lives.
What I do understand is that no matter what color, gender of sexual lifestyle you are given, you have equal and unalienable rights.
So here’s the deal. I’ll meet you, and your buddies, if you have any, at any fence west of the Mississippi and we’ll try to “educate” each other. We’ll also see who’s left hanging around and who walks away. Don’t worry, I’ll be alone.
Sometimes, you just have to throw out the trash. David T. Bray Spokane
Good young people not hard to find
Re: Leslie A. Haskell’s comments (“Our Generation writers terrific,” Letters, Oct. 26).
I’m a grandmother who also enjoys reading the Our Generation page of teenagers’ views on movies, TV programs, books and articles. They sometimes raise new issues and give valid points.
Instead of all the articles on teenage gangs, violence and sex, this section of newspaper gives me as much hope as seeing the youth group of my church spending time helping to build a church in Mexico or volunteering to work on a Habitat for Humanity home here.
To those World War II veterans who wrote in a while back wondering if the country was worth saving, I’d have to say you’ll find your answer every Monday morning in the Our Generation section of this newspaper. Beverly Elmore Spokane
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Rant was spacey in the extreme
Re: Johannes Hacker’s Oct. 29 (Opinion) piece about John Glenn’s space shuttle flight.
Hacker first unleashes a flurry of churlish and jingoistic invective at the federal government, NASA, the spirit of international cooperation and, in passing, the United Nations. One can imagine that there was spittle on the pages of his original submission to Knight Ridder.
He then spews forth a volley of mindless cant about “entrepreneurial visionaries” as the rightful heirs of human hopes for space exploration. A rewrite of the author’s biography might read, “Disgruntled former NASA employee now working for extremist libertarian-capitalist think tank.”
Does he seriously believe that American private enterprise without governmental stewardship and major input from largely public academic institutions could have brought us to the moon within a decade of President Kennedy’s commitment to doing so? I’m not sure what else we can do at this point, other than to build an orbital space station and plan for a manned mission to Mars (a six month one-way trip) while continuing a robust unmanned exploration program of the solar system. Does “unfettered free-market capitalism” have a hyperdrive up its sleeve? The best they seem to have come up with so far is pagers and cell-phones that work in Qatar and Queensland as well as 200 satellite channels of professional wrestling, Home Shopping Channel and Jerry Springer with a crystal clear picture and surround sound.
The Spokesman-Review editorial staff bears responsibility for deciding to print this piece, implying some affection for (or at least passing interest in) the inflammatory anti-government demagoguery contained therein. Chris Sistrom, M.D. Spokane
Urge change in WIC rules
Did you know that 44 percent of the infants in the United States receive vouchers from WIC, the joint state and federal Women Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program? These vouchers purchase milk, cheese, eggs, juice, vegetables, tuna, peanut butter and cereal.
WIC does not allow purchase of these products if they are labeled “organic.” Therefore, none of the federal or state dollars that funnel through this large program go to support organic farmers.
Don’t you think low-income mothers should have the choice to purchase organic foods for their precious children too?
Please take five minutes of your time to make a difference in the lives of thousands of Washington children by writing a short letter or e-mail that simply says: Please allow mothers on WIC to purchase organic food with their vouchers to Marsha Bowling, Washington State WIC Program,P.O. Box 47886, Olympia, WA 98504; FAX 360-586-3890; e-mail: mav1303@hub.doh.wa.gov Bright Spirit Davenport
HEALTH CARE
State undermined coverage plans
I never thought I would find myself defending my former employer, Medical Service Corp., but your errant coverage of their cancellation of both the Healthy Options and Basic Health contracts casts MSC, unfairly, in an unfavorable light. To suggest that MSC doesn’t care about the poor is simply irresponsible.
The blame - if blame is the correct word - rests with the state of Washington. The state’s niggardly approach, in the name of political expediency, failed to appropriate enough money to allow MSC and other carriers to provide coverage.
The Legislature demanded a Cadillac but would only pony up for a Ford.
Two solutions come immediately to mind:
Tighten up requirements so that people who have health insurance available to them through their employer are ineligible for a state subsidized plan.
Repeal the Women’s Health Care Act. This law, enacted in January 1996, provided that women belonging to an HMO could self-refer to any women’s health care provider for “female” services. Within an HMO, the primary care provider receives a monthly capitation which includes routine gynecological examinations. However, if a member visited a women’s health care specialist, the insurance companies were paying for the same service twice.
This practice contributed significantly to making Healthy Options and Basic Health money-losing propositions.
Insurance companies, including MSC, had two choices: raise premiums of private policyholders to subsidize the state’s lust for a Cadillac or close the doors on people standing in line to buy a Ford.
I believe MSC made the correct, moral choice. Patricia A. McManus Spokane
Rectify medi-gap coverage mischief
I am outraged at the practices of companies like QualMed. Shame on them for luring the most vulnerable of our seniors into this flawed program and then dropping them when the bucks weren’t big enough. Many of these people dropped their insurance medi-gap coverage from reputable firms to join QualMed. These policies were carried for a long period of time and now cannot be renewed.
The politicos wring their hands and do nothing. No law exists to stop this unconscionable practice. Where is the attorney general’s office? Where is the outrage?
Papers like The Spokesman-Review should take a stand. Demand answers, don’t just repeat the denials. Rally those to a class action lawsuit. Call “60 Minutes.” Get Milt Priggee to do a weeklong series of cartoons. Please, do something.
These seniors in many cases do not have the ability to defend themselves against these moneygrubbers. We must rally to their sides, as we will all be there one day.
In the good old days, we took fast-talking shysters like these, applied copious amounts of tar followed by feathers and ran them out of town on a rail.
If we can’t do it literally, we should do it practically, by any means possible. Jim L. White Spokane
BUSINESS AND LABOR
Anti-union sentiment makes no sense
I moved to Spokane three years ago after having spent some of my youth in the area. The recent Kaiser strike and some citizens’ reaction has left me discouraged about the attitude toward our neighbors in Spokane.
We have a big-shouldered corporation that takes millions of dollars in profits out of our community and spends millions importing outsiders to scab our neighbors. I cannot understand how one citizen of our community could side with an outside millionaire against people who make up the backbone of our communities, pay taxes to support the schools and build our roads, shop in our businesses and go to our churches. Even talk show host Mike Fitzsimmons found it necessary to run interference for this corporate giant and used his show to bully striking workers because they did not understand the subtleties of labor law.
This strike should be philosophically supported by the community or, if for no other reason, supported because it just makes good business sense to support the members of our community. Eric P. Slind Colbert
Don’t let conflict kill Kaiser
I have just received a brochure delivered door to door titled, Why we’re on strike at Kaiser Aluminum. Whether or not Kaiser’s offer was fair isn’t clear to me. What is clear is that even a large basic industry like Kaiser is not necessarily a permanent fixture in our community.
Aluminum industry prices are established in the world market and are totally beyond the company’s control. For Kaiser to accept terms that would jeopardize its future would neither be in the company’s nor the workers’ best interest.
The present problem brings to mind a visit to Chalmett, La., some years ago, where I toured a Kaiser plant of eight potlines which was closed permanently. It was a chilling sight. I believe that closure was due to power rates getting too high for profitable operation. If power, labor or raw materials gets to that point anywhere, future operation of any plant is in jeopardy.
Calling a strike at this time was a major mistake. I urge the union and company to settle this quickly, before permanent harm is done. Andrew W. Berg Spokane
Good people keep Kaiser going
Re: Bill Keenan’s Nov. 2 letter (“Kaiser has failed real employees”) is an example of one-sided hysteria. It is based only on emotions, not facts.
“Those managers who continue to work should be ashamed.” I know several nonunion professionals working for Kaiser who are so good that they could easily get another job anywhere at anytime - probably a much better-paying one. Instead, they work 12-hour shifts at the factory floor right now. Young men and women, husbands and wives with small children are putting in those grueling hours to keep the company afloat. In addition, they created a work environment of friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding. I feel respect for all of them; there is nothing they should be ashamed of.
It doesn’t matter what side of the barricade we are on. Once we succumb to hysterical temptations we are wrong (“Kaisers plan was to destroy the lives of their employees”). Those outbursts can give us short term emotional relief but also blur our vision. People ruled by emotions can utter bombastic statements and feel good about themselves.
In reality, they are weak, likely to be misled and used. Peter C. Dolina Veradale
Turns out escalator is just a treadmill
Re: Haymaker “unlocking value.”
Well, now it sounds like the big dog has barked and the little dogs know their fate. After years and years of working like dogs and boot-licking to get where they are, Kaiser’s supervisors and other salaried workers are right back where they started.
We are gone and you are us.
Have fun, suckers. You have the job but will you ever have a life again? Margaret Larive Spokane
THE MEDIA
Yet another rifle-pointing picture
I am so angry, I hope that I can write a coherent letter. Here it is, Halloween day. I’m eating my breakfast and open up the paper to look at some cute Halloween costumes. To my amazement, I see a cute guy in reindeer horns pointing a rifle at Minnie Mouse! What will it take to make you realize that this is irresponsible journalism?
If I were a newspaper judge, I would throw you in jail. This is the second time this year that you’ve neglected your ethics and depicted guns as toys to play with. The first time was showing some Japanese student aiming a gun at another student. I was hoping that you’d learn.
I suggest that you spend 30 days with 30 families who have been affected by their children playing with loaded guns. Maybe this will make you aware of how dangerous it is to depict these deadly weapons as some kind of funny toy.
Wake up before you get sued for being the cause of another accidental shooting. Wake up and demonstrate some responsibility. Mary A. Naber Spokane
Cartoon as wrong as it was ill-timed
I have lived in Spokane only one month and am, therefore, ignorant of rules and traditions in Washington regarding election day, both at the polls and in the media. Having resided previously in both Ohio and California towns where all personal endorsements of candidates and issues - both by the newspapers and the public - had been curtailed by election day, I was absolutely incredulous to see the highly partisan Priggee political cartoon regarding the Clinton presidential scandal (Opinion, Nov. 3).
The implication was that voters should consider who is really at fault (the man who lied about his “personal” sex life or the man who wasted $40 million of “your” tax money) before casting their votes for a wide variety of candidates. Strange, I don’t recall that Clinton and Starr were on the ballot.
It is unfortunate that the public is led to believe that Clinton’s lying did not waste the public’s money when an admission of truth months previously could have put the entire issue at rest millions of investigative dollars ago.
It’s bad enough that Starr, who was hired to seek the truth, has been portrayed as the bad guy while our deceptive, lawbreaking president is seen as the victim. What I find highly objectionable is that this form of public persuasion - a political cartoon - was published on the morning of election day - knowing that this image would be one of the last things voters would see before casting their ballots. Penny Allen Nelson Spokane