Letters To The Editor

WASHINGTON STATE

Character matters - elect Personett

“At least he’s not a Democrat.” So said a recent letter writer while implicitly admitting the glaring deficiencies of James West, the embattled bully who plans to turn on the charm and once again slip past an indifferent electorate. The truculent tyrant can then revert to his Olympian hardball hostilities.

Citing their right to be politically indifferent, more and more people are practicing. “citizenship-lite.” As a consequence, politicians have learned to count on a prevailing apathy and diminishing voter turnout. All are caught in the vortex of cynicism and hopelessness. Let’s stop it!

West is relying on those who don’t know or care about his mode of operation. That’s sad, because the senator is a mean-mannered man who richly deserves repudiation. His oily slick smear sheet mailed under the cover of the Republican Party just before the primary election displays his hit-man mentality.

Judy Personett is the alternative. She’s a level-headed, broadly educated and disciplined achiever. Personett would serve the district well and save constituents from further embarrassment. How refreshing!

People who manifest serious character disorders should not hold public office. It’s that simple. It’s a matter of principle that’s applicable across the board. It’s the fundamental justification for people from both parties who are insisting on President Clinton’s ouster.

In this spirit, I as a Democrat invite Republicans to forgo partisanship in this 6th District contest of honor. Bring “Wayout” West to an East Side accounting. Terminate our hot-tempered incumbent’s political career. Character does matter. Elect Personett. Thomas L. Westbrook Spokane

Judge’s election shows system works

Do not sell the voters short. People are far more aware than they’re given credit for being by the media. I was very impressed with The Spokesman-Review’s coverage of candidates for the Supreme Court. I faxed it to a West Side friend whose paper didn’t cover the candidates so extensively.

When Charles Johnson was elected to the Supreme Court, it was not by chance. Justice Keith Callow had recently upheld several cities’ passage of breed-specific dog laws. Breed-specific dog laws empower the enacting body to add any or all other breeds of dogs with no further public notice. Dog owners were rightfully frightened that a Washington city would set a precedent by prohibiting the ownership of all dogs based upon Justice Callow’s findings.

Responsible Dog Owners of the Western States called Johnson for an interview to see if he was a candidate we could support. He was. RDOWS set up voter registration booths at dog shows and handed out educational pamphlets to educate dog owners on the candidates for Supreme Court justice. We set up calling trees urging people to vote. The system simply and beautifully worked.

I remember when Phil Talmadge wrote saying that Supreme Court justices should not be elected by the people. Now that he’s been elected to the Supreme Court by the voters, I wonder if he has changed his opinion? The people are always best served by those whom they elect. Cherie Graves Newport, Wash.

I-200 seeks to benefit the advantaged

On Nov. 3, Washington voters will decide a ballot initiative that its supporters are calling “the new civil rights initiative.” The truth is that Initiative 200 will go a long way toward undoing gains won by the true civil rights pioneers of a generation ago.

Supporters of I-200 want you to believe that affirmative action constitutes reverse discrimination, that it gives special rights and privileges to people who haven’t earned them. Such reasoning plainly fails to account for reality. There are no quota systems in Washington. It’s not the case that people of color or women get jobs or scholarships simply because of their race or their gender.

Affirmative action programs are rarely used in making decisions about hiring, contracting, or college admissions. During 1993-1994, less than 10 percent of all state appointments were given to members of protected groups.

Initiative 200 will remove people of color and women from protected groups - people deemed by the law to be underrepresented in competition for jobs, contracts and college admissions. It wouldn’t change the status of any other protected group: disabled veterans, Vietnam veterans, disabled persons. Because we don’t live in a world that provides equal opportunity for all, programs that level the playing field must remain in place. All protected groups should remain equal in status under the state’s affirmative action guidelines.

The state has a duty and responsibility to protect the rights of the least advantaged. Passing I-200 will strengthen the claims and the power of the most advantaged. It’s motivated by the politics of fear and division, not the politics of justice. Vote no on I-200 on Nov. 3. Brad W. Read Spokane

I-200 about preferences, entitlements

In November, Washington voters will have the opportunity to vote on Initiative 200, the Washington state civil rights initiative. The official ballot title: “Shall government be prohibited from discriminating or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, education and contracting?”

Spokane College Women’s Association has invited Ward Connerly, statewide chairman of the 1995 California Civil Rights Initiative Proposition 209 to be our Oct. 21 speaker. As a member of the Board of Regents of the University of California, he led the successful 1995 effort eliminate preferences in the university’s admissions, contracting and employment activities.

In an article in Hillsdale College’s Imprimis publication, Connerly tells of his visit to Washington state over 50 years ago and the painful childhood memories of that time. He was overjoyed when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. He now believes many affirmative action programs which were begun to provide equal opportunity turned into blatant racial and gender quotas, preferences and set asides. In many minds, civil rights are often understood to mean preferential entitlements.< Connerly frequently quotes John F. Kennedy, who said, “Race has no place in American life or law.” He takes pride in his “All-American” ancestry - Irish, African, North American Indian and French. He believes it is high time those who are obsessed with color develop a little color blindness. Donna R. Kuhn program chairman, Spokane College Women’s Association, Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Smith puts people’s interests first

Linda Smith is deservedly loved by the people because she’s driven by her convictions, not political motivations. Let the proof speak for itself.

Smith refuses to accept financial support from lobbyists and interest groups or PAC money. She opposed Congress when it sought to take health care away from veterans. Congress wanted to transfer the funds to corporate welfare. Smith backed America’s veterans.

Smith’s special interest obligations are to working families. Unlike Patty Murray, Smith has fought to lower taxes for working families and balance the budget. Conversely, Murray has joined forces with lobbyists in Washington, D.C., to increase the taxes working families must pay.

Smith is clearly the sensible choice for the U.S. Senate. She has proven her loyalty to the people of Washington state. Kelly W. White Spokane

Gingrich, there you go again

House Speaker Newt Gingrich is heading toward a shutdown of the government for partisan purposes again.

The public clearly wants Congress and the president to move on to the business of averting world recession, saving Social Security, preventing chaos in Russia and halting the movement of nuclear weaponry into terrorist hands. Instead, Gingrich and his henchmen, among whom we can now include Kenneth Starr, want to shut down the government between now and the year 2000 in hopes of gaining a Republican White House and Congress. The public punished the Republicans in 1996 for this tactic and I hope they are about to again. Craig A. Mason Richland

Murray has shown she’s no moderate

During the fall of 1992, U.S. Senate candidate Patty Murray took my question on a KXLY talk show. As a pragmatic, independent voter looking for fiscal balance, I was encouraged by her self-portrayal as a moderate “new Democrat.”

Following her election, I was quite dismayed as Murray helped pass a huge tax increase, opposed a balanced budget amendment, opposed the successful welfare reform that ultimately passed and supported virtually every spending bill and tax increase that arrived in the upper chamber. Once you add in opposition to bills moderating huge court settlements and reform of our bankruptcy laws, it was becoming clear to me we had elected an extremely liberal politician.

Was I alone in my assessment? Apparently not. A ranking of all 100 U.S. senators by the National Taxpayers Union placed Murray in the 7th percentile representing the most socialist-minded of all U.S. senators. She is ranked to the left of liberal icons such as West Virginia’s Robert Byrd and only a few percentage points above the most extreme elements of the body, such as Ted Kennedy.

Now that Murray is again running as a moderate politician in this fall’s election, I’m compelled to urge the people of my community to look beyond the campaign rhetoric. Look hard at this politician’s record and ask yourself if her positions really represent how we would like to be represented in Washington, D.C. James Dowell Spokane

Don’t be distracted by scandal static

Republicans are using the Lewinsky scandal to prevent the focus of the upcoming election from being on their poor legislative record. People should not lose sight of the real issues.

The fact is, the Republican-controlled Congress has been a do-nothing Congress. Big issues, like how the standard of living of too many families with children is going down, were barely addressed. Campaign finance reform was debated for months but nothing was accomplished. Politicians still spend most of their time raising campaign contributions instead of doing the people’s business.

Nothing was done about health care reform. Among modern industrialized nations, the U.S. still has by far the most costly and unequally distributed health care system. On Tobacco reform, we just heard lots of talk.

Congress’s big accomplishment was renaming National Airport after Ronald Reagan, the Republican most responsible for quadrupling the national debt. Interest on the debt is $4,000 per year per family. IRS reform didn’t help the 98 percent of people who never get audited.

The federal budget is larger than ever. The Cold War has been over for 10 years but we still have a huge defense budget loaded with pork, which hurts the economy during times of balanced budgets. Social Security is underfunded past 2015 and the Republicans proposed using the small budget surplus for a tax cut.

People shouldn’t allow the politically motivated Starr investigation - the Republicans’ $40 million lawyer war on the presidency - to decide the election. S.S. Howze Sagle, Idaho

Minority rules, which is risky

Gary Garrison of Kettle Falls writes about Clinton, “This is the person 49 percent of the people chose to run the country.”

Clinton did receive 49 percent of the vote, but only 49 percent of those eligible to vote turned out to vote. Therefore, when you do the arithmetic, the fact emerges that only 24 percent of the American people chose Clinton. Throughout the history of free elections, many undeserving, criminal and illegitimate leaders have been put into power by 24 percent or less of the people. This is how free nations lose their freedom at the ballot box, one example being Germany in the 1930s. Wayne Norris Spokane

PRIGGEE

Give credit where’ it’s really due

Re: Milt Priggee’s cartoon of Sept. 24.

It is the same old story: Reagan raised the debt and the country would be bankrupt except for Bill Clinton being elected and saving the country.

Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution grants Congress the power “To borrow money on the credit of the United States.” Neither the executive nor judicial branch of government has that authority. Therefore, Congress has the power to borrow and is ultimately responsible for the use of this power.

The fact that deficits increased when the Democrats controlled Congress and have decreased while the Republicans control Congress must have been overlooked by Priggee.

Also, a balanced budget and welfare reform were two elements of the Republicans’ Contract with America, which was greatly criticized by the president and his party. One of Clinton’s proposed budgets was defeated in the Senate by 99 votes.

Regarding the other accomplishments credited to President Clinton, consider the following: National health care (aka socialized medicine) was defeated.

“Stopped the killing in Bosnia”: Men and women of the armed forces are performing that function. Clinton did promise that they would be home in 1996.

“Opened trade door to Asia”: Have you ever heard of Commodore Matthew C. Perry?

At least you got Clinton’s statue right. Of course, I assume that she is wearing a blue dress. J. Michael Volz Spokane

Cartoon example of liberal bias

The Sept. 24 Priggee “cartoon” was a fine example of the political bias practiced by The Spokesman-Review. The one on the following day was another. Typical of Priggee, he concentrated on and exaggerated the bad points of the Republicans and trivialized their accomplishments while greatly exaggerating, if not outright lying, about the accomplishments of Clinton, a Democrat. A more reasonable paper would have long ago fired this guy who not only will spew out lies to support his extreme political prejudices but openly shows his despise for most of the people in this community.

But what can you expect with a paper with headlines that read, “Clinton rides landslide” (with 49 percent of the vote), “Clinton apologizes” (he didn’t), and “To tell the truth - it’s OK to lie” (as long as you are a Democrat or liberal journalist). With propaganda like this it’s obvious why the polls showing support for Clinton are skewed the way they are - assuming that you can believe they were not slanted from the start. You never see this type of reporting for a Republican.

Yes, I saw whole picture. And no, this scandal is not about sex or Ken Starr, contrary to your diversionary reporting and the spins from the White House. It is about abuse of power by the executive branch. It is an abuse that is even worse than that committed by your paper on almost a daily basis. Jay W. Logan Spokane

Migrants accepting of low-pay work

Cartoonist Milt Priggee’s drawing depicting migrant workers’ plight (Sept. 20) was interesting, but does not reveal that a lot of today’s migrant workers are in this country uninvited and could probably go home.

The low wages they receive are a direct result of taking the jobs for the wages offered. Nobody is forcing them to take the jobs.

Some day there will be migrant workers coming to this country who will work for even less. Ron Blank Spokane

Clinton hardly being crucified

Re: Priggee’s Sept. 13 cartoon that showed a crucified Clinton: As a Christian, I couldn’t believe you would print such an insensitive, blasphemous cartoon on a Sunday.

Christ was a sinless, innocent man and a god who was crucified for our sins. Bill Clinton is a sinner, hypocrite and definitely no god. He should be punished for his sins, as we all should. But he certainly isn’t being crucified - put to death in the most humiliating way for our salvation.

Shame on you. Mary Louise Hunton Spokane