Letters To The Editor

Thu., Jan. 21, 1999

PEOPLE AND SOCIETY

Van de Veer passionate about law

I saw Professor - excuse me, Judge - Philip Van de Veer for the first time wearing an oversized chef’s hat at the Gonzaga University School of Law student orientation lecture last August. Van de Veer and Professor Hess provided ingredients for Law School Gourmet Cooking and Utensils. The two professors added books to a big bowl, stirred in some brief writing tips and presented solid law school test-taking strategies. Adding a bit of humor to an overwhelming, intimidating and idle week of orientation was a great relief.

Two weeks later, the registrar’s office made schedule adjustments and I was “kicked” into Van de Veer’s Legal Research and Writing class. When I told my second-year mentor the news, his face lit up. He told me about Van de Veer’s excellent reputation in the legal community.

During a job interview at a downtown law firm, my mentor’s employer was quite impressed with his good grade from Judge Van de Veer. During this conversation, my mentor repeatedly said, “you are so lucky.”

Indeed, lucky I am. I learned a heap from Judge Van de Veer last semester, and I have a four-inch binder full of research and writing tips, (mostly double sided) to prove it. Gonzaga University School of Law suffers a great loss with Judge Van de Veer’s departure and his students are sad to see him go. However, the community of Pend Oreille County is so lucky to have inherited a hard-working judge who has a passion for the law.

Though I do not know about his culinary skills, I am sure a black robe will suit him better than the oversized chef’s hat. Katy A. Brandis Spokane

Group has no biblical foundation

In regard to staff writer Bill Morlin’s article on the 11th Hour Remnant Messenger Group, it needs to be said that there is no biblical foundation for the “two-seed Christian identity theology” espoused by this Sandpoint group.

Indeed, their anti-Semitic and racist message of hate reminds me of the words of the German philosopher and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) who observed that “There is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action.”

After reading the above-mentioned article, I would revise Goethe’s remarks as follows: There is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action, unless it is ignorance coupled with a $1.5 million budget for mailing hate literature. Merle R. Craner Spokane

So much gained with simple steps

I have a recommendation for readers.

I recently attended a memorial service for a great man, Carroll A. “Bud” Anderson. I did not know the man, but had seen him at church through the years. After his service, I knew him in a significant way. It is amazing what I learned from the stories of this smiling, giving, hard-working and kindhearted man.

I recommend that readers take time to listen to the stories of great men and women of the community, if at a memorial service for an acquaintance or randomly talking to people you meet every day, and knowing them - not just passing them by. It is amazing how much you learn and are affected if you just take the time to do these simple things. Paul Aric Spangler Spokane

Without honesty, trust can’t form

As I watch the Senate trial, I find myself getting more and more irritated with the whole situation. To me this is the result of obvious dishonesty, no matter how much some will try and convince us otherwise.

With this type of dishonesty in the highest offices of our country, it unravels the very fabric of our society. If honesty is not upheld as an important value in our everyday lives, it creates a lack of trust. When we feel that lack of trust, the natural reaction is anger and hatred. To express that anger and hatred, and especially if it is acted on, just increases the violence, anger and hatred in our society.

I choose instead to attack the root of the problem. I think it is important to recognize vocally the problem as dishonesty and make no excuses for it. Those responsible should be held accountable.

I think in some way we are all responsible. We all need to do what we can to live more honestly in our everyday lives, to vote for those with integrity, to teach what honesty is, and to do everything we possibly can to promote more honesty in our society around us. I may be only one voice, but I will do what I can.

How about you? Kim S. Stewart Elk

GUN CONTROL

Real pathology arises from repression

Re: “Gun residuals are a public expense” (Letters, Jan. 13).

Spokane Regional Health District director Kim Thorburn claims Big Tobacco is responsible for picking the pocket of low-income smokers. It’s interesting that despite the coercive cartoon camels, nicotine boosting and corporate deceit, big government easily did what big tobacco only wished it could do - raise the price of cigarettes by 50 cents per pack. However, now that Thorburn’s “public costs” have been recouped, I’m anxiously awaiting my refund check and tax cut.

Today, crime-plagued municipalities like New Orleans and Chicago are claiming in courts that gun manufacturers are responsible for public costs of crime (gun control advocates should be ashamed to have their ideology used for such an obvious money grab). For the sake of argument, let’s pretend that drug war turf battles, public housing projects, corrupt New Orleans cops and mob-run Chicago politics have nothing to do with the “public cost” of crime in those national embarrassments. Common sense doesn’t blame a gun for a crime and it doesn’t blame the manufacturer.

Perhaps Thorburn should instead speculate about the public health implications when known violent criminals are released early to roam the streets. The health-and-safety Nazis create twisted logic to sustain their do-gooder bureaucracies and precious political careers, blaming our freedoms for their inexcusable failings, using insidious unconstitutional legislating by the courts to turn America into a padded prison cell.

Read some history, Thorburn. Government without regard for individual rights is the most deadly, dangerous product imaginable. Greg D. Holmes Spangle, Wash.

Hair triggers and wild shots

Walter Becker and Edward Keeley (Letters, Jan. 12) certainly make liberal use of the old saying, “When you have no argument, attack your opponent.”

After misquoting the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre, Becker suggests we get the Supreme Court to invalidate the Brady law, if it’s worthless. Not a problem! The Supreme Court has already ruled that much of the Brady law is unconstitutional, without resorting to the Second Amendment.

Keeley, also apparently reading comprehension-challenged, equates guns with tobacco. That’s like comparing apples to oranges. Keeley wants good people, and legitimate manufacturers, to pay for violence committed by armed criminals, gangs and career felons.

Public Opinion Strategies found that 92 percent of registered voters oppose cities and states filing lawsuits against gun makers. Seventy-three percent believe that Americans have an individual right to own guns. Our gun rights are far too precious to be ridiculed by the cheap shots of Becker and Keeley. Lu E. Haynes Kettle Falls, Wash.

It’s the user or abuser, not the maker

Staff cartoonist Milt Priggee’s anti-gun-manufacturer cartoon (Jan. 8) is insulting to firearms manufacturers, retail dealers, gun range operators, the National Rifle Association, people who teach legitimate firearms use and safety, and to all who intend that the Second Amendment survive.

In my 75-plus years, no manufacturer or advertiser has persuaded me to use a firearm unlawfully, drink too much bourbon or smoke tobacco. Since my pre-school days, I’ve known that my family standards must be followed in everything I did.

In the old days, we kids respected the head of the family and never touched anything belonging to that person. We never touched the fully loaded shotgun leaning against the kitchen corner, ready for any emergency. Farm animals and fowl had to be protected against coyotes and cougars, and any violent human who intruded would have understood this gun’s power.

D.F. Oliveria’s recommendation in his Jan. 8 column that anti-gun groups attack the causes of gun violence makes sense. Cities bringing lawsuits should first examine their own failure to make better use of their states’ criminal codes, engage their county prosecutors and judges in this endeavor and make improvements through state legislatures. Without the gun makers of old, we would be curtsying to a monarch and counting our change in pounds sterling. Lillian O. Forster Spokane

PUBLIC EYE

Take note of stench maker

Watching the Clinton presidency transpire has been a lot like watching Belgian horses pass by in a parade.

The horses look great and sound great as they pass by, but shortly after, the crowd notices what they have left and a certain odor in the air. Unfortunately, they have to be followed by street cleaners, or the mess could lead to a continued stench. The street cleaners run the risk of getting dirty but it is a job that has to be done in spite of the dirtiness of it.

So the Senate has begun the dirty and nasty work of trying to clean up the manure of the Clinton presidency. Hopefully, all Americans will realize that the smell is from the president’s acts and not those who must clean up his mess. But it is an absolute necessity that the cleanup begin, in spite of a good economy, slick words, denials and excuses, otherwise the smell will linger on for a long time. Dale A. Nelson Spokane

Lies are told every day

There’s a popular fixation with Bill Clinton acting like a horny high school kid and lying about it, ignoring the obvious: adultery and lying are inseparable companions.

“But,” comes the vehement response, “he lied under oath!” Sad to say, that’s the American way. It happens every day with impunity. Is a lie told under oath that doesn’t really hurt anyone worse than an unoathed lie that has dire consequences?

Was Clinton’s lie worse than President Eisenhower’s about Gary Powers U2 spying flight over Russia that seriously set back U.S.-Russian relations? Ike had to admit he lied when Powers failed to commit suicide as expected and was taken prisoner.

President Johnson lied to Congress and the American people with the contrived Gulf of Tonken “incident” that led to intensifying the Vietnam War, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of American and Vietnamese lives.

Reagan lied about mining the harbors in Nicaragua and the Iran Contra connection (with his convenient inability to “recall”), causing thousands of innocent Nicaraguans to lose their lives.

President Bush lied about the reason for illegally invading Panama going after a guy we put in power, causing massive property damage and the loss of hundreds of innocent lives.

A case could he made to impeach Clinton for attacking Iraq without congressional approval, in violation of Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution. But “patriotic” Americans would rather get him for his stupid, immature conduct with a pathetic young tart and lying about it. It’s hard to tell who’s the most irresponsible. Buell Hollister Post Falls

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Kaiser causing loss to economy

Is Kaiser credible? The company has pleaded to the media since day one that they want to negotiate and settle. Three days here and three days there with several days in between will not bring the contract disputes to a close. Now a lockout. Is that working on a settlement?

The company pleads they are working the mills and pushing 80 percent. Being at the picket line and driving by the Trentwood plant on a daily basis, there is hardly any steam coming out of the stacks. Mead’s hot-metal trucks are empty and cold, driving to and from the plants just to put on mileage and making people believe they are working. This is only causing more expense, gasoline use and mileage on the equipment and wages being paid to out-of-staters and their families.

Spokane is losing this battle, not just the Steelworkers.

The company is not credible. The company is causing a substantial loss to our economy. It will be interesting to see how much the company wishes to negotiate now since the lockout they have enforced will allow for the strikers to receive unemployment pay. Steve Seifert Steelworker, Spokane

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