Letters To The Editor

Idaho viewpoints

Domestic partner benefits right, fair

Thank you for your coverage of the domestic partnership issue in Latah County. It appears county commissioners will decide on a plan for medical insurance for county employees on July 28. I urge citizens to write or call commissioners to ask them to choose a plan that will provide coverage for domestic partners. This is the right thing to do for several reasons: It is just, fair and democratic. It is the American tradition to protect the rights of the minority. All U.S. citizens deserve equal treatment under the law.

It is economic and practical. The more people covered by insurance, the less need for welfare. The county, which often must bear the cost for caring for indigents, should be particularly interested in having as many citizens as possible covered.

It is moral, and morally courageous. Strides in extending human and civil rights often have been unpopular because they go against the status quo and conventional definitions of cultural and family values.

Religions and political leaders such as Jesus and Martin Luther King risked their lives to promote the belief that “family” included all God’s children.

It would benefit all of Idaho. Idaho suffers nationwide from its reputations as a home for bigots. Extending coverage to domestic partners would help improve our image and, more importantly, our quality of life.

It may not be easy for the commissioners to make this courageous move. They may fear losing their jobs. Please contact them to let them know that they will have your support; you can address a letter to the Latah County Courthouse or call 882-8580. Walter A. Hesford Moscow

Going for another fiasco, I see

Re: “Some Post Falls addresses may change in near future,” (July 17). The “nobody’s perfect” department: One might well ask, why do they have to be changed? The county, at least, offered the same reasons for assigning addresses to rural residents about three years ago, rather than the route and box system previously used. Fair enough. But they couldn’t get their act together.

At that time it was a requirement of driver’s license renewal - administered by the county - that a valid street address be assigned before a new and valid license would be issued. That same county had not been able to accomplish such a complex task and Planning and Zoning was required to issue addresses that it knew would be invalid in order to satisfy the requirements of one of its own departments. The announcement ignores the egg on their faces but it’s still there, accompanied by the sneers of many of us. Joel Stookey Post Falls

Wildlife plentiful near Eagle City

I read staff writer Julie Titone’s article concerning gold panners at Eagle City. I spend a lot of time in the area of Eagle City; I enjoy the beauty of the outdoors and my hobby is amateur photography. In the last two weeks, I have photographed moose, elk, beaver, bobcat and deer - all in the Eagle City area.

If Mrs. Hank Odegard thinks there no wildlife is left in this area, I will be glad to share these photos with her. These photos were taken half a mile from her home on Eagle City property. Ed Garvin Post Falls

Business and labor

New Wal-Marts are not good news

Ellen Hulslander (Letters, July 11) asks why Wal-Mart generates such strong feelings.

First, as a friend puts it, Wal-Mart metastasizes like no other big-box retailer, popping up primarily in small towns all over the country. And when Wal-Mart comes into a community, that community hurts. For every 100 jobs Wal-Mart creates, the community loses 150 jobs. The lost jobs tend to be living-wage jobs, with health care and union representation. Wal-Mart spurs the downward spiral of falling wages and increased poverty that already plagues so many communities.

Second, Wal-Mart is the poster company for corporate irresponsibility. In spite of Wal-Mart’s “buy American” smokescreen and its red, white and blue commercials, a recent investigative study found that 80-98 percent of the merchandise Wal-Mart sells comes from outside the United States, frequently from countries that harbor sweatshops and allow child labor. Hulslander says Wal-Mart is a good place to work. In the past five years, Wal-Mart has lost or settled several major lawsuits based on sexual discrimination and sexual harassment, including ones involving the firing of workers when they got pregnant.

For me, the final straw came when I heard the news that Wal-Mart will not sell Preven, an emergency contraceptive pill that is only available by prescription in the first place. What gives Wal-Mart the right to deny American women access to a safe, legal method of contraception, even after it is prescribed to them by a doctor? With the second-largest pharmacy network in the country, Wal-Mart’s decision means women have even less real access to health care and it means more unwanted pregnancies. Liz Moore Spokane

Rights and radicalism

Again, good people made their mark

I was reminded of the scene from the “blues brothers” movie, in which the heroes, driving their bluesmobile, cause a humiliated band of Nazis to jump in the lake.

What fun to see the surprised, perplexed faces of the Aryans in Coeur d’Alene on July 10, as bold young protesters marched up Sherman Avenue to confront and divert them.

Paige Kenney and I chose to bear witness on the street, as we did last year. After the previous week’s report of six assaults by Nazis on protesters, it seemed even more necessary to show the intimidation can’t stop protest.

We were delighted to be amongst people from throughout the Northwest who are alive with idealism, gaiety and diversity. While others were content to talk the talk, they literally walked the walk.

In the great tradition of passive resistance, they sat down in the intersection. We on the sidewalk urged the police to let them go. With respect and generosity, that is what the police wisely decided to do. Bravo!

At the soap box rally afterward, I spoke as the only Spokane Human Rights Commission member there. Telling of my arrest in a 1964 civil rights demonstration, I thanked them for bravely risking arrest to advance human rights. Back then, as now, such activists were condemned as malcontents, only to be appreciated a generation later.

One sign read, “gay, straight, black white. Same struggle, same fight.” as bigotry seems to spread, we are fortunate to witness vigorous new leadership for unity. Morton Alexander Spokane

Spectacle was perhaps a bit too tame?

The number of right ways to wage protest is limited only by our imaginations. Editorial writer D.F. Oliveria seems uneasy with many tried and true methods, especially that of 16 persons who had the temerity to stand up to the lame establishment and minions of neo-Nazism in Coeur d’Alene on July 10.

I agree that ugly behavior is unseemly and ineffective in the cause of human rights. Lacking the means to prevent either side from showcasing its own brand of childish invective, and even hatred, I avoided the scene.< The march of 1,200 people 10 years ago had an element sorely missed the past two years - scores of peacekeepers, trained in active nonviolence by the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane. And speaking of PJALS, which still offers such training on a regular basis, I don’t wish to detract from contributions made to that march by Lisa Anderson and Spencer Hamm, but the real organizing, coordination with the Department of Justice and nonviolence training were done by the late Kathleen Donahoe.

The use of the quote by Guerry Hodderson only proves the truth of her statement that Coeur d’Alene is a case of mass denial. But that’s not to deny there are many courageous and resolute individuals or that Spokane is in the same boat.

Meanwhile, the newsman in you might note that media representatives’ eyes glaze over at the mention of nonviolent action but sparkle at the hint of a violent confrontation. Rusty Nelson Spokane

Aryans’ mediocrity marches on

It’s important to give credit where credit is due. Even the Aryan Nations deserve recognition for their “accomplishments” and “achievements” this past spring and last few weeks.

First, with chants of “six million more” resonating against the park band shell , the Aryan Nations have finally come out of the closet and admitted the Holocaust was not a myth.

Second, with the second year of the “lemons to lemonade” fund raiser, the Aryan Nations again gets to be the single largest contributor to the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.

Third, in Richard Butler’s spring mail-out video, he has Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” as an introductory backdrop. Does he know the person who wrote that song or his particular religious affiliation?

Fourth, as the Aryans departed Independence Point after their “parade” downtown, four of them left in a Honda Accord. Yikes, have they finally accepted a bit of cultural diversity in their motor pool?

One final thought. It is somewhat understandable why people like the Aryans have made skin color an honorary distinction. Personal achievement for them is difficult to attain and the lack of it often leaves an empty, vacuous hole that racial pride seems to fill. If an Aryan has little to show for him or herself, so-called racial`pride’ offers status.

What members of the Aryan Nations lack in terms of motivation, ambition, competence and conscientiousness they more than make up for in hate, fear and envy. David M. Cohen Coeur d’Alene

Remembrance

Take a cue from fine man and family

From the brave 3-year-old who saluted his father’s casket, John F. Kennedy Jr. grew into a young man possessing all the qualities so lacking in today’s political arena. He had self-assurance without arrogance. He had wit without vitriol. He had commitment without fanaticism. He had passion without prostration.

Through his magazine, George, he protrayed politics through a prism that baffled the Washington establishment. The magazine is wry without condescension, humorous and still humane, serious without being maudlin. To the frustration of many, it has no specific point of view but can be very pointed from a full range of political perspectives. It was brilliant. It was creative. It was John F. Kennedy Jr.

From the father who challenged us to ask what we could do for our country and not what our country could do for us, to his son, whose emerging promise will never be realized, we owe a great deal. We need to regain our composure. We need to crystallize our vision of the America we have promised our children and grandchildren.

We need to recognize and debate the challenging issues facing us and abandon the politics of character assassination, with its hollow and simplistic solutions. We need to move from apathy to activism. We need to stop scapegoating and start problem-solving, and we need to combat cynicism with creative thinking.

If one family in this country can suffer so many tragedies and continue to inspire us with their hope and confidence in this nation and its government, then we citizens should try, in whatever our capacity, to mend our broken hearts, then mend our broken promises. Kristy Johnson Post Falls

In the public eye

Blame game inappropriate

Now as the events of the Kennedy-Bessette tragedy unfold, more and more attention continues to revolve around the concept of pilot error. Was John F. Kennedy Jr. At fault? Was he acting recklessly flying a plane without more experience? Is this another irresponsible Kennedy trying to prove immortality?

How wrong, it seems, to focus on the negative. For before the bodies were even found , we were once again as a society looking for someone to blame in a time of crisis and uncertainty. Why don’t we, instead, remember and praise a Kennedy who did not fit the somewhat scandalous mold? As President Clinton asked, why not remember a man who gave much more to his country than he ever took?

John F. Kennedy Jr. had a vision for the future that was a guiding light, keeping all of our hopes strong. Let us remember him as a man who was a member of the Robin Hood Foundation, as a man who carried on the eternal flame, as a man who rode bicycles instead of limousines, and a man who was, above all else, human. Stephanie L. Pfeifer Spokane

Other topics

Don’t twist history to make a point

As a history buff, I was pleased to see that The Spokesman-Review editorial board nominated a letter for their Golden Pen Award that championed the benefits of historical consciousness (J.R. Hart, July 6) “…those that won’t study history and are therefore bound to repeat it.” Then, as I read on, I was disturbed to discover that the same featured letter claimed that, “Hitler was elected by a popular majority,” and “(Germans) turned out to vote for him in record numbers.”

Neither claim is accurate. In an election characterized by low voter turnout, Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party managed a slim plurality (34 percent) in 1933. He seized power afterward in a semi-constitutional coup.

While these historical inaccuracies are tangential to the writer’s main point - that Hitler exploited lax gun control in the Weimar to seize power - they are still important. Details really do matter.

On May 10, 1933, Joseph Goebbels addressed a crowd at a Nazi book burning in Berlin. He said, “You are doing the right thing in committing the spirit of the past to flames. From now on history will rise from the flames in our hearts.”

It would be nice if writers of letters to the editor would make their points without ransacking history for overblown comparisons to Nazism, slavery and other historical abominations. Those comparisons only rob us of the past, bit by bit, and shed more heat than light. Paul Matthews Rathdrum

Remove added Social Security bite

While we debate tax cuts, saving Social Security and paying for Medicare prescriptions, I would like to suggest a simple solution to a big problem. If we eliminate the tax on Social Security, imposed by Mr. Clinton in 1993, many of us “seasoned citizens” out here could afford to pay for more of our prescriptions. Pat. D. Kilpatrick Post Falls

About a presidential pay increase …

In 1969, Congress approved a salary of $200,000 per year for the president with no provision for cost-of-living increases. In addition to this salary, the president receives a $50,000 annual taxable expense account and a $40,000 nontaxable allowance for travel and entertainment. The president also has the use of both the White House and Camp David, as well as access to a variety of transportation vehicles including Air Force 1.

Retired presidents receive a pension of about $70,000 a year in addition to financial support for staff and free office space.

Maybe we ought to leave the salary alone and triple or quadruple money available to the president while in office. After all, $40,000 for travel and entertainment comes out to a little over $3,000 a month. You can’t put on a good dog show for that. Valiera Smittle Spokane