Letters To The Editor

Tue., Jan. 11, 2000

Government and politics

Bush - a high flier for our times

We should recognize the true patriotism of Republican front runner George W. Bush. He used family influence and money to enter Yale. While there he strongly advocated sending draftees to fight in Vietnam. He championed this cause by immediately enlisting in the Air National Guard the day after he lost his student defer… I mean, graduated.

In his zeal to serve his country he used family political connections to jump ahead of several thousand previous applicants who had no such influence. Knowing his pilot training would cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, Bush stated on his application that he would refuse service overseas (just to safeguard the taxpayers’ investment, of course). What sacrifices some make for their country.

After flight training, Bush noted the war was losing favor among his elitist peers. Without hesitation, he flung himself into battle. Bush used his family’s money and political influence to enter that liberal bastion, the Harvard School of Business. He then courageously showed the flag to these subversives by wearing his flight jacket to classes.

Unfortunately, some presidential candidates don’t have Bush’s patriotism. One Republican candidate willfully wasted his Navy pilot training by flying into a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft missile. This waste of taxpayers money continued when he used the excuse of being a POW to sit around doing nothing for the next six years. All this while, Bush was bravely fighting liberalism in graduate school.

Remember, a vote for Bush is a vote for his brand of patriotism. Vern P. Stevens Kellogg, Idaho

Capitalism still the best system

Fred Glienna’s lengthy Street Level column of Jan. 2 is a classic example of liberalism - long on opinion and short on facts. Glienna opines that capitalism creates a tiny level of extremely wealthy people, with the rest of the populace shrinking from middle class into abject poverty. What he actually is describing is communism - socialism taken to the maximum. I offer the wonderful examples of North Korea, Red China, Cuba and the U.S.S.R. as examples of how well communism works. Socialism simply prolongs the agony. Sweden, Germany and Canada are great examples of how well socialism works.

While capitalism has many faults, it is still the best form of government ever devised. Why? Simply because it does not defy human nature. People are allowed to keep what they earn. There is incentive to produce. Those who produce more get more. Nothing can be more fair.

Under socialism, there is no incentive. The government takes care of you whether you work or not, so why work? In the United States in the last 30 years since L.B. Johnson’s Great Society experiment we proved how well socialism doesn’t work. We threw trillions of dollars into welfare and expanding government, and we are much worse off than when we started.

The private sector, when allowed, will always produce better and cheaper results than government. It is mind boggling that liberals cannot take their heads out of the sand long enough to even notice what goes on in the world around them. Hal R. Dixon Spokane

Criticisms of capitalism nonsensical

It’s always a joy hearing from Fred Glienna, a member of The Spokesman-Review Board of Contributors. I especially got a kick out of his eschewment of the demonization of government just before his own demonization of the wealthy producers and corporations of America that brings back memories of the 1960s socialist movements. (“Government plays part in success,” Street Level, Jan. 2).

But what is truly disappointing is when he asserts that the “balance” of America today has gone too far “to the side of the individual” to risk “collapsing into isolated fragments,” while saying that our forefathers ignored past advice about the gap between rich and poor to adopt a system that is “letting democracy erode.”

He not only betrays his lack of historical perspective and disdain for our founders, the genius of the American Constitution, and it’s recognition of the free individual interacting in a free marketplace that most effectively spreads economic power and best ensures against economic slavery but also disregards the role of contemporary liberal government in producing divisiveness and fragmentation.

In the constitutional American economic system, the individual acquires wealth in trade, commensurate with their own honest productivity. In that light, the individual/ family is the primary American entity (“power to the people!”) with government’s proper role as simply to regulate against such crimes as fraud, not to redistribute wealth (steal) from one individual to transfer to another without due process. Jeff Schaller Pullman

Page 1 story was Bush hard sell

It is shocking thatone of the 25 best newspapers in the country allows an editorial endorsement of George W. Bush to masquerade as a front page news story. Nearly every paragraph contained more opinion than fact. None of the other current presidential candidates - Democrat or Republican - was mentioned, and leading Democrats of our day were slammed.

I’m appalled at your biased, misleading journalism. Monique C. Lillard Moscow, Idaho

U.S. and the world

Cuba is better than many think

The debate over the fate of Elian Gonzales has resurrected our Cold War fears and ignorance. Talk show hosts glibly comment that Elian would return to abject poverty in Cuba. A recent caller opined, with the host’s approval, that the Cuban government would imprison this 6-year-old boy because he had seen America. What nonsense!

Cuba is the best place to be poor in the Caribbean. In capitalist Haiti, Mexico or Honduras, a poor boy would live in a dirt-floored shack, while the rich live in walled mansions. He might suffer from malnutrition, or die from easily treatable diseases for lack of medical care. Opportunity is so limited that capitalist Latin Americans also risk death and deportation to come to the United States.

Despite their poverty, all Cubans have access to free medical care and education. Housing and food are limited, but available to all. As a result, Cuba has the lowest infant morality rate, the longest life expectancy and the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean. Canadian and European businesses, seeing the Cuban work force as well educated, eager and healthy, are making deals with the Cuban government that will give them a tremendous advantage over U.S. businesses long after our government finally ends its vindictive trade embargo. Cuba today is a major tourist destination for more than a million Canadians and Europeans. Many Cuban Americans visit Cuba annually, bringing clothes, toys, money, other gifts and information to their relatives and friends.

There is no reason to keep Elian from his father. Terrence V. Sawyer Spokane

Health care

Remark an insult to care aides

Re: Jan. 3 story about the shortages of elder care health aides.

I took great offense at what Carol Keintz, executive director of the Home Health Assembly of New Jersey, had to say about the mentality of health aides. Taking care of these wonderful people can be a very challenging job. You end up putting a lot of extra time into all kinds of tasks that I promise Keintz takes more than the mentality of a sixth grader. The statement she made not only belittled me as a health aide but also as an individual as well.

I do this work for the people, not the money. Low wages and lack of benefits are behind the shortage of care providers, not a lack of mentality among those who work in this field.

We all need to remember that we, too, will be old and disabled one day. If we don’t do something to increase wages so people can make a living from caring for the elderly, we may one day find ourselves in a bad situation, with no care.

If, after I have put in a lifetime of work, I am old and in need of extra help, I expect the government to respect that. Larae S. Russell Spokane

Eye care available to those in need

As one of 143 volunteer ophthalmologists here in Washington, I am compelled to inform you about the greatest gift you can give a loved one - the gift of sight. One call to the National Eye Care Project, a public service program sponsored by the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Knights Templar Eye Foundation Inc., can mean the difference between sight and blindness for you or someone you love.

The program is designed for, but not limited to, financially disadvantaged seniors. All U.S. citizens or legal residents aged 65 and older who have not seen an ophthalmologist in the last three years or longer are eligible for the NECP. A simple phone call to the toll-free Healthline, 1-800-222-E (3937) can match patients with a volunteer ophthalmologist in their geographical area. That doctor will provide a comprehensive medical eye examination and a full year of treatment for any condition diagnosed at the initial visit.

The best part is, there is no cost to the patient. As volunteers for the NECP, we have agreed to accept Medicare or other insurance reimbursements as payment in full, with no out-of-pocket expense to the patient.

Persons without insurance of any kind, including Medicare, receive care at no charge.

Here in Washington, many of us have been involved with this program since 1986. During this time, 9,239 people have called the Healthline, with 6,048 patients referred to a volunteer in their area.

I urge you to take advantage of this amazing program. Michael H. Cunningham, M.D., P.S. Inland Eye Center, Spokane

Disability

Don’t rely on `snap judgment’

I’m happy that there are people willing to report the misuse of parking spaces for the disabled (Letters, Jan. 1) but I hope the writer will reconsider making snap judgments.

I have a permanent permit, obtained after much thought and on the advice of my doctor. Not all disabilities are easily visible. I don’t yet use a wheelchair, walker or cane. I expend a great deal of physical and emotional effort in standing up straight and not limping. I am not elderly. Is this enough information to judge my needs?

I have a progressive, degenerative genetic disease. I suffer chronic pain and am watching my world shrink at an alarming rate. I’d rather not use a disabled-only parking space. Sometimes I don’t but I can’t always guess when a good day will go bad. I may head into a store in good shape and then need my car as close as possible at the end of my shopping. If the parking lot is wet or covered with ice and snow, I can’t risk a fall. What, in the average person, might result in a wrenched ankle or a bruised ego could have very serious consequences for me.

Facing my disease, needing the help of family and friends, and making use of aids like a parking permit is enough to handle without imagining folks judging my honesty.

Please don’t risk accusing someone in need based on a 30-second visual assessment. Stick to reporting the inconsiderate people who park in disabled spaces without a permit. Sadly, you’ll be kept busy. Michele A. Veale Post Falls

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