Letters To The Editor

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Let’s be big and decent about it

Rancor arising from the Florida ballot issue disheartens me. While this election has been stunning and frustrating for all Americans, vitriolic blame serves no one. For Gore voters to accuse Bush voters of conspiracy to steal the election is ridiculous and unfair. To slander Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, as does S.S. Howze (Letters, Nov. 10) is ugly. For Bush voters to accuse Democrats of being “too stupid to vote” is utterly nasty.

It will take a great deal of wisdom to straighten this mess out, if that is even possible. We’re all going to have to be ready to accept difficult decisions. Whoever becomes president will desperately need the country’s support and good will, because there will always be doubts about his “win.” We must pray for everyone involved.

We need to be able to trust our ballots and election results. Even more, during a fiasco such as this, we need to respect one another. It’s not worth having the fabric of our nation ripped apart by distrust, pettiness, accusations and spite. Nor is it healthy to slog this through the court systems indefinitely.

We are Americans and we must keep our transitions peaceful, as we always have, when “our” candidate loses.

Let’s take the high road, speaking and acting respectfully, exemplifying good citizenship. Our children and the world are watching. Deborah Chan Veradale

Gore comes off as a crybaby

I’ve never been so disgusted with an election. It seems Vice President Al Gore and the Democrats are again trying to force their will upon the voting public, whining and crying like babies, trying to change the rules to suit their ends.

When the media first announced they’d won Florida we heard jubilation from the Democrats. In fact, they hadn’t won and then we never heard such carrying on.

I notice that when 15,000 votes in Florida were thrown out in 1996 you never heard a peep out of the Democrats for a recount. I can only surmise that Gore has added to his ludicrous list of credentials sore loser and crybaby! Ed King Spokane

Bush contentions lame, selfish

The Bush camp is now engaged in a furious campaign to get Vice President Al Gore to concede the election to “spare the country the rigors of a prolonged court battle” and any other disingenuous argument they can dream up. In fact, a far more compelling argument can be made that Gov. George Bush should be the one to concede, since it is fast becoming apparent his “victory” may well be based on several thousand people who thought they were voting for Gore and ended up voting for Pat Buchanan, as well as up to 19,000 more voters who were disenfranchised for trying to correct the same mistake.

Given the stakes, it’s highly doubtful that either party will concede the election. But the decision is far too important to be left to politicians or, God forbid, the press. All during the campaign, Bush reiterated how much he trusted “the people.” Apparently, he doesn’t trust them enough to let the original intentions of their votes be ascertained and counted. Donald N. Fitzgerald Spokane

Could this be a people problem?

Is it an indicator of the intelligence level of the “disenfranchised” would-be Gore voters of Florida that they fail to see the significance of the pointy-end of an arrow? Don Dewar Opportunity

Now, let me get this straight

I forgot who I voted for in the presidential elections. I feel so “disenfranchised.” I demand a revolt! I mean, revote. At the very least, I demand someone tell me what my intentions were. Tony Cruse Spokane

Some in military left out of balloting

On Nov. 9 we spoke to our son, Cpl. Erik J. Lee, who is on deployment in Japan with a Marine Corps air wing. How sad we felt when he told us only two of the Marines in his crew received their absentee ballots - two days after the election!

Our servicemen and women all over the world are watching the election results and yet how many of them were unable to vote for their commander and chief? If there is a revote in Florida, or anywhere else, our servicemen and women must be given a chance to vote as well. They are putting their lives on the line for us all and it’s a shame that they are not being allowed to vote. Diane and Geoff Lee Spokane

Gotcha stuff doesn’t serve voters

While watching the news last week I heard the “breaking” story about Gov. George W. Bush being arrested for driving under the influence. The older I get, the more ashamed I am of our so-called “leaders.”

Our presidential election, the most important in our land, has become a mud-slinging joke.

I’m not interested in who did what in college or high school. Haven’t we all done something during that time of our lives we wish we could change? The most important thing is that Bush, like the rest of us, learned from his mistakes and went forward. This seems to come under that old adage about stones and glass houses.

I can’t believe the time, energy and money that must have been spent on this type of report instead being spent on helping me and many other average voters understand the issues at hand, and how the outcome of the election would affect my life and my country.

I am interested in Social Security benefits, after I have worked for 30 or more years. I am interested in health care; our country has a lot to learn in this area. I am interested in our country’s well-being, for myself, my children and their children.

Democrats and Republicans need to stick to what’s important and stop acting like small children. Kathleen E. Anders Blanchard, Idaho

OTHER TOPICS

Son of Prohibition chip off old block

Concerning drug testing, those who argue that an individual with nothing to hide shouldn’t fear testing will then not mind being subjected to a strip search every time they leave a retail store or to having the government install cameras throughout their homes.

While none of us want pilots, drivers or co-workers under the influence of drugs, legal or not, drug testing does not test for impairment, only past possible exposure.

Drug testing violates our rights against unreasonable search and seizure, self-incrimination and, most importantly, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The so-called war on drugs, particularly on marijuana, has become a war against many otherwise law-abiding, responsible, taxpaying citizens.

Of all the recreational drugs, including nicotine and alcohol, marijuana is arguably the least addictive and most benign. Drug-related arrests, prosecutions, counseling and incarceration has become a big business, funded by the taxpayer.

This is the second time we have tried prohibition - and what do you know? It still doesn’t work. Where was this issue this election year? Kevin F. Quaid Spokane

Trial outcome unbelievable

I cannot believe that Ray Williamson was acquitted of manslaughter charges! Just goes to show, if you drink and operate a watercraft in Coeur d’Alene, make sure you’re so drunk that you don’t remember when you kill someone. I am sickened. Tamara Bode Moscow

Fire plan better not be logging plan

Inland Northwest residents should be aware that the Forest Service has just received an early Christmas gift from Congress: the National Fire Plan. It includes several hundred million dollars to protect humans from fire and restore our National Forests that have been badly damaged from decades of logging and road building.

The Lands Council will watch carefully to see if the money is really used to protect homes and restore the forest or is squandered with a massive logging program. So far, the Colville National Forest is dusting off old timber sales and preparing to rev up the chain saws, despite evidence that logging increases fire risk and causes forest health problems.

At the national level there are signs of hope. Interim National Fire Plan Coordinator Michael Raines has described the key fire risk zone as being within 200 feet of homes and structures. This is where the thinning, pruning, brush removal and other fuel reduction should be focused - not in the roadless areas that local timber industry consultants are proposing. In fact, most of the fires in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana started in and burned through heavily logged areas, often on private lands.

Once humans and their homes are protected we should look at long-term restoration of our National Forests, i.e. reintroducing fire, improving wildlife habitat, removing destructive logging roads and eliminating the taxpayer subsidized timber sale program. Mike Peterson Forest Watch director, The Lands Council, Republic, Wash.

BB-type guns cause real harm, pain

Recent letters by Sean Jennings and Kelly Milner Halls, about the careless, destructive and hurtful use of BB and/ or pellet guns struck a chord with me.

First, 51 years ago, a playmate shot my brother and me in our bellies with his BB gun. Even though the BBs barely passed through our shirts and skin, I remember that it was painful.

Second, on the day 16 years ago that we were making arrangements for my father’s funeral, neighborhood children shot our cat between the eyes with a pellet rifle as she sat on our step waiting for us to return. She died. That was not a happy or pleasant circumstance to come home to.

BB and pellet guns are not toys and should not be treated as such. Though less powerful than firearms, spring-, air- or CO2-powered guns are still dangerous.

If you give your child one of these weapons, you should also give instruction on the safe and responsible use of it, and the consequences of misuse. You should supervise and monitor their use, and be aware of how they are used. Gordon L. Jennings Post Falls