Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now

Skittles analogy meaningless

Regarding Donald Trump Jr.’s proposed explanation of the Syrian refugee situation with the analogy “If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?” (Spokesman-Review, Sept. 23):

Running with the analogy mathematically, we already live in a large bucket of Skittles (the U.S. population), many of which have the potential to kill you. In fact, our bucket is 32 thousand times larger than the bowl of Syrian refugees allowed into the U.S. (How big is that difference? Spend a day counting to 32,000.)

And unlike U.S. citizens, the bowl of refugees has been carefully screened. By letting the refugees in, it’s eminently possible that the proportion of deadly Skittles in the expanded bucket has actually gone down. But either way, the numbers are so small as to make Trump’s analogy meaningless. We would do better to worry about driving more carefully so as not to be killed in a car accident than worry about death-by-refugee.

Ernest Boyd

Spokane



Letters policy

The Spokesman-Review invites original letters on topics of public interest. Your letter must adhere to the following rules:

  • No more than 250 words
  • We reserve the right to reject letters that are not factually correct, racist or are written with malice.
  • We cannot accept more than one letter a month from the same writer.
  • With each letter, include your daytime phone number and street address.
  • The Spokesman-Review retains the nonexclusive right to archive and re-publish any material submitted for publication.
Unfortunately, we don’t have space to publish all letters received, nor are we able to acknowledge their receipt.
Click here to learn more.

Submit letters using any of the following:

Our online form

Mail: Letters to the Editor
The Spokesman-Review
999 W. Riverside Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201

Email: editor@spokesman.com
Fax: (509) 459-3815
Questions?: (509) 459-5430