Letters for Aug. 19, 2022

Stone should cite specifics

When Curt Stone writes his next letter telling us about the wonders of the AR-15 death weapon, I hope he will give us just one example of how his pet slaughter machine has been used to in “defense of self,” “defense of nation” or “defend against tyranny.” On the other hand, I can give him multiple examples of how the AR-15 has been used to massacre innocent people. Just open the daily paper! It is time to man up and face the future, Curtis. And as far as “confiscating guns” – you betcha – every damn AR-15 in existence should be confiscated and destroyed!

Norman Coffman

Spokane

Republicans follow Stalin’s notion

When Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union, he once said, “It doesn’t matter who votes and it doesn’t matter how they vote. All that matters is who counts the votes!”

Today that has become the driving force behind the Republican Party. It’s wonderful to see how such a great thought by such a great person never dies.

Bruce Barnbaum

Granite Falls, Wash.

Republicans lack necessary values

I was struck by how well the Republicans testifying for the Jan. 6 committee presented themselves, as did the two Republican members on the committee. They spoke clearly and gave their testimony in a very straightforward manner, seemingly intelligent and qualified people. They all indicated that they voted for Trump twice. It was only his behavior following his electoral loss in November 2020, his actions and lack of action on Jan. 6 which caused them to question his fitness for office.

My question is this: What was it about his undeniable racism, sexism, hatred for Latinos; disregard for the dignity of the poor and the disabled; his alignment with and support of extremist white nationalists; his pandering to Russian and Israeli spies in the Oval office along with his sharing of classified information with them; his attempted blackmail of a foreign head of state by withholding funds already appropriated by Congress; his use of the National Guard to disperse people who were peacefully protesting for a momentary photo op; his use of his political office for his personal gain; his constant lying and his hiring of numerous unqualified cabinet officials, many of whom had to resign in disgrace, that they found perfectly acceptable? Unless it be that they shared many of these values? According to polls, most people identifying as Republicans still believe Trumps lies and still think he represents them best even after all the revelations of illegality and complicity. What does that say about THEM?

Greg Presley

Spokane

Woodward shows limited leadership

I was saddened to read Mayor Nadine Woodward’s recent announcement regarding seeking a second term. I was hoping that she would have taken stock of her performance to date and bowed out of any further electoral consideration.

To my surprise, she instead cited a list of accomplishments which read like a jumble of words, wishes and ideas. There is a lot of space between announcing and endorsing and doing and accomplishing.

She, of thin resume, is paid $177,360 to oversee one of the largest workforces in the area, with a budget over $1 billion, providing essential services to 228,000 citizens and hundreds of businesses within a metropolitan area of 560,000 people.

Her whack-a-mole approach to dealing with the unhoused has only exacerbated the situation, fractured the support of service providers and alienated the people with housing expertise and access to funding, in the private and public sectors.

The result? A crisis of confidence across the community that we lack the leadership, the will and the vision to respond to the many challenges essential to solving problems related to homelessness. Instead of leadership we have blame, figure pointing, discord and a growing humanitarian crisis right here in River City.

In 2020, she was quoted in an Inlander article: “I want to be out in the community visiting schools and talking to constituents, holding forums and talking to businesses … I don’t want be stuck in City Hall on the seventh floor in meetings all day.”

Sheila Collins

Spokane