Letters for Feb. 16, 2022

Strip them of their power

Can you believe the audacity of Bob Lutz suing Spokane and demanding his job back? Every person who advocated for lockdowns, mask and the jab mandates should be permanently banned from ever working again at a position above dog poop removal!

The “experts” were dead (pardon the pun) wrong on pretty much everything surrounding COVID and yet none of them are being held accountable and in fact many still hold highly lucrative positions in government. Dr. Fauci being the worst!

How many people’s lives were permanently ruined because of the unnecessary lockdowns? How many deaths were attributed to them? How about the massive increase in domestic violence? What about the damage to our kids from forcing them out of schools and then into masks for over a year now? There should be criminal charges brought against those who advocated for and implemented these horribly unnecessary policies!

Notice how the shutdowns didn’t affect politicians and government employees? Why haven’t politicians who forced COVID patients into nursing homes, killing thousands of our most vulnerable, been held accountable? I guess when they said, “We are all in this together,” they exempted themselves!

Instead of rewarding people like Bob Lutz with lucrative government jobs we need to be holding them accountable for the damage they have all caused toward America and its people! We need to learn from the mistakes made not reward those who made them! America needs to look at how COVID was handled by our government and say, “Never again!”

Rob Leach

Mica

S-R hypocrites

How hypocritical of The Spokesman-Review. You crucify John Stockton for not wearing a mask, yet glorify Jalen Suggs. Every shot of him at Thursday night’s game showed him smiling broadly, MASKLESS among masked fans.

You disgust me.

David Porter

Clarkston

Who’s the real election fraud?

As a child, if I put my hand in the cookie jar, I was guilty of trying to steal a cookie, even if I didn’t have a cookie in my hand. When will the accountability we all grew up with apply to Donald Trump for trying to fraudulently steal the 2020 election?

First, he called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger demanding that he “find” votes for his win. It’s a crime to tamper with elections in Georgia. Then he incited the Jan. 6 insurrection to “march down to the Capitol” and “fight like hell.” The attack caused the sacking of our Capitol, injury to 140 police officers and death to five officers. We found out recently his attorney Rudy Giuliani was in charge of coordinating the false electors in seven states to fraudulently certify the election to secure his win. This is outright election fraud. Now he admitted that Vice President Mike Pence “could have overturned the election,” reflecting his intentions to subvert the will of the American public in the 2020 presidential race that he lost by 7 million votes.

If any readers to this paper tried any one of the above, we would be indicted and facing criminal trial. Why is Trump getting a pass in the sphere of American public opinion? When are Americans going to shout from the highest hilltops, “Lock him up!”?

Peter Sanburn

Spokane

Two front page articles

The dichotomy in two front page articles on Feb. 9 shocked me. Two days later both continue to haunt me.

“Sheriff’s Office buying new armored vehicle: Spokane County will spend $390,700 on a new BearCat armored vehicle for the sheriff’s office to use in a variety of volatile situations. The Spokane County Commissioners approved the purchase, without any discussion, at their Feb. 1 meeting.”

“MacArthur funds at risk over stalled jail reform: A national foundation that has invested millions to reform the Spokane County criminal justice system is warning officials that it may demand some of its money back ($280,000) because of the county’s lack of progress on supported release, a program that could reduce jail crowding.”

The commissioners acted quickly to approve the purchase of an expensive armored vehicle and yet over months and years failed to support a release program that would save the county money by freeing up jail beds, shrinking court case backlogs and reducing the likelihood of people committing new crimes.

Don’t take my word for it. Reread the articles for yourself. We deserve a county government that serves all members of our community. The upcoming November election gives voters the opportunity to elect five new commissioners, a prosecuting attorney and a sheriff who lead with courage and vision.

Claire Rudolf Murphy

Spokane

Importance of historical books

History is important. That’s usually what is heard on the first day of history class – the teachers are correct. Without history, people can’t learn from past mistakes and humans will keep walking in the same infinite loop.

That’s why historical books are important. Lately, these books that highlight the horrible parts of history have been banned or removed from school curriculum. “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been removed from the curriculum in the Mukilteo School District, “Maus” has been banned in the Tennessee School District, and even certain books by Dr. Seuss have stopped being published.

Yes, these books have a backstory that is not fun to explain. However, things like segregation and war need to be talked about. One cannot erase history, and one definitely should not pretend it didn’t happen.

Banning these books is similar to excusing the fact horrible events have happened in the past. Furthermore, children who are exposed to relevant historical events sooner, have a better understanding of the world around them. Also, important lessons are brought to light in these books. For example, in “To Kill A Mockingbird,” one of the important lessons is that sometimes people are raised to think a certain way – this doesn’t excuse their actions but it gives other people a chance to understand the fact that they didn’t know any better.

So, to wrap it all up, banning books is not good for our education. Books are the foundation of history, and are extremely important to school and life.

Samantha Werner

Spokane