Letters for July 28, 2022
Term limits
Here it is, only July, and the airwaves are flooded with election commercials. Especially Cathy McMorris Rodgers commercials. The odd observation is her one about how she “fights” for our veterans. In the commercial, she hears from and is surrounded by three vets. Three white male vets. Of course, this doesn’t look odd to rural constituents. But the observations is:
A. Only white males serve.
B. Maybe no vets of color, nor women wanted to be in her commercial.
C. Vets of color and women who serve don’t matter to Cathy and to the GOP.
D. Women and people of color are not as American as white Europeans.
Think about it, Cathy parrots any popular radical GOP platform. The current platform is loyalty to Trump over country, a war on women and gays; and only white Christian Europeans matter. She has had nine terms. It’s time for some new leaders and ideas. Remember, George Nethercutt campaigned on term limits, and forced the speaker of the house out of office. Term limits for all should be a priority nationwide, 12 years for both: Two terms for Senate is 12 years, and six terms for the House is 12 years.
Richard Trerise
Spokane
Coming to terms with history in K-12
In her opinion piece “State’s schools failing mandate to teach morality, patriotism” (July 14), Sue Lani Madsen invokes a familiar debate surrounding the essential question: How should we come to terms with our country’s history? Perhaps I should specify – How should we come to terms with the decimation of Indigenous peoples, slavery and lynchings of Black Americans, massacres of Chinese Americans, internment of Japanese Americans, forced deportation of Mexican immigrants, the United States’ destabilization of countries in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, the government’s failed response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic …
For those like Madsen, the response to coming to terms with history seems to be to turn a blind eye and cover up the real events that stain America’s consciousness and self-proclaimed morality. They strive to reject this history altogether and continue to spread historical narratives that portray America as a shining beacon of hope and freedom.
Yes, we should strive toward a more perfect union. But America will not be a perfect union until it comes to terms with its history. It cannot move forward until it looks back upon the past and acknowledges its atrocities, crimes against humanity, and hypocrisies.
As James Baldwin said, “I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
True patriotism does not mean loving a country wholeheartedly without recognizing its wrongdoings. True patriotism forces us to think critically, be critical of America and strive toward improving it.
Spokane
Plan for transition to electric vehicles?
The government is clearly pressing the American people to make the transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles. While the intended cleaning of the environment is good for all of us, one can’t help but wonder what the end game is.
As more and more people switch to EVs, we will see gas stations begin to close. The EVs will then put an enormous strain on our existing electricity grid which is already close to being maxed out in some parts of the country. Does this mean we will build more power generation plants? If we build more natural gas and coal plants to power EVs, what have we accomplished in terms of cleaning up the environment? The power plants in America are mostly fueled by natural gas and coal. The rest is nuclear and hydroelectric. The government does not want fossil fuel plants as they are too dirty. They don’t want nuclear as it is too dangerous. They want to breach dams to help fish. How then do we expand the power grid? We are a long way from wind and sun picking up the slack.
Is there a plan in place in Washington, D.C., that can spell out how this great transition will work out? Just sayin’!
Dan Peeno
Spokane