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Commentaries and editorials

Dam Removal

by Tom Brown
Spokesman-Review, August 25, 2022

Don't let the spirit world control our state's economy.

Sea Lion eats its prey in a well-lit photo.

While we are stupidly debating removal of green energy dams on the Snake River and anywhere else? Why don't we also talk about knocking down the dangerous bird- and bat-killing wind turbines? They kill more eagles and bats than is known.

Bald and golden eagles are sacred to me as an American.

Native Americans claim salmon are sacred, so why are sea lions given a pass to slaughter returning salmon and only eat the belly fat and waste the rest? I've seen that happening at the dam and it's sad.

Don't let the spirit world control our state's economy. Leave the dams alone.


Bus drivers wanted

Go by any busy corner and you might see individuals standing on the street with signs that say: "District School Bus Drivers Needed" or some similar message. Of course, we all know that most businesses are having trouble hiring workers thanks to the vast government handouts.

According to one California cop, the reason the schools and bus companies are having such a problem hiring qualified bus drivers is because potential job applicants can't meet the "drug-free" requirements of the job.

Might good intended "compassion" programs handled through the federal and city governments providing clean pipes and syringes to addicts have a dual purpose? Might they also be also considered subsidies to the drug lords? But oh, I almost forgot the cannabis boards give a certain portion to prevent drug use, so it's all OK, right? Not.

Carol Bacon, Spokane

Just the facts

A recent letter in this paper suggested that at least a third of this country's adult population confuses fact with opinion so let's see "

Is it a fact or an opinion that constitutional federal republicanism employing a capitalist economic model has created the most advanced, prosperous and free nation state this planet has ever experienced?

Is it a fact or an opinion that this nation, at tremendous sacrifice, beat back murderous, psychopathic, megalomaniacs bent on world domination which would have made for extremely unhappy outcomes for the bulk of humanity?

Is it a fact or an opinion that the inventiveness, technology and generosity of this nation's people have uplifted and improved the lives of countless billions around the world?

Is it a fact or an opinion that the forefathers of one of this country's major political parties perpetrated a horrendous Civil War to prevent the abolition of slavery and for the next 100 years did everything they could to block atonement and reparation for this nation's original sin?

Is it a fact or an opinion that the Plymouth Colony pilgrims came so close to starvation they abandoned their original collectivist system in favor of one based on self-sufficient incentives?

And finally, is it a fact or an opinion that nowhere on earth has a socialist system giving government control of the means of production run by self-appointed central planners produced anything but subjugation, ruin and misery?

And by the by, is it a fact or an opinion that reality bites?

William Baxley, Spokane

The Big Lie

In his Aug. 17 letter ("Cure voting system flaws"), David Bauer laments how the U.S., with all our modern-day technology, "can't produce a voting system the results of which would be indisputable."

The only people disputing U.S. elections are Trump followers who swallowed the Big Lie of a stolen 2020 election. The integrity of that election was settled by 60 court cases, the Supreme Court, Trump's attorney general and by countless dedicated election officials including Spokane's own Vicki Dalton. Even the laughable "forensic audit" by Cyber Ninjas produced more votes for Biden.

Sowing doubt in U.S. elections is a manufactured lie with one purpose: to usher in authoritarian rule by the extreme right wing of the Republican party.

Scott Morrell, Spokane

Yee-haw!

Gosh! I'm seriously beginning to wonder if the Wyoming cowboys as well as our own local gun-worshiping cowboys are smoking too much cow manure! Seems like they can no longer tell the difference between the rotten stench of fly-covered cow manure and Trump's lies.

Janet Smith, Spokane


Tom Brown, Spokane
Dam Removal
Spokesman-Review, August 25, 2022

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