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Prefers old man to felon
To the editor, Former president Trump, you had four years to lead the United States and failed us by your own choosing. Whether it be in foreign policy or domestic policy, you did not protect the United States as commander in chief.
We the American people have finally borne witness to what happens when they place an incompetent business man into the Oval Office. Especially one who had everything handed to him.
Quality of life is not a business decision, sir. But rather, it is a humane choice to be empathetic to those who cannot help themselves. This is why government exists.
Now comes the jury’s decision making you a convicted felon. Have you no shame and decency sir? As was said about former president Richard Nixon, jail to the chief.
All you do is complain and moan about what others have done to you. However by all accounts you put yourself in precarious situations and are now facing the consequences.
MAGA has become a dog whistle for Nazi. Your followers would have made great “Brown Shirts” in Hitler’s Germany. They demonstrated their loyalty to you on Jan. 6, 2021. An event you instigated.
As for inflation somebody encouraged Corporate America to gouge us at the grocery stores, gas stations and pretty much everywhere at the point of purchase.
Because of your words and actions many now prefer the “old man” over the felon.
Joe Bialek Cleveland, Ohio
East Bonner Library allows sexually explicit books
To the editor, In the months following the passing of Idaho House Bill 710 which requires Idaho public and school libraries to move materials deemed harmful to children or face lawsuits - our own East Bonner Library board continues to insist that materials explicitly sexual in nature are not so. The material currently in question is comic SAGA: volume six, which contains graphic sexual content (speech and illustration) that the library board does not deem a danger to children, because it contains illustrations of sex, but “illustrations do not excite like a photograph.”
The notion that the content was pornographic was also dismissed under the guise that, because the images depict aliens, they cannot sexually excite like human imagery would. Title 181514 in Idaho code comprehensively covers what is to be considered “obscene,” as materials relate to children and vulnerable adults, and states: “The quality of any material or of any performance or of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when it appeals to the prurient interest of minors as judged by the average person, applying contemporary community standards…”. By this definition, the concerns of numerous local patrons are founded in questioning why this comic series has not already been placed in a section of the library not accessible to minors at large.
My question is: why is the library board, supposedly elected to represent the desires of the community, ignoring all requests for further inquiry into material procurement and placement?
Faith Brenneman Spirit Lake
Bridging the divide
To the editor, I’ve been participating in a bi-partisan discussion group struggling to learn how to communicate with one another. Our primary challenge is how quickly strong emotions are triggered when we encounter opposing beliefs which, in turn, activate our poorest communication “tactics”: interrupting one another, getting defensive, being disrespectful or slipping into know-it-all contempt. The good news is that we usually catch ourselves, pause to calm down, and then resume more respectfully.
Predictably, the trigger points are beliefs stated as fact: “It’s clear that January 6th was an insurrection,” for example, or “There’s no factual basis to question election integrity.” In my experience, such assertions are not at all clear once I dig into the findings of independent investigative journalists. They reveal far more questions than answers; uncovering bountiful evidence, while proof remains elusive.
When opinions are expressed as fact, mimicking an authoritative tone, polarization is the inevitable result. The propaganda information war succeeds again to keep us squabbling with each other rather than investigating what the corrupt actors are really up to.
Daryl Davis, a Black professional pianist, has befriended hundreds of KKK and neo-Nazi members, persuading many of them to change their views surrounding race and hate, leading many to quit their memberships. In an interview, Daryl shared how he approaches these conversations: with respect, patience and no judgments. He first solicits their views, ensuring he understands. Then he invites them to try seeing the issue through a different lens, just as an experiment. He presents an alternate view, and then asks how they feel about it.
Daryl is content to simply plant a seed. But sometimes the conversations continue over a long period. Eventually a perceptible shift occurs – and then one day they decisively step away from their former personas, free from indoctrinated hate at last.
-Kamori Cattadoris Newport
How long can we go?
To the editor, I do have to ask myself how low can we go? I refer to the Republican party with their choice of felon for their presidential candidate. This guy can’t even put a sentence together that makes sense. He has to have a teleprompter right there so we can understand what he has to say.
He’s proud of the fact that women can’t have any rights basically especially when it comes to their lives and their bodies, and their abilities to carry a child. I don’t need to say how I feel about that, because it’s not very nice. He rambles on craziness about batteries and sharks. I don’t know anyone who’s ever been electrocuted by a battery.
Just yesterday Hunter Biden was found guilty, his father isn’t pardoning him. That has to be the hardest thing for a father to do. It’s a hard lesson for a child to learn, when you make a mistake and do something wrong you have to pay for that mistake. It’s a shame Trump’s parents never told him that, no one else ever told him that either.
-Jeannie Hutchins Newport
Our Constitution
To the editor: I’m finding myself in strange territory, which is defending Hunter Biden. He was convicted on three felony gun charges. The problem lies with the fact that all three charges are unconstitutional. For one, he lied filling out the application regarding drug use. The application, gun registrations and any form of gun control is unconstitutional.
‘Inalienable’ rights must mean something or the Bill of Rights is no longer in effect. President Trump even made a statement that if Joe didn’t save Hunter from these charges that he would when back in office. There might be legitimate crimes with the Biden’s but these charges aren’t.
The government has been slowly eroding our rights over time. We the People have been ‘voting’ our own rights away, many without knowing. Yes, many aggressive gun cases have been won on appeal but we are already half way down the hill. Are there ‘laws’ that are unconstitutional? Certain Presidents and Governors would love to outlaw guns completely.
The same goes for government lockdowns, mandates, business and school closures etc. Any law or mandate that usurps the constitution, even in times of ‘emergency’ is null and void. Do your research.
Our Founding Fathers were brilliant when they wrote the Constitution. They had just come out of a war with a tyrannical king. The 1st Amendment lists our inalienable rights. The 2nd Amendment allows us the means to keep them. Our Founders knew there would come a time when government would want too much power. Where are we now?
Read the preamble to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence.
At least read the first two paragraphs: When Government gets tyrannical, it is the ‘Right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles …..’ Read, study and embrace our Constitution. It’s brilliant!
-Glen Pierce Spokane/Cusick
Trivial calls result in police shootings
To the editor, Perhaps if you are interested in saving lives, the following is how it can be done by doing nothing. Whatever nuisance bothers you, don’t involve law enforcement. Don’t send an officer with a gun to a neighbor’s home unless it is a life-or-death situation.
That action is called being a Kevin or Karen. I am sorry if your name is one of those terms used to describe people that can’t stand the behavior of other people. Just look up law enforcement killings resulting from Karen calls to 911. One incident I saw was a man driving an ATV across the lawn of a neighbor.
The responding officer got into a shouting match at the neighbor’s home while investigating a misdemeanor that he didn’t even see.
The officer entered the man’s home because he wouldn’t come outside.
As the man approached the officer in his own home, he was shot five times and killed. All over an ATV ride across a lawn.
Another call in Florida involved a noise complaint in an apartment. An officer was dispatched and was directed to the door of an apartment and heard no noise. The officer knocked on the door and didn’t announce himself. Then he knocked again and said, “Police.” The door was answered by a man holding a gun at his side and his other hand up and palm out.
The officer shot him five times and killed him.
The man killed was an USAF active-duty serviceman awakened by a loud noise.
You could spend many hours watching incidents like these. They all start with calls over minor events and end with the death penalty being applied by law enforcement. The officer could also be killed by responding to a scene which is why the call should have never been made.
-Pete Scobby Newport
