Letters To The Editor
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Helms’ judgment cynically convenient
The July 5 article about Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., made me sick.
This so-called religious man wants to cut finding for AIDS research to punish the sinners for their immoral behavior. I don’t think the babies born with HIV, the hemophiliacs who contracted HIV through transfusions or anyone who contracts the deadly disease by accident deserves to die.
It baffles be that such a huge hypocrite is even allowed to influence the funding decisions in this country. Here is a man who has been owned by the tobacco industry since the day he took office and he is telling the people of the United States funding for AIDs research should be cut because of the victims’ immoral behavior.
Helms says this while at the same time promoting the subsidization and protection of the rights of a business that kills more and costs more to the taxpayers than any other disease.
I guess in Helms’ book, killing 50,000 nonsmokers a year through secondhand smoke is moral behavior. I wonder who will punish Helms for his immoral behavior. Eric Ingram Spokane
Republicans repay corporate backers
I was shocked to see the Republicans are proposing to do away with many of the safety regulations involved in the production of food.
In their efforts to please the corporations that bought them the 1994 elections, the Republicans have once and for all forsaken the illusion of public service and have replaced it with political payback. I wonder what will be next to go - public schools, police forces or hospitals?
It’s time for us to remind Rep. George Nethercutt and his cohorts the 1996 elections aren’t that far off, and these elections could become the ultimate payback. Craig Peterson Spokane
Gun enthusiasts have much to resent
Handgun control poster boy Bill Clinton needs to get his facts straight (“Clinton continues fight to ban cop-killer bullets with rally,” July 1).
Exotic armor-piercing ammunition is not available to the general public. There is no known instance of a policeman being killed by such bullets.
Clinton continues to crow about his “assault rifle” ban, but seven of the 19 banned weapons are now back on the market with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms approval after some minor cosmetic changes. Why not? Most of these firearms weren’t used by anyone but target shooters at sanctioned matches, anyway.
Handgun control’s propaganda organ, the knee-jerk press, quickly picked up this latest anti-gun silliness. What’s new?
Media Watch of Washington, D.C., estimates the media gave the gun ban lobby half a billion dollars of free publicity last year. What did the National Rifle Association get? Censorship! It’s what the First Amendment is all about. Five-hundred million for the anti-gun lobby and total silence for the NRA.
If the gun ban press, including The SpokesmanReview, would present both sides of the gun issue, then the American people could make some educated decisions.
Clinton’s unconstitutional efforts to end the private ownership of firearms are not crime control. Someone needs to tell Bill that this is America, not Cuba or Red China. Curtis E. Stone Colville
LAW AND JUSTICE
Peltier deserves another trial
Donald Head, retired FBI agent, give us a break! (“Leonard Peltier rightly convicted,” Letters, July 1.)
How long will the FBI perpetuate the myth that Leonard Peltier murdered two of its agents? Not only was Peltier illegally extradited from Canada using admittedly falsified documents, but the government conceded during an appeal it has no proof he killed the agents. So, please answer the following, Mr. Head:
Why is Peltier still in prison if he didn’t commit a crime? And, why are Americans being kept in the dark regarding this case?
Peter Matthiesen’s acclaimed book, “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,” which details the story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI’s war on the American Indian Movement, was kept off the shelves for eight years due to one of the most protracted and bitterly fought legal cases in publishing history. Twenty years after the shootout at the Pine Ridge Reservation, media suppression of the case persists.
Why was no mention made of the 5,000 people who demanded Peltier’s release in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago? What is the FBI trying to hide? As citizens of a democratic nation, we have the right to know the truth!
Leonard Peltier is a political prisoner of the United States. He has sacrificed 19 years of his life for a crime he did not commit. He deserves executive clemency or, at the very least, a new trial! Kim Harrington Spokane
IN THE PAPER
Photo made sweet dog look bad
On June 30, a picture of my dogs playing with a water hose appeared on the front page. I was horrified when I saw what Dan McComb chose to print.
My little neighbor boy asked me, “Why did the paper make Jewel look so mean?” I’ve also heard, “I didn’t know your dog was a pit bull?” People who usually drive by and laugh now grimace.
She is not a pit bull. There is a significant difference between an American Staffordshire terrier (my dog) and a Staffordshire terrier (as was printed). Neither of these breeds are American pit bull terriers.
Certainly, there was one picture that more appropriately reflected dogs having fun. She is an expensive show dog with a kind and gentle disposition, not the beast with the teeth as she was portrayed. Mary Pritzl Spokane
Silva a good public servant
It’s a tragedy that Spokane’s “Good Paper” equated County Building Inspector Dave Silva with the term “crook” on the front page (July 3).
Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson’s statement to the paper, “I feel there’s grounds for termination,” is even more ironic. He should talk.
In my opinion, Dave Silva is one of the few people on our county’s payroll who is willing to put a human face on our county’s government. He is a good and honest person who deserves much more than the sorry apology Staff writer J. Todd Foster told me he offered Mr. Silva after his story was published. I believe a retraction is in order. Mr. Silva’s reputation is also at stake. You may want to consider changing your slogan from “Good Paper” to “How Low Can You Go Paper.” Charlie Lee Spokane
Editor’s note: J. Todd Foster expressed regret to Mr. Lee about the headline given to his story, not about the story or facts contained within it, which The Spokesman-Review stands behind. Subsequent to the story’s appearance, a correction was published regarding the headline.
Let fine Chronicles set pattern
The Columbia Chronicles were such a refreshing change from the usual front page fare!
However, Staff writer Dan Hansen’s eyewitness accounts and Staff photographer Steve Thompson’s photographs gave this series the immediacy and interest of regular news. We looked forward to reading each installment, and learned much about the past, present and future of an important and vital resource.
Thanks for experimenting with a unique method of providing information about our region, especially for those of us who haven’t lived here all our lives. We hope you will consider more articles about the Inland Northwest in the same format. Sue and Don Kaun Liberty Lake