Leaders must tell the hard truths

If you want to know why the country is in such trouble, look no further than the Cathy McMorris Rodgers Town Hall on Monday.

While the Spokesman covered this event, I feel compelled to further illustrate how terrifying it was to witness and how disheartened I feel about Spokane’s representation in Congress.

My daughter and I briefly attended and were appalled by the blatant disregard for truth and facts amongst the audience. When the representative was asked about a federal vaccine mandate, she said she opposed it and approximately thre-fourths of the room erupted into applause — including shouts of, “It’s an experiment!” Her pushback was practically nonexistent.

From there, a man got up and testified that Critical Race Theory is going to ruin the military. No response from Cathy.

With the Delta variant surging locally, the anti-vaccine sentiment so pervasive in the room, and not a mask in sight other than our own, we no longer felt comfortable staying. I spoke with two of Cathy’s representatives on the way out, asking why the entire gathering was not required to wear masks. They said they were following Washington and federal guidelines that if you haven’t been vaccinated you need to wear a mask. It was clearly not being enforced.

We need representation and strong leadership that can stand up to disinformation and tell hard truths to those who want to believe otherwise — our survival as a democracy depends on it.

Marcia Yep

Spokane