Letters for Nov. 25, 2022

Gerrymandering

The parade of right-leaning residents in the area crying about the City Council picking district maps has had me scratching my head. It is almost like the GOP hasn’t been weaponizing redistricting since 2010, dividing cities from solid Democrat districts, to solid GOP districts. I mean, our own county commissioners literally sued to keep their partisan districts and keep all Democrats off the commission.

Just this year, the governor of Florida personally picked the map that flipped four Democrat districts to GOP districts by gerrymandering. Should I believe that these same people were writing letters in disgust and the Spokesman decided to not print them? Elections have consequences and this is one.

Harry Crase

Spokane

Liz Cheney for president

If Republicans were smart, they would begin to back Liz Cheney for president. Now that Republicans seem to be abandoning Trump, many appear to be turning to another Trump type, only smarter, Ron DeSantis. I am tired of these male candidates who are disdainful and even disrespectful of women.

As a woman who was first eligible to vote in 1964, I have almost always found Democratic candidates more in line with my values. But, I would vote for Liz Cheney. She has displayed incredible courage, intelligence and most of all, integrity. It is time for a major change in the leadership of our country.

Janet Grossman

Spokane

How to lose one’s commercial advantage

Trump poured billions into developing COVID-19 vaccines that produced results in less than a year. Now that big pharma has the preeminent manufacturers of vaccines, sharing same with U.S. researchers seems to have ended due to funding problems. If China had developed the same, money would flow in abundance to their big pharma so that the world would turn to them for the product. We, on the other hand, stifle funding just when we have the advantage, letting it slip away because of money and politics.

The selfishness of our big pharma and lack of cohesiveness in our government will see another American success story end up overseas. When the next crisis hits, the hue and cry for the loss of American resources will resound. Handwringing for the loss of another industry to foreign interests will be reported in all the newspapers. Crisis money will again flow to big pharma to step up their research and save us from ourselves. And the wheel turns!

Current funding support for vaccine research has been blocked as Republican interests look at the uncontrolled flow of dollars that supported this amazing development of our current vaccine miracles yet turn a blind eye to the potential of dominating the world market that will occur if they fund big pharma’s research efforts accordingly. We wonder why all our best ideas end up moneymakers for overseas entities. Read the above!

Jim Burke

Spokane

Walk your talk

For months and months, we were bombarded with nonstop Cathy McMorris Rodgers ads. By October, she had a minimum of three ads per hour, usually more during primetime, on KREM, KXLY, KHQ, KSKN and KAYU. This had to have cost a fortune, far beyond normal campaign funds and probably funded by dark money.

But in all her ads, she took from the Republican playbook across the nation … complain and blame. The one that cracked me up was her ramming that gas nozzle in her car, in anger at the high gas prices. So, is Cathy and the Republican slim majority in the House going to work all these problems? Odd, that McCarthy outlined the Republican agenda without even mentioning all these problems they attacked, and promised to fix. Instead, the House will be on a revenge tour with “investigations” into Hunter, Dr. Fauci, Merrik Garland and many others, including the Jan. 6 committee, and maybe a feeble attempt to impeach the President.

Will Cathy go along with this circus? Is that a good way to spend taxpayer money to relitigate the past to appease the former, twice-impeached president?

Walk your talk Cathy … gas prices should be down to $3 per gallon by summer. Keep your promises, or hopefully somebody will start a recall.

Richard Trerise

Spokane

Capitol siege

“Allegedly,” there was at least five members of the United States military that assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Am I missing something? During my active service in the United States Air Force of 22 years, enlisting once and re-enlisting five times, I swore to defend the constitution of the United States and follow the orders of the commander in chief of my military branch (the president of the United States of America).

“Allegedly,” wouldn’t the president of the United States have the presence of mind and responsibility to highly consider that there may be military personnel at the unrest? With his readily available intel source, finding that there was, it would “allegedly” be his ultimate responsibility to order them to leave the grounds immediately!

If “apparently” these five members are militarily court marshalled, or receive disciplinary action, weren’t they merely following the orders of their commander and chief?

Following all my allegations, here’s another: were top echelon commanders (generals, military leaders, etc.) ignorant that “especially” two officers and three enlisted escaped their prevue, their intentions to be there to storm the Capitol … come on, with about 1.3 million service members, not one had knowledge of these five intentions? Doubtful!

David Rosenbeck

Medical Lake