Letters to the editor

Donkey reins

On the way to the Hill don't waste time on furious meandering

Editor, The Times:

As a lifelong liberal Democrat, I am of course pleased by the results of our recent election. However, I would like to send an admonishment to all the members of our next Congress, no matter their party affiliation or political leanings: The voters have elected you because they are not happy with the direction our country has been going in the past several years. They have given you the opportunity to show what you are made of. Please don't waste it!

There are so many important issues to be dealt with — war, poverty, the deficit, education, health care, international relations, the environment, and many more. Please don't waste all of your time on petty issues such as impeachment, indictments or other partisan bickering.

Instead, I would urge all of you to reach across the aisle and work together in bipartisan cooperation for the betterment of our country and our world.

We may not get another chance. Now is the time to aspire to be statesmen, not merely politicians.

— Carol Friske, Everett

Elephants' spurs

So, the liberal Northwest Voices writers are all giddy about the Democrats winning control in Congress. How uneducated and shallow they are!!

It is historically shown that a president in his last two years of a second term tends to normally lose Congress to the other side. In fact, the turnover is smaller than history has shown. And there where many close races.

For a reader to say this election is a mandate ["Drunk on power: A higher proof," Northwest Voices, Nov. 12] just isn't reality. Another reader challenges defeated Sens. George Allen, R-Va., and Conrad Burns, R-Mont., not to demand a recount. I have heard of no Republicans crying about voter fraud, or demanding a recount. It is the liberals who whine and complain, and demand recounts until they find enough votes to claim victory.

It is so sad that this is what we have to look forward to for the next two years. But that is OK — conservatives will have plenty to run against in 2008.

— Christopher Van Auken, Buckley

The heard mentality

Regarding Tim Clark's letter about Democrats, terrorism and Iraq ["Leading with the left: Our ringside seats," Northwest Voices, Nov. 14]: The reason we haven't been attacked again here has everything to do with local police work around the country and nothing to do with the Quran.

The problem with many people, not just Americans, is they take no time whatsoever to study a problem in depth or try to understand its cause. They strike out with blanket statements they hear on TV, like "If we don't fight them over there, we'll have to fight them here." It's complete fear-mongering, not based on any fact, evidence, history or logic.

There are real terrorists, and there really are people who wish us harm. Always have been, always will be. But if our history indicates anything, it says that our chances of dying from a terror attack are far less than nearly any other cause you can think of. There are better ways to use our time and energy.

— Bruce Hunt, Kent

Burden of history

I couldn't keep from laughing when I read Eugene Robinson's "The GOP's black tokens" [syndicated column, Nov. 14], and got to the part where he states "The [Republican] party will never break through until it manages to dispel its image of hostility toward policies that seek to uplift the disadvantaged."

What a short memory he has for someone who is old enough to remember the bad old days when the Democratic Party played footsie with Southern racists, fearing — no doubt correctly — that without the electoral votes of the Southern states, the Democratic Party would not be competitive nationally with the Republican Party.

As a Southerner, I remember well how the Democratic Party's "Southern strategy" kept blacks in a condition of near-slavery for another hundred years after slavery's official end. Don't forget: It was Democrats, not Republicans, who vowed to "stand in the schoolhouse door" to prevent school desegregation, and who campaigned using the slogan "Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

— Henry King Stanford Jr., Belfair

Kicking ourselves

As a native Washingtonian, I am embarrassed by my fellow voters.

"Government regulation of private property" [Initiative 933] failed because few people know the injustice of the state telling them how to use their private property. This initiative would not have failed miserably if, say, Seattle's citizenry had been told they could not use 40 percent of their living rooms. These people would rightly be outraged at this, but they are the same voters who have forced it onto others.

The "estate tax" discriminates against the "rich." Those who voted for this tax [Initiative 920] must be thinking "I will never have $2 million, so it does not affect me. Let others pay." This is just wrong. And folks like Bill Gates could, if they wished, willingly donate their entire fortunes to education when they die.

The "Energy Resource" initiative [I-937] allows "environmentalists" to force us to pay higher energy bills because water is apparently no longer a renewable resource. I hope they feel better now. Oh — which of the "for" voters is going to put a wind turbine in their neighborhood?

Some might tell me to move to somewhere I like. Well, I was probably here first. And I would really like my Washington back.

— Dennis Richter, Bothell

The ride ends here

I've been getting some chuckles over recent letters from disgruntled Republicans. Talk about sore losers.

I haven't seen a single reference to balanced budgets from the losers. These are the folks, you may recall, who wanted to amend the Constitution of the United States to require balanced budgets.

Perhaps Republicans have changed their minds and now believe that a strong economy requires enormous federal deficits, George Bush's gift to America's children.

Yes, there's a lot of grousing about taxes. The Democrats are going to tax the heck out of Republicans. It's all so unfair. Just think how awful it would be if our wealthier citizens had to pay the same proportion of their income in taxes as the middle class [pays of its]. Horrors!

I'm starting a club for patriotic millionaires. The requirements are that you agree to pay your fair share of taxes, and that you encourage your young people to wear the uniform of their country. So far, I'm having trouble finding members.

— Jim White, Lake Forest Park

Ask in the wilderness

Regarding "Rumsfeld's resignation: long time coming" [editorial, Nov. 9]: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's distinction between "known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns" omitted a very important fourth factor: unknown knowns. These are the things everyone else knows but he and the rest of the Bush administration hadn't figured out yet, at least not until Nov. 7.

— Carolyn Walden, Seattle