Online-only letters

New Yorker cartoon

Satirical commentary goes with the territory

Lets be fair here regarding the recent picture of Sen. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on the cover of The New Yorker magazine ["Cartoon might be satire, but outcry no joke," Times, page one, July 15]. For eight years now, there have been countless disgusting, degrading, disrespectful caricatures of President George W. Bush. If Obama gets into the White House, it just might be his turn to receive the same. I say, stop the whining. The satire and pathetic cartoon stuff goes with the territory. You know, freedom of speech and expression, is it?

— Ron Sapp, Mukilteo

Energy crisis

Not a priority in Congress

Watching Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers spin is certainly more entertaining now that I am not one of her constituents ["An all-of-the-above energy plan," Times, guest commentary, July 17].

McMorris Rodgers wrote: "With gas much more than $4 a gallon, you'd think Congress would put everything else on the back burner and focus on what's really important to the American people: the high cost of energy." Considering that gas was $1.47 a gallon when Bush took office with promises of "jawboning" the Saudis on oil prices, I'd say Congress has had plenty of time to address the energy crisis.

Instead, under the Republican-controlled Congress, we got the bloody, illegal occupation of Iraq, tax breaks for the wealthy and a gradual erosion of our Constitution. Now, with the Democrats' razor-thin majority in Congress, the Republican dead-enders focus on obstruction: of health care for kids, of ending the war, of improving veteran's benefits.

McMorris Rodgers has rubber-stamped Bush policies throughout her career in the House, to the detriment of her constituents in the 5th District. A Department of Energy report shows that by the year 2025, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would lower crude oil prices by 75 cents per barrel (about 2 cents a gallon at the pump).

Bush and Senate conservatives killed 2007 legislation that would have required 15 percent of our electricity to come from renewable sources, and they continue to block the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008.

Right now, 91.5 million acres of federal property onshore and offshore are currently leased for oil and gas drilling. Only about 23.5 million acres, slightly more than 25 percent, are actually producing oil and gas. In the meantime, Big Oil continues to fill the coffers of the Republican National Committee and make record-breaking profits on the backs of the American people.

— Ellen Lewis, Redmond

All-the-above approach not the answer

I guess there's a reason Congress has an all-time low in approval ratings — just read Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' self-promoting and extremely shortsighted guest commentary. McMorris Rodgers brags that she has voted yes for American energy with her every opportunity. Perhaps she should consider that caution is sometimes the better part of valor.

What is she really voting "yes" for? More dams (when the ones we have here in the Pacific Northwest are producing more energy than we can use) to disrupt an already fragile Snake-Columbia River ecological region? Drilling off the coasts of Florida and California? Well, why not drill off the coast of Oregon and Washington state, too, like former Interior Secretary James Watt wanted under the Reagan administration in the '80s?

I mean, the byproducts of oil consumption aren't that bad (spills, climate change) and the benefits from drilling are so readily available (10 years) that anybody with half a pandering mind can see that we can drill our way right out of our current problems. Then there's coal production. I mean, what parent doesn't hope that their child grows up to be a coal miner? It seems like such a safe and well-paying profession. Or how about nuclear power? We Washingtonians have had no past issues with that (Hanford site, Washington Public Power System).

McMorris Rodgers appears to be so eager to act that she has both failed to study the past and to truly understand the complexities of the energy crisis before us. In other words, her premise that we can continue our ways of doing business and our way of life if we just have an all-of-the-above approach is naive and dangerous.

Much like our leaders today, her thought process is a mile long, but only an inch deep. We don't need shallow-minded leadership, but rather a thoughtful and long-term approach to remedy our issues not only for this generation, but for future ones as well.

Unfortunately, there is no easy antidote to our energy crisis. It is a product of our "American way of life." We have become a nation of "entitled consumers." It seems that for the past 40 years, many individuals have pursued their personal freedoms at the expense of social responsibilities. We have grown obese with our overconsumption. Our current situation is a way of balancing the scales. We cannot and should not consume our way out of the current energy crisis.

We need to relearn the lessons from the Great Depression and live within our means, not outside of them. We need to realize that we are not entitled to the luxuries of having an SUV or a large house in the suburbs. As individuals and as a country, we must learn to be disciplined in our approach with enough foresight to realize that the world's resources are not for us alone, nor are they unlimited.

If we truly want to achieve energy independence, then it is up us to make difficult decisions to reduce our levels of consumption and live within our means. What we don't need is shallow-minded leaders pandering us into believing that we can have our cake and eat it, too.

— Robert More, Seattle

Traffic-circle death

Is race involved with similar instances, different charges?

It is disturbing to me that James Paroline died while working on the traffic circle near his home ["Suspect's surrender brokered at church," Times, page one, July 17]. As horrible as this incident is, I have trouble understanding why Brian Keith Brown was charged with murder and not manslaughter.

A similar incident occurred in Monroe. In February, Jesse Bullington punched motel manager Kenneth Wolfe, who fell and hit his head and died ["Modified guilty plea in punching death in Monroe," Times, Local News, July 17]. Bullington was originally charged with first-degree manslaughter, but pleaded for a lesser offense — second-degree manslaughter.

Both Brown and Bullington had prior convictions. Both are similar in age. Both of the offenses are remarkably similar. And, yet, one is charged with murder and the other with manslaughter. I wonder why. I suspect it is because Brown is black and Bullington is white.

— Carol Barber, Kent

Bellevue Nazi

Evils of genocide cannot be pardoned

Letter writer Michael McGrath's comparison of U.S. World War II bombardiers to participants in Nazi death squads is seriously flawed ["Another point of view: War is hell," Times, Northwest Voices, July 18].

His comparison rests on the fact that both inflicted death on innocent civilians. And because, as the cliché goes, "history is written by the victors," war is hell, both sides did terrible things and the war was so long ago, why not just give Peter Egner's actions a pass?

Bombardiers on both sides were given assignments that had the aim of destroying their enemy's will and capacity to wage war. This is regarded as a tragic cost of war. By contrast, Nazi death squads had genocide as their aim, a particular evil that the victors in World War II determined was separate and distinct from the war itself.

The fatuous notion that holds that the bad things done by both sides effectively neutralizes everything, meaning no one should be held accountable for doing evil, was discredited and ruled out as a defense prior to convening the Nuremberg Trials.

For some crimes, such as those allegedly committed by Egner, there is, appropriately, no statute of limitations.

— James B. Paden, Blaine

Obama and Iraq

Times kudos

I commend The Seattle Times for printing the truth about the anointed one, Sen. Barack Obama ["Iraqis like Obama more than his strategy," Times, page one, July 17]. The Iraqi general is very astute. He likes Obama for his youthful vigor, but he knows that Obama's policies would be deadly to his country and to his troops. The general, with boots on the ground, knows much better than Obama, who made up his mind on what he wanted to do politically without checking to see if it would actually be good policy for America and our interests abroad.

President of the United States is not the place for on-the-job training and education in geopolitics. Obama's generalities regarding hope and change are very "kumbaya," but his Iraq policies are flat wrong, given the facts on the ground today.

— Apollo Fuhriman, Bothell

Light rail

Busing suggestions for the 520 bridge rebuild

I strongly support the editorial board's suggestion that Sound Transit delay their attempt to get additional funding for light rail this fall ["Light rail can wait," Times, editorial, July 20].

Voter approval would result in Eastside residents losing the two HOV/bus lanes on the Lake Washington bridge, squeezing one of the lanes to the outer sections in each direction, causing increased congestion for Eastside residents commuting into Seattle for the 10 to12 years it will take to complete light rail.

To make Eastside congestion even worse, plans are currently under way for rebuilding the 520 bridge during this same period. This "double whammy" doesn't include the increased taxes and toll charges Eastsiders would face. The concerns about the 520 bridge's safety would seem to justify giving it priority over the I-90 light-rail construction.

To alleviate I-90 congestion during the 520 rebuild, Sound Transit should convert the center section of the bridge into a two-way, bus-only structure, moving the HOV lanes to the outer bridge sections. This conversion, which could easily be done in a year, would dramatically increase bus capability both into and out of Seattle, particularly if they would provide connections to light rail in the Rainier Valley area.

Sound Transit and Metro could take maximum advantage of this improved capability by doubling or tripling the number of express bus routes into Seattle. These buses would provide frequent departures (every 10 minutes during peak commute) from major Eastside park-and-ride lots with nonstop routes into Seattle for Eastside residents. Additional buses could provide direct service from the outlying park-and-ride lots to the Bellevue Transit Center and beyond to the Overlake Transit Center. The buses returning from Seattle would provide Seattleites with improved access to Bellevue and Overlake.

During the 520 bridge rebuild, Sound Transit should direct the 40 percent of their funds generated on the Eastside, left over from the I-90 bridge conversion and increased bus service, toward paying for the 520 bridge rebuild, thus, minimizing any toll charges. Sound Transit can revisit the I-90 light-rail system proposal when the bridge rebuild nears completion.

— Bill Hirt, Bellevue

Tobias house

Features of expensive houses discouraging

I have finally had it with reading about and viewing photos of the wealthy's homes ["Fun house," Times, Pacific Northwest magazine, July 20]. This week, you have a big spread in the Pacific Northwest magazine about a 5,300-square-foot temple of excess that was built for $310 per square foot — which works out to $1,643,000 — and that doesn't include the land.

I realize that there are wealthy people in the Seattle area, and that they like to build homes to show off their wealth and surround themselves with beauty. However, it would be nice if you would limit the number of pages you devote to salivating over their abodes, especially in a time when so many can't even afford a simple condo. Seeing the way they live does not really inspire the rest of us, when what we can afford doesn't even begin to come close to what they have.

I have a child, too, and he is just fine with living in our 1,000-square foot apartment. If he wants to bounce in a bouncy house, we go to a public event or to a place like Pump It Up and he has a blast. That the Tobias' child gets one in her living room is just the topper of it all. Where does it stop?

It would be nice if you would show more modest homes, or even apartments, and how people can cope with city-living in cramped quarters, rather than how lavishly the few are living.

— Jennifer Redwine, Redmond