Letters: Jan. 20, 2019

Why would Russia work for Trump?

Maybe I may just be too old to think properly. But I wonder why Russians wanted to help Trump win his election? Clinton had already given Russia breaks and promised more just as Obama did. Trump on the other hand has helped slow down Putin’s attempt to rebuild the Soviet Empire. After a couple of years and tons of money trying to nail Trump and found nothing. People around Trump have been charged with crimes outside of the stated goal of the Mueller investigation. I guess that Trump must be unfit to be president because he doesn’t speak or act like an Ivy leaguer and he doesn’t belong to the largest criminal organization in the U.S., the Establishment.

If the U.S. is such a bad place to be, why do so many high risk (people) try to enter it illegally? If it is bad for children to be separated under Trump, it was fine under Obama?

Trump has been called a Nazi. Take a look at Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, and you might think Berkeley students and Antifascists were more like Nazis. As I saw socialist recruiting on campus; they hated each other more than capitalists.

Copy countries with good health

“Happily ever after” is the final end, which requires means, which can be part of a chain. In tales, it means as long as they live. Living eternally happily ever after is best. Making right decisions seems the means to that.

Longevity, though it can work in reverse, with someone becoming apostate, usually means ending with the right decision. Biggest means to longevity is healthcare. This country has the world’s highest healthcare cost. Since we live longer than folks in most countries, we are buying longevity, since about 36 countries outlive ours while having lower healthcare costs.

However, it appears we should copy Italy, with the lowest per capita healthcare cost of countries that beat us, or Japan, with the greatest longevity of practically any country while still having a lower per capita healthcare cost than we.

We can copy the heathcare laws of a country that beats us or expand our successful Medicare to one-payer universal Medicare for all. Though it may seem expensive, we can by copying a country with lower per capita healthcare costs than ours. Actually save money too.

We need respect, unity to return

I was born in Canada. In 1968 we moved to the United States with our infant son. In time we proudly became citizens of the United States of America. I love Canada, the country of my birth, but I LOVE the United States, the country I have adopted, the country I have chosen! I cherish the symbols of our country, the patriotic music, the flag, the statues, the Declaration of Independence and the other historic documents regarding the formation of our country. I find my heart hurting because of the current climate of anger and hatred. I think everybody has the right to their opinion, whether we agree with them or not; but must we scream and protest and threaten those whose thoughts are different from ours? We are Americans of many nationalities, we are not a holding tank of separate nationalities, we are one nation of Americans. Why can we not come together in respect and unity? I urge others to help unite our country before we end up in a civil war, which right now would be the most civil thing going on.

Male nurse won reader’s gratitude

I want to send a big thank-you to a male nurse who stopped his car on Van Giesen Street on Dec. 7, and rushed to aid my husband. He administered CPR to Bryan until the ambulance arrived. My husband did not survive, but if his heart attack had been less severe, this wonderful man might have saved Bryan’s life. Folks like him make the world a better place. I wish I could thank him in person.

Council choice ‘good old boy’

I was relieved to see that the Kennewick City Council appointed another old guy who spent many years nursing the Hanford project. It’s just nice to see that the good old boys club still works. I’m looking forward to more of the same-old same-old, and thank heavens we won’t have to hear from any young people, any women, any minorities, or any other underrepresented group. Whew! You saved the day, Kennewick City Council! For a minute there you had a chance to make sure we’d see someone on the council like we might see in the real world. But alas, the day has been saved...

Take great care in labeling people

Anyone who knows me or reads my letters knows I can rightly be called a liberal, progressive Democrat. I certainly support most programs that assist the poor, sick and elderly, so that label doesn’t bother me. I depart from left-wing orthodoxy on a few issues; I am more in tune with Republican free-trade ideas than with populist, protectionist, nationalist trade policies advocated by Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump.

What bothers me most is when anyone starts a rebuttal to something I’ve written or said by telling me what I believe, getting it totally wrong, then telling me why my “beliefs” are wrong. A rebuttal of anything I have said should at least provide a reasonable semblance of what I actually said.

The most relevant example of my critics’ ignorance is the term, or epithet, “socialist.” In a nutshell, being a little bit socialist is nothing at all like being a little bit pregnant. I fully support our socialized military, I would like to see our healthcare system a bit more socialized, and I see no reason at all to socialize more than a handful of the 6,000 private businesses listed on NYSE and NASDAQ. Label me.

Global warming false narrative

Several political agendas are furthered by making the public feel guilty. They make us feel guilty because we enjoy our good life in this great nation. The most irritating one is global warming. Scientists say that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is causing this change. Climate warming is occurring. The false narrative put fourth is that we are causing it by going about our normal activities.

Natural causes are ignored and I believe they are the major causes of this climate change. There is no political advantage in blaming nature.

* Forest fires - There have been large forest fires over vast areas of the world that have released tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Surely this fact needs to be considered in assigning causes for global warming.

* Volcanic activity - Volcanic eruptions billow vast quantities of gases and ash into the atmosphere. This activity has been steadily increasing for many years. Also there is sub oceanic activity that heats the oceans directly. It would be interesting to have information on this.

It is time for some honest answers!