Letters: Masks, protests and more | May 28

Your freedom ends at my nose

Wearing a mask is about keeping the wearer’s sneeze and breath droplets from exposing others. Folks can spread disease even when they don’t feel sick. You do not have the right to carelessly expose everyone around you. That takes away my freedom to choose wellness.

Can Bezos make it to trillionaire?

Estimates are showing that Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by the year 2026. With COVID-19 still looming and the future of humanity, and our planet, teetering on a razor’s edge day by day, I think we can all come together and help Mr. Bezos reach trillionaire status ahead of schedule. Who’s to say we’ll even be around in 2026 to celebrate this mans achievement? This man created Amazon from his garage and has fought back from a nasty divorce. I say that this type of gumption and stick-to-itivness should be rewarded not condemned! This is why I’ve started a GoFundMe campaign to help JB become not only the wealthiest man alive but the wealthiest bald, divorced, wonky-eyed man alive. Visit https://www.gofundme.com/manage/help-jeff-bezos-become-worlds-first-trillionaire to donate today!

Some of writer’s claims were false

Regarding the May 17 Letter to the Editor from Reese Bang, there are several statements that are blatantly false. First, Trump didn’t “downplay the severity of the virus calling it a Democrat hoax.” Democrats were busy with their impeachment charade when the virus first showed up. Trump recognized its potential danger before the Democrats, who called him “racist” and “xenophobic” for limiting travel from China. They ridiculed him for his early response, then denounced him for not acting soon enough. Making cheap political points was (and still is!) more important to the Democrats than doing the nation’s business. He called the Democrats’ response to the virus a hoax (which was played on the American people).

Secondly, Trump didn’t “call Inslee a snake because he took the virus seriously.” He called him a snake because Inslee tries to play both ends against the middle. He has sued the federal government over several partisan issues, trying to make a name for himself. He declared Washington a sanctuary state and denied law enforcement the ability to enforce federal immigration law, then expected a large federal response to fight the virus. Washingtonians deserve federal support for this pandemic, in spite of (not because of) Inslee.

Has a mutation of virus occurred?

The news article in the May 16 Tri-City Herald, titled, “Sailors on aircraft carrier get virus for second time,” by Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press (AP), provides information concerning what happened when five sailors were diagnosed as having a second infection with the COVID-19 virus. Unfortunately, it fails to provide an answer to a very important question: is this second infection the result of a mutation of the first virus experienced by these sailors, or is it an indication that the same non-mutated virus did not result in antibodies that would prevent near-term second infection?

The answer to this question will tell us if we need to continue taking — indefinitely — the same precautions we are taking now for the first wave of COVID-19, or if we can safely phase in relaxation of the current separation and masking requirements.

It will be helpful if the Tri-City Herald asks the appropriate point of contact at the AP to seek an answer to the question, “Was this second infection the result of a mutation of the original COVID-19 virus.

Would subpoenas distract Trump?

President Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, has just argued before the Supreme Court that if the House of Representatives is allowed to subpoena the president and/or his aides, that would distract the president from responding to the coronavirus.

So what? That would be the best possible thing that could happen. Along with it, Trump should get his mouth boarded up, his ankle chained to a golf cart, and his whole person pastured out to Mar-a-Lago.

Protests prompt her to stay home

As I watch stay-at-home protests across the nation, I understand the frustration. I understand the economic uncertainty. We all get it.

As for my husband and I, we will not be going to a dine-in restaurant, a department store, a movie theater, a mall or a public gathering of any kind — all of which we did on a regular basis before the pandemic. Our decision to avoid these places is based on the fact that so many have chosen to rebel by refusing to take the safety measures of wearing masks and practice social distancing. If we all would work with the governor to follow a plan of reopening our state, we would feel more comfortable resuming life in public places.

Are the protesters that are so anxious to return to normal life willing to bolster the economy while the rest of us watch, wait and see if their social experiment works? Can they eat out enough, shop enough, drink enough, to compensate for those they make so uncomfortable as they blatantly disregard the safety of others? They sure aren’t convincing me there is no danger by their protests, conspiracy theories and obstinacy. They actually add to my concern.

Health district hiring for safety

It is very hard to believe that we elected someone as die-hard dim as Clint Didier.

As reported in the Herald, Didier wants a hiring freeze at the Benton/Franklin Health Department. In the middle of a worldwide pandemic, he wants to limit our ability to determine the extent of the disease spread in one of the two counties with the highest per capita infection rate in the state.

Why? Is he afraid that the new hires will be skulking around looking for farm workers who aren’t wearing masks? Frankly, this screams of Clint’s fear that maybe someone will find something out on his farm that isn’t kosher.

These new hires are there to interview people who test positive for COVID-19, find out who they have been in contact with for an extended period of time and contact those people to inform them that they may have been exposed to this disease that could kill them. They are there to improve public health.

Clint, they won’t give a rip if your workers are wearing masks or not. This isn’t about you; it’s about the people who trust you to keep them safe. You’re failing.

This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Masks, protests and more | May 28."