Letters: Face masks, statues, COVID-19 testing and more | July 9

Removing history won’t teach it to us

Tearing down statues of historical figures doesn’t make the history go away.

There are people like George Washington, Robert E. Lee, etc., who made mistakes in their lives (had slaves), but that was history. Slavery was wrong and we moved away from it.

Must we forever be made to feel guilty about it? We in this generation didn’t do it and knowing what we do now would never have done it.

I think that about 98% of all Americans want racism to go away in this country. They say we learn from history, yet some want to rewrite it or pretend it didn’t happen. They say if we don’t learn from it, we will repeat it.

In Europe right now, there is a rise in anti-Semitism; how can that be? Are they too refusing to teach their children what happened as a result of that mentality? Let’s not let a small percentage of our population dictate policy for this country. Rioting, robbing and looting doesn’t produce good results.

A few isolated incidents have taken us back 30 years. Certain policemen were terribly wrong and acted disgracefully (criminal) out of a police force across America of 500,000.

In every group there is a bad apple, and we need to weed them out, but we don’t need to be led by mass hysteria.

Wear your masks

Tri-Cities! Grow up!

The only way our counties will open again is up to you! Get those face masks on outside your home. Quit acting like a bunch of spoiled brats!

Dentists work, why not stylists?

Why is it okay for dentists to work and not allow hairstylist to work?

Trump ‘truly loves our country’

Seldom have I read such a negative, fallacious, snarky bunch of word salad as in the letter you printed today from Lee Semsen (5/7/20). I truly get it, that Semsen does not like President Trump’s personality. But no one of patriotic responsibility can choose a leader for his personality alone. And how many presidents in history can anyone say had the perfect personality and were an effective leader at the same time? Very few.

People disliked President Andrew Jackson for being too cranky, but he was a brilliant leader and strategist, and a loyal patriot and father to his adopted son. Old Hickory saved New Orleans and the country from the British, while suffering a brutal case of stomach flu which lasted months. People reviled Nixon for his Watergate scandal, but what Nixon, the expert statesman, did was like a little boy’s prank compared to the profound corruption of the Obama administration. So Mr. Semsen, I suggest you look beyond the personality of our president and take a look at what he has accomplished in the first 3 1/2 years of his administration, all in the face of unprecedented obstruction and opposition. President Trump has accomplished more for America than his last 3 predecessors combined. He truly loves our country — that fact cannot be argued.

No symptoms? Get tested anyway

No symptoms? Get tested at one of the drive-up testing centers.

Not having any symptoms, and having practiced due diligence in the mask-wearing department, I thought it would be a clever idea to go to the drive-through Coronavirus testing center in Pasco on June 18 in an effort to show more “negative” results among those tested.

Well, guess what? In spite of having absolutely no symptoms, I got a phone call from the the state Department of Health while driving to Spokane to meet our new granddaughter and to help another son move. Much to my surprise, the caller told me that I had tested positive. I called our daughter-in-law (a nurse) and son (a paramedic); both said to turn around, go home and do what DOH said to do (I did).

Bottom Line: I could have potentially exposed a newborn and others in the “high” risk category without knowing it. One study (https://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2020/06/09/thoraxjnl-2020-215091) implies up to 80% of positive results are asymptomatic (even if it’s 20%, that’s still a lot).

Good news: A lower percentage are severely impacted than being reported; Bad news: Lots of people may be spreading the virus without knowing it and could be exposing those at risk. Get tested!

Is Trump trashing American values?

It seems like President Trump wants be a dictator and rule our country by himself.

This president is ruining America and degrading everything that is good, patriotic and legal. He disrespects the Constitution and by his abuse of power and his erratic behavior, makes it very dangerous and lethal to American security. Money and power talk the president’s language.

I am worried about the young people who are learning very bad things from the president’s words and actions. “Well, the president said it and does it, so it’s okay for us to do it.”

We need to be vigilant and stand up for our American and patriotic values. I fear that the president is leading the American people down a dark, dangerous road. Our country and the Constitution need to be protected. We can’t have a president who thinks that he is above the law.

If Trump had his way, all of us who don’t honor him would be sent to hell in a Trump bag. The president needs to get over his big ego, and he had better be careful, because when he arrives in hell in his own extra-large Trump bag, it isn’t going to be a pretty sight.

This story was originally published July 9, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Face masks, statues, COVID-19 testing and more | July 9."