Letters: Thanks to donor, nation’s integrity, face masks and more | Aug. 6

Veterans thank anonymous donor

Every other Thursday morning a group of veterans gather at Sterling’s on the River in Richland. (Our gathering is open to all veterans.) There are between 15 - 25 who show up. On 30 July, we had 20. We all had breakfast and when we were ready to leave and our server told me that all of our breakfasts had been paid for by an anonymous lady. Whoever you are, we are all very grateful and sincerely thank you. It was unexpected and a complete surprise to us all. Thank you very much from a group of old Vets.

Just a note: We all supported the Sterling’s policy in following the health department COVID-19 policies.

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GOP needs to look at nation’s integrity

I usually identify more with conservative views and often vote for Republicans; however, I believe the moral character of a candidate is more important to our freedoms and democracy than political persuasion. In the 2016 presidential election, I voted for an alternate candidate after finding Trump did not possess the necessary character of the presidential office.

President Trump disregards our laws and his actions are eroding our freedoms and democracy and place our nation in jeopardy on multiple fronts. I am appalled by the lack of courage demonstrated by many Republican leaders who condone his destructive behavior when they do not speak out against him. Perhaps Republican leaders have failed to act because they fear his retaliation and loss of political position, or because they are willing to sacrifice the values we hold at the very core of our democracy in order to achieve political agenda items.

I appeal to my fellow Republicans to look within your hearts for courage to display moral character. I implore you to place the defense of our freedoms and democracy ahead of fear of political consequence or political interests at this critical time when President Trump is trampling the core of our nation’s integrity.

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Social media likely the cause

As a lifelong member of the silent majority, I am now compelled to take a stand against the growing number of sociopaths and anarchists who commit destruction of public and private property in our big cities. The weak mayors and governors are afraid to confront these people, and police are not allowed to enforce the law.

Until such time as the destructive elements are brought under control, I support the use of federal troops. These same lawless people also seek to remove statues of leaders from past eras, judging them on their current narrow ideology. If there is still a respect for democracy, removal of public statues should only be according to a vote.

So what is driving mob violence? I suspect that social media addiction supports and encourages any form of perversion.

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Foolish actions holding us back

The New York Times database indicates more than 2,703,200 people in the United States have been infected by the coronavirus, killing at least 128,100 of them and increasing in frequency. Many of these infections and deaths could have been avoided. Epidemiologists provided early warnings and several recommendations to minimize the spread of this disease.

Foolish people, also known as goobers, are assisting in the spread of this disease. Our goober president, many government elected officials and some news commentators initially scoffed at these warnings and recommendations. This influenced many other people to also ignore the recommendations and become goobers.

Now our country is in competition with Brazil for having the most coronavirus infections and deaths per capita in the world.

Our governor recognized the threat of this disease early and took corrective actions to minimize its spread. Most of the state is under control and business is slowly returning to normal. However, due to the many goobers in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties, the spread of the virus continues to increase and businesses are prevented from reopening until the disease is in better control.

Don’t be a goober! Follow the governor’s recommendations. The life you save may be your own.

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Let’s get on track to Phases 2, 3

Since when is Russian roulette an Outdoor Sport? Curbing the COVID-19 spread, getting small businesses open and students back in the classroom are not helped by endangering the health of our communities through community spread. It only takes a few to seed new infection chains.

Tri-Cities,Yakima are profiled as “hot spots” by every conceivable health metric!

So, Richland and Benton County Health Officials, where are you?

Let’s see:

1). U.S. has grown from two million infections to three million in 30 days.

2). 50 million jobless claims since mid-March.

3). Over past two weeks, 37 states have had skyrocketing transmissions.

4). Tri-Cities in “Phase 1.5,” barely any business activity beyond essential services.

5). Local school districts agonizing over risks and costs of returning to school. Classrooms being like a cruise ship — an incubator!

Let’s not go back to “shutdowns!” Why defy health mandates? Don’t suffer from the illusion of immortality.

So if that means wearing a mask and avoiding nonessential public gatherings, let’s follow the guidelines and get to Phase 2, and Phase 3.

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Ignore Didier, wear your mask

This is so ridiculous that the Tri-Cities and their counties are stuck in phase 1 of the COVID-19. We all need to work together to reach the next phase and to get businesses back up and running.

This is where good leadership should come into play. Instead of being that leader, and leading by example, Clint Didier is so concerned with undermining (Gov.) Jay Inslee instead of trying to work with him for the people. Didier has a lawsuit against Inslee, tells businesses to defy Inslee and open up, and is the sole county commissioner to vote against Inslee’s mask up to open up program. Not to mention, Didier holds a Republican pow wow in a potato shed with about 300 people, most not even wearing a mask, including himself.

Currently, Franklin county is one of the worst counties on the West Coast. Health experts suggest wearing masks. Didier said that “masks do not do any good.” I’ll trust the experts, not someone who has his own personal interests as a higher priority than the safety and well being of the citizens of Franklin County.

We all adjusted to the seatbelt law. Please, adjust to wearing a mask.

This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Thanks to donor, nation’s integrity, face masks and more | Aug. 6."