Letters: Voting, face masks, Trump and more | Sept. 10

America loses with Biden, Trump

Having to choose between a senile, old racist and an old racist who’s senile is no choice. That’s why I’m supporting Jo Jorgensen for president.

Unlike the two dinosaur candidates, Dr. Jo Jorgensen is a common-sense alternative who will end runaway spending, end overseas wars, and end the violence in our streets. She’s the only candidate who supports all of your liberties all of the time.

Even though Jorgensen will be on the ballot in all 50 states, including here in Washington, the duopoly doesn’t want her on the debate stage. Biden and Trump are scared of losing to a woman.

The corrupt two-party system would rather pit Americans against each other than solve problems. The end result is more contention and violence, dividing America even further.

It doesn’t matter if Trump or Biden wins on Nov. 3. The real winner will be China and Russia, which want to see America torn into pieces.

The only way forward is for the extreme left and the extreme right to lose. Only then can America finally heal.

This year, don’t throw away your vote by picking the lesser of two evils. Vote your conscience by voting for Jo Jorgensen instead.

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She liked op-ed; letter was wrong

Congratulations on your Aug. 28 Guest Editorial by Sue Birch, ‘Washingtonians still need birth control during pandemic.’ It underscores the continuing need for resources for women’s reproductive health and showcases the outstanding work being done by Planned Parenthood.

I must, however, object to your inclusion of ‘Masks can’t sub for living healthy’ in Letters to the Editor because it contains incorrect information regarding the use of masks. The rate of new cases of COVID-19 has gone down in the Tri-Cities since mask wearing was mandated. It is important that our newspaper not disseminate incorrect information and mislead its readers.

Thank you.

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Pasco mail center closed in 2013

Before some yahoo tries to blame the current postmaster for over a thousand ballots not being processed on time to be counted, look at the facts. The Pasco Post Office processing center was closed and operations were moved to Spokane in 2013 during the previous administration. Local letters that once took a day now take three days. That means ballots put in a post office mailbox are postmarked at least a day later. So if you want to have your vote count, drop it in a dropbox or mail it by Oct. 30. Don’t blame the Post Office.

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Trump turned out to be conservative

I did not vote for Trump or Clinton in 2016. I believed Trump was a closet Democrat.

In one of my letters to the editor in 2016, I stated that Trump “runs for president as a celebrity and opportunist.” Furthermore, “Trump’s campaign is more about Trump than about returning to conservative values in government. He has no record of conservative beliefs.” Finally, “Conservatives need to ask this with respect to Trump. If he is the litmus test for conservative values and positions, then what has he done to prove it, not just talk it?”

After almost four years, whatever one may think of Trump personally, the record is in to assess whether he has been a consistent conservative from his actions. The record reads unequivocally, in my view, that Donald Trump has proven his presidency to be conservative in ways I did or never would expect. Based on his record (not his Tweets, his historic approach to dealing with his adversaries and other personal negatives), I plan to vote for Donald Trump in 2020.

The alternative is unthinkable. I am a conservative who changed his mind on Donald Trump. And, I think there are many more like me out there than is realized.

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Voter rolls need cleanup work

Based on an Aug. 25, 2020 TCH article, “more than” or “about” 2.54% of BF counties’ ballots were not counted. Funny word choice when every single vote is tallied. 58% were received late, and the balance didn’t meet the criteria for a valid vote. Voting By Mail, VBM, did not fix that!

Recent NYC Democratic precinct’s primary was mail-in only; 21% of 403,103 ballots were invalidated. The California election data showed about 1.5% of nearly 7 million mail-in ballots were disqualified. New Jersey governor ordered a mail-in only election so ballots were sent to every registered voter. When the third largest city, Paterson, reviewed its ballots, 20% were rejected. There the attorney general has charged four persons with election fraud. Los Angeles County has been legally forced to clear its voter rolls of an estimated 1.5 million dead, moved or ineligible to vote. The need to be purged estimate for California is five million.

So vote-by-mail has no problems and immune to fraud? Pervasive vote buying beginning in 1880 helped lead to adoption of secret ballots. All states should use their existing system, after purging the dead, so elections can be certified. Otherwise chaos will occur.

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State data show masks do work

In a letter to the editor on Aug. 27, Elizabeth Lawson asks if wearing masks does any good against the Coronavirus, stating, “The mask compliance rate is said to be quite high, and yet it seems we set a new infection record almost every day.” The Washington State COVID-19 Risk Assessment Dashboard clearly demonstrates that the rate of newly diagnosed infections has been decreasing for Benton County, Franklin County and for the state overall, contrary to her claim.

For example, the rate dropped from about 430 in Benton County (around the time of the July 7 mask mandate) down to about 141 as of Aug. 15 (the most current set of complete data). The rates are reported as the number of newly diagnosed cases per 100,000 people during the preceding two-week period. Trends for Franklin County and the state are similar.

So, the answer is yes, wearing masks works. Masks have previously been shown to reduce the transmission of coronaviruses; and the timing of the reduction in new cases is consistent with the timing of the mask mandates and limits on gathering size.

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Mitchell prepared to serve now

Superior Court judge is not on-the-job training but requires a candidate who has fully mastered a diligent study of the law, broad legal experience and knowledge of the position through years of arguing a breadth of cases. Mike Mitchell is prepared to begin serving us now. He already has 100% of what I seek in a judge.

His unmatched experience spans 40+ years in private/public practice, defending and prosecuting cases in every area of the law. He is a mediator, arbitrator, part-time Walla Walla Superior Court commissioner and Judge pro ten. His bench experience is complemented by outstanding personal characteristics and deep community commitment. We deserve Mike’s integrity, fairness, common sense and the heart that generated this comment “… everyone in front of me is entitled to the same consideration and analysis .…”

Mike has no plans to stop learning – his years of work with diverse constituents with broad challenges continually add to a tapestry that broadens understanding of the law and our collective equality before it. Mike is running and Mike is ready, recognizing this is not a lifetime appointment – it should not be. Judges must return to the voters every four years. Mike intends to do just that.

This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Voting, face masks, Trump and more | Sept. 10."