Letters: The Borgen Project, presidential COVID response and defund the police | Sept. 20

Devote more aid for world affairs

In the midst of a global pandemic, it can be easy to focus on the fear and insecurity that plagues so much of the world. But in the face of catastrophe, it is much more useful to focus on the positive forces that continue to fight the good fight. The Borgen Project is one of these positive forces, a nonprofit devoted to bringing awareness to and to ending global poverty by making it a focus of U.S. foreign policy.

The Borgen Project doesn’t just report on global poverty; it actively fights it. This is something we can all get behind and get involved with.

Through urging Congress to support emergency supplemental funds for the International Affairs Budget to fight COVID-19, the Borgen Project aims to reduce the current catastrophic impact of COVID-19 and help to prevent future outbreaks.

I urge every constituent to call on Sen. (Patty) Murray, Sen. (Maria) Cantwell and Rep. (Dan) Newhouse to support both The Borgen Project and increased supplemental funds for the International Affairs Budget. The best way to fight global poverty is to come together, educate ourselves and ask for what we want from those who can provide it.

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The demon wants cattle, not people

CS Lewis, in his classic “The Screwtape Letters,” has the demon Screwtape explain what demons want from their human victims. “We want cattle who can finally become food.” In other words, they want followers who don’t think for themselves, who merely feed the insatiable desires of their evil leader. (As opposed to God, who wants “servants who can finally become sons.”) This grim analogy haunts me as I consider the current pandemic.

People have died because of this president’s insatiable ego and ineptness. Heartbreakingly, his lies have hurt the very people who believe in him. They were told that this pandemic was a hoax, that shutdowns were only to hurt his re-election, that wearing masks was unnecessary and infringed on their freedoms, that disinfectants could cure the virus and that it would miraculously go away.

Now he is pushing cures and early vaccines without any consideration for safety and effectiveness — treating us like Putin treats his Russian “cattle.” He plays golf while real people get sick, go hungry, and lose jobs. And yet he shows no remorse, no empathy, takes no responsibility. It’s all about him, his ratings and his ego. He consumes, and 180,000+ Americans provide the food.

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Maybe we should defund the police

When I first heard of the proposal to defund the police, I thought that this was the most ridiculous and asinine thing that I had ever heard. Since then, I have had some second thoughts.

Every evening on TV I see our revered statues being torn down; stores being looted and vandalized; innocent people being assaulted; lawlessness inside protected areas and more. I also see police officers standing by observing but doing nothing to stop the lawless mayhem.

If they are not going to do their job and protect people and property, why fund them? Since we are defunding, I think that it would only be proper to defund those who direct the police. I think the problem may be therein.

Something to think about, but whatever your thoughts, it would seem rational to me if we do not stop the destruction of our cities, we will have no nation.

This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: The Borgen Project, presidential COVID response and defund the police | Sept. 20."