Hegseth makes a remarkably poor Secretary of Defense | Opinion

Hegseth actions show no respect

Pete Hegseth is an evangelical Christian, so he does not respect other religious faiths or any person who is not a Caucasian.

He considers female Caucasians to be inferior to males.

He has purged the Department of Defense of senior admirals and generals who are either female or black.

He is a bigot who disparages all ethnic groups other than Caucasians, opposes their immigration, and wants them to be deported.

He imposes his evangelical Christian beliefs on military personnel: i.e., a captive audience that is not allowed to disagree with anything he says.

This violates the First Amendment to the Constitution in that as a representative of the U.S. government, he imposes religious beliefs and opinions on his subordinates.

He pursues the war in Iran by carrying out the tactical strikes desired by King Trump, but neither of them have a strategic plan from which tactical actions can be derived to guarantee a satisfactory conclusion. Neither he nor King Trump has even explained their definition of a satisfactory conclusion.

He is an idiot who King Trump has thrust upon the DoD and performs his job in the same manner as the mullahs in Iran.

Jim Tow, Richland

Step back, check egos, KSD board

I sincerely hope that the three Kennewick School Board members, Galbraith, Miller and Valentine, who devised and voted for this more restrictive classroom flag policy, have sufficiently fortified their fragile male egos with new flag size and positioning requirements, that they’re able to cease micromanaging classrooms, and wasting board time and district resources, and get back to the work they were elected to do.

And by the way, I know we’re all pleased that by passing this flag policy, Galbraith garnered some excellent messaging for his latest political campaign. Nothing wrong with killing two birds with one stone, right? He couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried.

Kathryn Schroeder, Kennewick

How apolitical are some on board?

I am concerned that KSD school board policies are being used to further the political ambitions of the board president rather than directly benefiting KSD students. The “apolitical” flag policy became a Republican campaign message on Galbraith’s Facebook page overnight.

How can an apolitical KSD policy become a partisan campaign issue? As Connors aptly observed, this is political theater and now we know who the performer is.

This policy also follows a disturbing pattern of targeting minority groups within the KSD.

The race policy attacked students of color. The board failed to respond when asked to support Kennewick Somali students after they were called garbage by our president.

Trans-students were verbally attacked at a public event. This flag policy is partly an attack on the LGBTQ+ community by removing symbols of safety. I see a pattern that is troubling.

I suspect board policies are being approved, not for academic impact, but to bolster Mr. Galbraith’s political resume. Every KSD policy appears on his campaign pages as political accomplishments.

I urge the other board members to scrutinize anything brought forward by Mr. Galbraith and ask whether it truly serves KSD students or does it merely serve his political agenda.

Chuck Henager, Kennewick

Gym’s policy not flexible for her

I am writing to share a difficult experience involving a Pasco gym, and to ask how local businesses respond when customers are facing genuine crisis.

I recently contacted them to cancel a membership due to serious extenuating circumstances involving domestic violence, safety concerns, an active legal situation and sudden financial strain. This was not simply changing my mind or trying to avoid a contract.

Continuing to access the facility was no longer safe or appropriate.

In response, I was told cancellation could move forward, but an early termination fee and additional payment would still apply, or I could continue through the remaining billing cycles.

I understand businesses have contracts and policies. But domestic violence survivors are often forced to make sudden, expensive, exhausting changes all at once. Housing, childcare, safety planning, transportation, court, and finances can shift overnight.

Extenuating circumstances should mean something. Safety should mean something. A gym membership should never become another source of punishment for someone trying to survive and stabilize their life.

Name withheld by the Herald, Richland

No escape from state over taxes

I keep seeing articles and social media items about the high gasoline tax in Washington State. My rule on taxes: “We have the money, the state will take it from us. You can slice it and dice anyway you want, but at the end of the day will pay.” We don’t have a state income tax, so other taxes are higher.

Bob Allen, Richland

Horn Rapids data center overscaled

I’m deeply concerned about the Horn Rapids data center development near North Richland — and others planned in/near the Tri-Cities. One detail needs broader attention: the scale of the proposed transmission infrastructure.

The BPA intertie for Horn Rapids is roughly 1,300 megawatts — many times greater than Richland’s typical electricity demand. That level of capacity is not built for a single facility; it is designed to support a cluster of future projects.

This reframes the issue. We are not evaluating one project, but the early stage of a regional build-out. Other regions, including Northern Virginia, followed a similar path: early projects justified major transmission upgrades, enabling rapid expansion.

There, rising demand has required significant investment in the grid, and regulators are warning of higher and higher residential electric bills over time.

There has also been a lot of backlash in Virginia about the noise. Data centers operate 24/7, and nearby communities say there is a constant low-frequency hum, affecting sleep and outdoor living, problems difficult to fix after construction.

As these proposals move forward, the community deserves a clear discussion of long-term impacts, including cumulative development, electricity costs and quality of life.

Jordan Fernandez, Richland

Allies refuse aid to bail out Trump

In the last week of April 2026, the U.S. government filed a legal document explaining to the UN that it entered the Iran war earlier in the year “at the request of” Israel.

Costing the U.S. billions of dollars and hundreds of American casualties, the legal justification filed with the UN is that the Israeli government requested our assistance, and we went to war.

A March 7, 2026, article from NPR noted that the rhetoric President Donald Trump used to explain the war varied throughout its first week. For example, Trump said that he went to war with Iran because:

• Iran massacred protestors in January.
• “Something had to be done.”
• Iran would have obtained nuclear weapons within two weeks.
• Iran backed out of a previous deal regarding nuclear weapons (Trump, not Iran, backed out of the previous nuclear deal in 2018).
• Iran has ballistic missiles that can hit the U.S.

Now our president is squealing like a stuck hog for assistance from our traditional allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the same allies (that) he has frequently attacked and threatened for refusing to get sucked into his war. God help us.

Bill Petrie, Richland

Time article fell short of standard

In the April 2016 Time article “How Junk Food Can End Obesity,” by Bryan Walsh, the idea of redesigning processed food offers hope, but it ends up falling short of what we truly need. Making junk food slightly “healthier” does not address the bigger issue of we rely on it too much.

Instead of redesigning junk food, we should be replacing it altogether. These simple adjustments like sugary snacks for fruit, soda for water and heavily processed meals for simple whole foods would have a greater impact.

These switches may seem small, but they build healthier habits that no engineered replacement can replicate.

The solution to our health crisis shouldn’t be better junk food, but less junk food. Why settle for improved versions of unhealthy choices when we can adopt better ones altogether?

It’s time we shift the focus from convenience to nourishment and rethink what we put on our plates every day.

LeAnne Wamsley, Kennewick