Tea Party hard to take seriously
On Aug. 19 the Columbian published a post-primary story, “Hedrick throws his support to Herrera,” in which it was reported that Tea Party candidate Hedrick said the mainstream news media failed to take seriously his campaign and the campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Clint Didier, a fellow Tea Party candidate. I think I might know why.
The day the Tea Party movement was organized was Feb. 20, 2009, one month after the inauguration of President Obama. They immediately launched a hysterical campaign of “How is a Kenyan/Muslim/Socialist running our country?” The mainstream news media report the facts. Facts are: Obama was born in Hawaii, Obama is a Christian, and Socialist has become the Tea Party’s favorite fearmongering catch-word. Why would the media take them seriously?
This Tea Party would have us believe that they are like the patriots that dumped all that beverage into the harbor. I believe they might be descendants of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.
Jane Sturm
Battle Ground
‘Change’ is in the wrong direction
Aug. 19 marked the cost of government day as measured by Americans for Tax Reform. ATR defines it as “the day on which the average American has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government at the federal, state and local levels.”
It took 231 days this year to pay for the cost of government, an entire month longer than in 2008 before the current administration took office, according to ATR.
Is this the “change” you voted for or have you been “had?”
Richard Willerton
Vancouver
West Hayden Island is worth saving
Let’s do the same thing with West Hayden Island that the Port of Portland is doing with Government Island. Most of the Government Island is owned by the Port of Portland. The port acquired the entire island (as well as adjacent Lemon Island and McGuire Island) in 1969 to expand nearby Portland International Airport.
Though those plans have been abandoned, the port continues to control the land to prevent any uses incompatible with its location under the airport’s primary flight path. In 1999 the port sold 224 acres of the island to Metro, and leased the remainder to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for 99 years.
With the need to protect the wildlife habitat, and the need to protect the air space above the flight path to the airport, it just seems like the right thing to do! It seems to me that the port has the ability and experience to manage West Hayden Island as an Urban Wildlife Habitat in the same way as it manages Government Island. Leasing West Hayden Island to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department would be an excellent idea. Let the protection continue and develop at another location and stop dumping dredging materials on West Hayden Island.
Herman and Carroll Kachold
Portland
Stop feeding birds and squirrels
I get so sick and tired of people being cruel to animals. The animals I am referring to are the wild ones: birds and squirrels. People have bird feeders and the birds do not have to catch insects or eat the natural seeds, so birds get lazy, knowing that the people will feed them.
The worst example of cruelty is to the squirrel; people buy peanuts by the bag and feed the squirrels, then the squirrel comes to my house, digs a hole in the yard or my garden and buries the peanut, creating a mess for me.
Let the squirrels fend for themselves. They will find plenty to eat on their own, and my lawn can recuperate.
Jim Souder
Vancouver
End Israeli occupation of Palestine
Below the Aug. 21 Columbian headline, “Israel, Palestinians to talk,” is a starkly simple picture of a woman standing before a concrete wall. The picture with its caption illustrates the Washington peace talks.
The wall is a tool of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It does not divide Palestine from Israel, it divides Palestinians from their land and makes land available for Israeli settlements. Having experienced the Kalandia Checkpoint, I can say it is harassment, pure and simple, serving no security purpose.
The woman was denied passage because she was on her way to Al Aksa Mosque. The mosque is in East Jerusalem, which is not part of Israel despite Israel’s spurious claim to the whole of Jerusalem.
Will the talks deal with the Israeli occupation with its walls, checkpoints, settlements and control of East Jerusalem? If the talks are not about ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine, they are worthless.
Wilbur Wood
Vancouver
Plenty of questions about BPA plan
Lower taxes. Stop the wasteful spending. Fight the self-serving special interests. Oh, the hypocrisy.
Few rational people disagree with the need for new power transmission capacity for the Northwest. It has been nearly four decades since significant updates have been added to the system. Unfortunately, it seems updating BPA’s capacity is only a good idea if it happens in someone else’s backyard.
Well guess what? Due to a local group’s “Not in my backyard” lobbying efforts, BPA has proposed a new route through my backyard. I would understand and agree with this new proposal if it actually made sense, but somehow I expect this new segment came about only due to political pressure. If this is honestly the best, most efficient and cost-effective routing for the new transmission lines then, so be it. If it is due to political expediency, the citizen lobbyists, BPA and the politicians should be ashamed of themselves. If this new routing proposal is really the best and greatest use for our scarce resources, why didn’t BPA propose it before? I suggest some people no longer have the moral standing to rail against government waste and special interests.
Jeffrey A. Gibbons
Camas
Beware deceptions of politics
Lee Hemen’s Aug. 24 letter, “Vacationing becoming a career,” says we have a president taking outrageous numbers of vacation days while the rest of the country suffers.
I looked on the Internet for verification to this claim and found Obama has taken half as many days as Reagan and less than a quarter as many vacation days as George W. Bush at the same point in his term. I checked several sources and found the same results.
I hope people will keep checking the misstatements and inaccuracies tossed around as truth because, with an election coming up, we can expect a lot of intentional deception.
Cynthia Heise-Swartz
Vancouver
