Church shows lack of care
I was horrified while driving past the Nazarene church in Moscow this past weekend to see the parking lot overflowing with cars. I found out this was yet another Christ Church event. We are in the midst of a pandemic and for some reason there are people who care so little for their fellow humans that they participate in activities that only serve to spread a deadly disease. And for what? Ego? Money?
Whether this event was to feed the leader’s narcissism or just rake in lots of money, or both, Moscow needs to wake up and censure this group. We have elderly people who have been isolated in their homes, unable to see or hug their loved ones for months because this virus could kill them, and if it were to get into our local care facilities there would be a staggering number of deaths.
Christ Church is once again smugly thumbing its nose at decent Moscow residents and this time literally endangering our lives. My anger extends to the Nazarene church as well. I was unaware that they had an affinity for the extreme fundamentalism of Christ Church, or perhaps the money offered was just too good to pass up. I, for one, never patronize the businesses of Christ Church members. I call on every decent resident of Moscow to do the same.
Holli Cooper
Moscow
The Daily News should fact check its letters to the editor
News media have an obligation to fact check the information they disseminate. Although letters to the editor express the positions of their authors, newspapers remain responsible for their false claims of fact, as the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear numerous times.
On Aug. 12, you published a letter titled “Freedoms suspended by circumstance” that rests entirely on a false claim. The author states that Title 46, Chapter 10, Sec. 46-1008 of the Idaho Code (the legal basis for Gov. Little’s stay-at-home order) violates both the Idaho and the U.S. constitutions and is, therefore, illegitimate. This is nonsense. The author offers no foundation for this claim and perhaps declares the order unconstitutional because that is what they wish to believe. That simply is wrong. As are the claims that “no one was obligated to obey the governor” or “to wear a mask or social distance.”
The referenced Idaho statute, like most state laws on disaster preparedness, gives the governor authority to declare an emergency and to issue relevant orders. The code delineates areas of express authority and provides for more general authority to address unforeseen conditions. The governor’s authority also stands firmly upon the “supreme” power delegated the executive in Article IV, Sec. 5 of the Idaho Constitution.
Like all laws, executive orders are subject to judicial review to determine that they meet legal and constitutional requirements. Prior to such review, the order is legal, binding, and fully enforceable. A recent legal challenge claiming that the Florida governor’s COVID-related emergency orders violated the Constitution was dismissed with prejudice. The judge found the stay-at-home order “reasonable and measured, based on data and science, and rationally related to a legitimate end … Constitutional rights are not implicated.” Unless an Idaho challenge finds that Gov. Little lacks that authority, his order and the parallel Moscow City order are binding.
To publish a letter that states the reverse is irresponsible. It fuels the rage and resistance of all who see reasonable safety precautions as threats to imagined personal freedoms. Readers deserve better from their local source of news.
Susan Dente Ross
Moscow
Pullman and the BLM mural
I live and vote in Moscow but am aware of and interested/concerned about what goes on outside my community. In my opinion, the Pullman City Council would be wise to vote down any suggestion of a Black Lives Matter mural on any city owned property for several reasons.
n BLM has morphed into a near political organization akin to the NARAL or the NRA. Check its website.
n The city council should expect to be asked to approve murals by myriad other quasi-political organizations such as national “Right to Life” groups.
n There are some pretty ugly things happening and political demands being made in our cities these days under the banner of BLM.
n It is clear to any thinking person that the real threat to Black lives is not those few tragically lost at the hands of white police officers, which seems to be the focus of BLM protests, but on the streets of Chicago and Baltimore where Black lives are snuffed out by the hundreds, perhaps the thousands, annually. However, it is not politically expedient to focus on those tragedies.
n The greatest loss of Black lives occurs at the hands of abortionists where upwards of 40 percent of Black pregnancies end in abortion. Those losses are approaching genocidal proportions. Since 1973, approximately 16 million American Black babies have lost their lives that way. But again, there is no political expediency in protesting them.
Before anyone responds with a letter to the editor calling me a racist, it would serve them well to see who is living under my roof with me and eating at my table these days.
Bill Tozer
Moscow
Use the power of your vote
I’m angry. After living through 13 presidents, I never thought I would be. The current Republican administration has systematically chipped away at hard-won protections of society, health care and safety nets. Aided by Senate Republicans, said administration has torn down this country solely for its own enrichment and that of its mega donors.
Now, in one of his more egregious acts, Mr. Trump has installed Louis DeJoy as postmaster general, in a self-admitted attempt to hamstring the USPS in order to interfere with vote-by-mail options for the general election. Corner mailboxes have been removed, sorting machines have been decommissioned and mail delivery slowed. We know that foreign powers are attempting to interfere with our election. But our own president? He likes to believe he is a wartime president because of COVID-19. That would make this a treasonous act.
The U.S. Constitution empowers congress to establish a postal system. Where is the congressional outrage as the executive branch trumps its congressional oversight? There are many remedies available to congress. Among them are negotiation (kudos to Nancy Polosi for reconvening congress), charges of treason, and impeachment of DeJoy or Mr. Trump. Apparently summer recess is of more importance to the Senate. So what can we the people do? Call your senators and representative and express your concern and even your anger and frustration. Encourage local media to investigate what is happening to your USPS. Most importantly, vote. Request a mail-in ballot now. Don’t mail it. Drop it off at designated drop boxes. Offer a ride to a person who may not easily be able to drop off his/her ballot. Please help ensure that no one is disenfranchised by the despicable actions of those in power.
Don Peters
Pullman
