About banana republics
The Republic of Panama is built on an exact copy of our Constitution. We gave it to them when we sent a gunboat down there, in support of their rebellion against Columbia. We connived against Columbia, because she was asking too high a price for permission to build the Panama Canal. But Panama’s excellent constitution has not protected them from exploitation by foreign corporations. They have always been our corporations’ little banana republic, complete with a puppet government.
Well, our corporations have grown up and left home; most of their factories and customers are overseas, now. Their loyalty, now, is to their shareholder value, not to America. They finance our elections, so they own our federal government. They now see us as their banana republic, complete with a puppet government.
When the corporate interest and the government are a unity, that’s a fascist government; we are a republic in form, only; our constitution did not protect us. How big a step is it to a Nazi style? There are lots of little militia people running around nudging us in that direction.
But hey, Hitler’s Nazi party platform wasn’t all bad. Of the 25 points, let’s adopt point 12, “In consideration of the monstrous sacrifice of life and property that each war demands of people, personal enrichment due to war must be regarded as a crime against the nation. Therefore, we demand ruthless confiscation of all war profits.”
Heaven knows, our nation’s finances need to be rescued.
Would the military industrial complex survive the financial bloodletting? Or would we regain control of our government, and restore peaceful relations with other peoples? Would the war on drugs survive? Or would we restore peace among our own people?
Wiley Hollingsworth
Pullman
Alternatives to fireworks
Today is the Fourth of July, when Americans celebrate independence from British rule by setting off fireworks, having barbecues and hanging out with friends.
This year things are looking different because of the COVID-19 pandemic and I would like to make it even more different — with your help. Fireworks assault your pet’s senses with loud noises, sharp smells and bright light. In nature an animal would do its very best to get away from these things, and many pets escape because they get so frightened they aren’t thinking straight anymore. Certain animals like rabbits have a fear response that can cause their hearts to stop, if they are scared enough they can die.
Animal control services across the nation see a 30-percent increase in lost pets from July 4-6, but every year only an average of 14 percent of those 30 percent get returned to their owners. What makes this even worse is that 30-60 percent of these animals have to be euthanized because the owners can’t be reached.
This year, please do something other than fireworks to protect your lungs, and help keep pets healthy and safe.
Some alternatives to fireworks include: confetti and confetti poppers; glow-in-the-dark bubbles; LED balloons (please don’t release them for the safety of wild creatures and the earth); colored lanterns; sparklers’ glow sticks; pop rocks.
These are all fun for all ages, and won’t scare your or your neighbors pets like fireworks. Celebrate safely.
Rachael Snyder
Moscow
Make restrooms gender nuetral
When I saw our Friendship Square public bathrooms being used as a symbol of hate, my first thought was to change the symbol.
But I guess I need to start from the beginning: trans women are women, trans men are men, intersex people exist. Using “biology” to hide your anti-trans bigotry is disingenuous. Biology and sex are much more complicated and diverse than two sexes. Sex isn’t binary.
People have long used phony science to justify their bigotry when it comes to racism. We see it in our nation’s history.
We know what it is. It is bigotry and hate, full stop. Anti-trans rhetoric is bigotry and hate. Stop it. Transgender individuals experience violence and hate crimes more than any other demographic. Bathrooms are not safe spaces for trans people, so, miss me with your fear mongering, phony science, and pearl-clutching, Keely Emerine-Mix.
Thinking that trans people don’t exist doesn’t negate from the fact that they do. An entire organization used our public facilities to spread hate. They made a hate video. I’d like to counter that.
I appreciate the statement from Mayor Lambert that hate isn’t welcome in our town, that our community values the trans and nonbinary members of our community, but I hope that the mayor’s statement is just the beginning.
I’d still like to see the Friendship Square bathrooms remodeled to gender-neutral bathrooms, and a proposed plan and timeline to shift all public restrooms to gender neutral.
Eija Sumner
Moscow
What about August?
With regard to Washington State University reopening, the article in a recent Daily News noted that Mary Jo Gonzales, WSU vice president for student affairs, said all WSU classes will move to online instruction at the conclusion of Thanksgiving break. She said this is to minimize the chances of a student bringing the virus back to Pullman after traveling for the holidays. Good thinking. Shouldn’t the same thinking be applied to the return of the student body en masse in August? I fear a serious outbreak of COVID-19 in Pullman well before Thanksgiving break. I also note that there was no mention of testing.
David Hutton
Pullman
Like Trump with Obama
Last week, the bulletin board in Friendship Square was aflutter with flyers … showing a smug pastor Doug Wilson standing on the rainbow flag and his words: “We know that sodomy is worse than slavery by how god responds to it.” Wilson is obsessed with homosexuality the way Trump is obsessed with Obama.
Wilson tramples the rainbow flag to show he’s a real man, and his stance is even a little provocative. Trump wraps himself in the U.S. flag to give himself the image of authority, rev up his cult, but he couldn’t pass a 6th-grade history or geography test. Turning to Wilson’s quote, he claims he knows how God responds to sodomy. How does he know? By reading? By thinking? By imagining?
Diana Armstrong
Moscow
How was service Christ-like?
It was reported that Christ Church with Pastor Doug Wilson held an indoor church service recently with as many as 1,000 attendees. It did not appear that attendees wore masks or were seated at least 6 feet apart. How is that caring for oneself or others? How is that Christ-like? Someone can have the virus and have no symptoms yet infect others and singing and speaking creates aerosols that can easily spread this potentially lethal virus. I would have expected that a religious organization such as Christ Church with an affiliated college, would have knowledge of these facts and acted accordingly, regardless of the legality of such a gathering.
Either Christ Church and Doug Wilson lacked the knowledge of the danger the service created or it lacked concern for its followers and the rest of us. Neither option is acceptable.
Bob Pike
Moscow
