Nov. 14 Letters to the Editor

Conflicting goals

For years our local businesses and the volcano advisory group have tried to increase tourism to the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. This is a worthwhile goal, as it benefits everyone.

Recently, Cowlitz County commissioner George Raiter has advocated the purchase of the Weyerhaeuser landfill at Silver Lake for the express purpose of a county municipal dump. This area is the gateway to the monument and already has significant air pollution problems from the landfill in the form of hydrogen sulfide. Many visitors have commented on the stench here on Spirit Lake Highway. Do we want to make it worse by including municipal waste here?

George Raiter’s goal of locating the costly county dump here is in direct conflict with increasing tourism, to say nothing of the local environment or the inevitable monetary obligations to us all. This plan is shortsighted and ill-advised. Do we want our commissioners to burden us with this? A county dump at this location is just wrong on every level. Tell everyone no. George, wake up and smell the garbage.

Tim Metcalf

Silver Lake

Questionable capabilities

I question the mental capabilities of some of our Democratic people that we have elected. As most of you know, the House of Representatives voted to pass the 2,000 pages of the health care bill that will cost trillions of taxpayer dollars and has lots of amendments added in.

During the amendment debate Nov. 7, Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter, chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, responded to a query from a Republican about why the health care bill would forgive medical school debts for veterinarians by saying, “Haven’t you ever heard of swine flu”? Makes even Pelosi seem less like a dimwit.

Michael George

Clatskanie

A wake-up call to moderates

“Drill baby drill.” The reactionary Republicans have hit a gusher in Southwest Washington. The new home turf of field general Lars and like-minded citizens may have found themselves a viable candidate for U.S. representative to run in next year’s election.

“I never met a war I didn’t like.” Some congressmen enjoy serving their constituents, while others like to see how far they can stick their heads under the sands of the Middle East in places like Iraq and the Gaza Strip. Let’s all preserve our Second Amendment and go out and buy some semi-automatics to lessen our fears. It’s the American way, according to El Rushbo.

“Our unemployed don’t need no stinking health insurance.” We just need to protect the insurance companies, the drug companies and Wall Street. No taxes on the rich. Our bankers need larger bonuses and a bigger share of the swine flu vaccine. Pregnant women and children can fend for themselves.

“Our shirts are a mighty dark shade of brown, and may smell.” Enough said. All Southwest Washington counties voted in favor of Tim Eyman’s I-1033. We strive to compete with West Virginia, Arkansas and Mississippi. What Kool-Aid have we been drinking? Vote Brian Baird. Or not.

Allan Wise

Kalama

Media give Obama a pass

In response to Matt McClung’s (Oct. 24) letter, no, I don’t love the president, don’t even like him, but it’s not because he is black. I don’t like his policies. He is a socialist. I do not want government to run health care. I don’t hate him. Hate is a strong word. I don’t hate anyone, unlike the Bush haters on the looney left.

Also, two pro-Obama TV networks, ABC and NBC, are refusing to air ads critical of the president’s health care plan. We no longer have an independent media. We have a blind, Obama-adoring media acting as a mouthpiece for government policy and as a vicious attack dog on critics of that policy.

Did you feel bad about the woman who died because Ted Kennedy drove his car into the water at Chappaquiddick and left her in the car to drown, reporting the tragedy 24 hours later? If a Republican had done that, within days he would have been out of the Senate, and rightly so. I have no praise for him. Democrats are such hypocrites.

Bill O’Reilly is not a Republican. He is an Independent. Time after time, O’Reilly has not just given President Obama the benefit of the doubt, he has joined in with the rest of the left-wing networks and given him a pass. Do you know who Juan Williams is? He is a black Democrat. He sat in for O’Reilly a couple of Fridays ago so Bill could take the day off.

Jeanne McCoy

Long Beach