Letters to the Editor

‘Thank you’

Editor, the Journal,

We should all be thankful to the Shelton-Mason County Journal for publishing, and to Mr. Ardean Anvik of Shelton for writing, his inspirational guest column in the Nov. 11 edition.

In his piece, Anvik paid tribute to American veterans, in particular three uncles who served in World War II. Two were aircrew in the European and Pacific theaters and one was a paratrooper in the legendary 82 Airborne Division on D-Day. Each survived that awful conflict.

I find it especially poignant that Mr. Anvik urged us to remember those grandparents and other family members who had to endure the long, painful wait for their soldiers and sailors to return from the war that was indeed worldwide.

America has a great deal to be proud of in its veterans. For those once-uniformed men and women across the land, I can only say “Thank you!” now and always.

Again, thank you Mr. Anvik and the Journal.

I was both angered and embarrassed by the letter of a Patricia Hawley of Shelton titled, “The sky is falling!”

Chicken Little (or Henny Penny, or Chickin’ Lickin’) or whatever you choose to call him/her/it, is a fun bit of folklore. I often invoke this little chicken to allude to the climate change cultists when they come out of hiding to scare small schoolchildren and dupe adults with cries of “Global apocalypse! … Any day now! …We think.”

In her letter, Ms. Hawley harshly criticized Mr. Anvik for citing George Orwell (“Animal Farm”) and Ayn Rand (“The Fountainhead”) and in their depictions of the bleak futures in store if socialism and collectivism win the day.

Hawley then said, “Mr. A .A., might I suggest another great work of fiction, “Chicken Little” [sic]. She said “fiction” here the way many say, “ptooi” after throwing up. While we await this rigorous scholarship from Ms. Hawley, i.e., comparing “The Fountainhead” to “Chicken Little,” I would ask her to pause and tell us whether she has even heard of some of the following: Nathanial Hawthorne, Toni Morrison, Dan Brown, William Faulkner, Leo Tolstoy, Jorge Luis Borges, George Sand, Rudyard Kipling, William Golding, Charlotte Bronte, Edgar Allen Poe, V.S. Naipaul, Jane Austen, Jack London, Theodore Dreiser, Stephen King, Virginia Woolf, Arthur Conan Doyle, Patrick J. O’Rourke, ad infinitum.

All of these people have written or are now writing fiction.

Ms. Hawley, the authors I listed here have all provided — or could now provide — keen insight into the human experience; George Orwell and Ayn Rand have explained the political dangers that lie ahead with imagination, intelligence and conviction. They didn’t need to rely on those ever-changing “historical references” you mentioned.

In your letter, your sarcasm and party affiliation were obvious. Thanks — I guess — for sharing.

Robert Graham

Union

Hitler and COVID

Editor, the Journal,

Some thoughts on the letters on COVID-19.

First, I realize it has become the radical right’s rallying cry to compare COVID mandates to loss of freedoms and a prelude to a Hitler-style takeover. As reported in the Journal on Nov. 4, Mason County had 453 new cases and four deaths in the previous two weeks. And Mason County is only 52.9 percent vaccinated. And people think that’s OK. Until it is you.

COVID mandates are not what is leading us to an authoritarian government. The real threat is what the radical right is actually doing.

Lies about election results, lies about political opponents. Bashing all government agencies, discrediting journalists. Making immigrants, people of color, LBGT people, people with disabilities, different religions, the homeless all “the other.” People to be afraid of. Who does that remind you of besides Hitler? He continues today. Now the radical right states are making it more difficult to vote, going so far as to pass laws that make it possible for the state to overturn any result they don’t like.

They are prompting vigilantes to go after people they know they can’t. They are banning books, and telling teachers what they cannot say in a classroom.

These are all things Hitler and his Nazis did.

To the writer who thinks that because scientists kept changing recommendations, they were not to be believed on anything: This is a new virus; they were learning new things daily. And they still are. What was said about taking the vaccine, not if recommended by just Trump — we all know all of his ridiculous ideas — but when recommended by the scientific community. Think about where we could be today, how many lives could have been saved if Trump had taken this virus seriously on day one. If he had admitted that he had taken the vaccine, if he had told the truth about how sick he actually was. We probably would not need the mandates today.

All for the public good, because that is what we do with so many other things. Public good.

And to those who want to quote the Constitution with life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and how we all want to be free to decide for ourselves, and to be respectful of those with whom we differ: Please remember those feelings when the subject changes to women’s rights, LBGT rights, Black Lives Matter, immigrant rights, voting rights and how about the right to learn the true history of this country.

Donna Holliday

Shelton

Serious society

Editor, the Journal,

There is a Bill Maher video going around that all the conservative friends of mine are sharing. It deals with American silliness and points out the excesses of the woke college culture. At least what they perceive it to be. And I’ve seen it, was entertained by it, and must say that Mr. Maher’s point is well taken. Unfortunately, these same individuals ignore the silliness that has come to represent the Republican Party. They also ignore Mr. Maher’s rather pointed critiques of Republicans. So, let’s look at this.

Anti-vaxxers. My personal freedoms are so sacrosanct that I have no responsibility for the general welfare. Never mind that the opening mission statement of the Constitution specifically mentions general welfare as a goal. The latest data is that the death rate in counties that voted for ex-President Donald Trump is three times that of those voting for President Joe Biden. So, we have a predominant attitude in a political party that literally kills its voters. And those voters love it. Look how popular Gov. Ron DeSantis is in Florida. That is a political entity that is just slightly smaller than the population of Australia. Yet Australia has 1/40th the number of COVID-19 deaths. Australia also has stricter protocols, and those protocols are strongly supported by the media outlets owned by the Murdoch family (Fox News’ first cousins). Is that a serious nation?

The denial does not end with COVID. We have a general denial of what we are doing to ourselves and our climate as if there will be no price to pay. How many principles of our religious and ethical upbringing does that violate? Explain the seriousness in that.

Then throw in the rejection of the New Deal. You know, the policies that resulted in the only period of U.S. history where the middle class truly expanded. Look at the World War II Victory Medal that generation earned. You’ll find the Four Freedoms inscribed in the back. Campaign on those Four Freedoms today and you’ll be called a Marxist. How is that serious?

The “Let’s go Brandon” crowd talks about the world not respecting us because the president is weak. I reject that. If the world does not respect us, it’s is because the citizens are not serious people and display no particular inclination to work for the general welfare of the nation. I mean, it’s not like it’s part of the mission statement or anything.

Andy Makar

Hoodsport

Hooray for Nov. 2

Editor, the Journal,

The results of the Nov. 2 election gave me a shiver of pride to be an American, which I hadn’t felt since Lyndon Baines Johnson announced he would not seek re-election for the presidency of the United States. No — wait — rather the news that Richard M. Nixon resigned from the presidency. Neither president could sustain a tumultuous society nor credible evidence of malfeasance and criminal leadership. The American people awoke to a dystopian government and “We the People” sustained and asserted our core values. The failed politicians left the most powerful office in the world ignominiously.

Mr. Joe Biden’s win in the penultimate election shocked conservatives to the point of rebellion worthy of political upheavals typical of third world socialist/communist oligarchies. Their angst increased as they noticed “sleeping” Joe Biden’s characteristic self-effacing mild manner transform into Mr. Bernie Sander’s vociferous, activist and socialistic world view as evidenced by the record-breaking number of presidential directives commencing with the virtue-signaling abandonment of the Trans Alaskan Pipeline (why is the gasoline price at the pump so high?) then proceeding to the peculiar, incompetent and disastrous withdraw of American troops from Afghanistan, creating a new record in presidential directives.

Locally, the arrogance of government power is on display at public schools teaching critical race theory at the expense of traditional math, science, English and the functioning of a capitalist system. One politician remarked quixotically, something like “Teachers, not parents should be the ones to decide what their children learn.”

“Oh — really? The arrogance! Where’s my ballot? We’ll fix this absurdity right quick!”

Americans have an international reputation for confidence, tolerance and a deep-seated belief in fair play. It’s our heritage. It takes a sustained degree of hubris, incompetence and arrogance to excite our ire — yet once aroused, we’re not shy about “throwing the bums out.”

The results the Nov. 2 election and the nascent evidence we are returning to political and social normalcy makes me feel blessed to be an American.

We are “The City on the Hill.” People risk their lives and the lives of their families to be part of this American Dream.

James Poirson

Shelton

Spirit of Veterans Day

Editor, the Journal,

No A.A., you do not get to appropriate Veterans Day and reinvent its purpose and history. Your arrogance, again, raises the question: who do you think you are?

My father-in-law, Col. Francis T. Devlin, was a true American World War II hero. When I attended his funeral, in 2008, at Arlington National Cemetery, I sat at his graveside right across the Potomac River from the Pentagon. An emissary from the White House handed my sister-in-law a letter from President George W. Bush thanking our family for all of Col. Devlin’s sacrifices, on behalf of a grateful nation. That was 13 years ago today.

Karen Skinner

Shelton

No crater love

Editor, the Journal,

The holidays are coming and that often means friends and family returning to their roots here in Mason County.

While I wish every family a festive reunion filled with holiday cheer, I also want to spare people the embarrassment and disappointment they might feel if they attempt to visit Staircase in Olympic National Park this Christmas season.

Though Staircase is home to one of our most beautiful trails, the road condition along Lake Cushman is so deplorable as to make driving there near impossible.

To get to the point: If I had had the worst encounter with a car rental company at SeaTac, and had been treated terribly and rudely, and then given the worst car on the planet, I still would not take that car down the road to Staircase.

Last week I drove a Toyota 4Runner with new shocks and a pickup frame, yet I had to turn around. The road looked and felt like U.S. armed forces had called in a B-52 strike.

This is a public shame. It causes me to wonder if top officials at Olympic National Park (headquartered in Port Angeles) are not crafting a covert policy of allowing Staircase to fall into such disrepair as to justify its closure in another year or two.

On a much more positive note, Mason County Commissioner Randy Neatherlin has once again assured that we can continue our TrashMash Litter Posse pickup events. He pledged to see that we can use a few dump vouchers for all the stuff we’ll be hauling out of the forests and parks this year.

Thank you, Randy. Access to the dump is probably the most vital link in the whole chain, and a great example of government working with its citizens.

Mark Woytowich

Potlatch