Letters to the Editor

Root of all evil

Editor, the Journal,

I Timothy 6:10: The love of money is the root of all evil.

That scripture is only one of the few I find both credible and informative in the Bible. Even 2,000-plus years ago, humans were influenced and manipulated by the love of money and warned others about its power over them.

But there is something more important than money to love, and that is a moral society willing to forego the cash and make fundamental moral changes for the betterment of society.We have a newspaper here in Mason County that caved to the appeal, the quest, and the love for money just days after another mass school killing in Uvalde, Texas, by printing a full-page color ad selling discounted weapons that kill humans. Regardless of an ad policy, this was in poor taste. Were I the owner/publisher, with these current mass shooting events happening, the best thing to do would be to postpone that ad or just not accept the $3,264 consecutive two-week gun sale ads with our “Let’s Go Brandon” Verle’s. (Media Kit, Jan. 1, 2020, full page, color ad at $1,632) The Shelton-Mason County Journal and the “Let’s Go Brandon” Verle’s should have been more considerate.

FYI, yes, I own guns and have been thoroughly vetted for mental stability by the Mason County Sheriff’s Office for obtaining a permit to carry concealed publicly. We live on a sometimes precariously violent orb. I hike with a five-round pistol (not an AK-47) for protection from bears and cougars, but still, I don’t see why it is necessary to show it off on a belt clip like others revealing their paranoia and making mothers and children unnecessarily nervous in the grocery store.

My confounding questions: Are the NRA and gun manufacturers really that heartlessly insensitive? Are we really now living in the “God-Guns-Guts” United Corporations of America where the love of money is king? Do we cherish the Second Amendment more than we cherish the second-graders? I am afraid, very afraid, for our local school children that the xenophobic mentally ill here in Mason County might buy a gun from “Let’s Go Brandon” Verle’s and do what was done in Uvalde and at other American schools recently.

Darrell 3:16: The love of humans is the root of all nobility.

Darrell Barker, Shelton

Modest gun proposal

Editor, the Journal,

President Joe Biden executive decision order:

As a citizen who is seeing the rise in shootings: schools, churches, cities like Chicago, maybe gun laws and weapon ownership is not the action we need to take. Instead, require all citizen-owned weapons as a 5/5 system. Five rounds bar-coded ammo — one five-round clip. And to buy more ammo return five-bar-coded casings to buy five more, at which time answer five questions, the 5W’s: (who, what, when, where, why) to determine use. Red flags are raised when any step is flagged.

Raymond Ellyson, Shelton

Elena Hernandez

Editor, the Journal,

I was the valedictorian at the Cedar High School graduation on Friday, and while I was honored to be included in the article about it, I noticed a much more important omission. Elena Hernandez was the elected student speaker and delivered a fantastic speech, of which there was no mention in the article.

Elena was personally chosen to speak at graduation by a poll of seniors. She has contributed an incredible amount to the Cedar community, among those being her speech at graduation. However, she was only acknowledged in the list of graduates, with not a word about her speech.

I only went to Cedar a short time, but in that time it was evident how much Elena did for the culture and atmosphere of that school. I think the least she’s earned is recognition in an article about her own graduation.

AB Gammons, Shelton

Trump treason

Editor, the Journal,

The big lie and Donald Trump’s attempt at a coup to overthrow our democracy: Yes, it’s true.

Over the next few weeks the evidence from 16 months of investigation will overwhelm all effort to minimize this tragic day.

The full extent of the Trump treason and his direct responsibility for the riot became crystal.

I recall the celebrations in Europe — not here — as his defeat was celebrated. Dancing in the streets. We will celebrate again when he is held accountable under the law.

Greg Dallum, Shelton

No guns, no insurrection

Editor, the Journal,

Last Friday, I read a Townhall com column by Derek Hunter titled, “Hey Democrats, we don’t give a damn about your hearings.” My sentiments exactly. I skipped the first one and will happily avoid the remaining six or so episodes of this Stalinesque show trial.

First, let’s get something straight: there was no “insurrection” on Jan. 6, 2021, in the nation’s Capitol. A good many of the former Trump rally attendees were probably angry at Democrats and the media and rightly so, but they were never belligerent. Further, and importantly, none of these “rioters” were found to be carrying firearms.

Any thinking person should know that by definition, no guns = no insurrection. No one was trying to overthrow the government, for crying out loud, so can we please just cool it with the foolish and totally inaccurate label “insurrection?”

Curiosity impelled me to watch the opening act of the hearing. We first heard from the chair, Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who said, in part, that the events of Jan. 6 reminded him of his hometown between Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi, where “people justified slavery, the KKK and lynching.” Sigh. Nice moral equivalence, Bernie.

Click. Back to FOX.

So, what is the ultimate goal of the Jan. 6 commission? Mr. Hunter gets near it when, again in his column, he refers to it as “Nancy Pelosi’s inner circle of flying monkeys, eager to do as much damage as possible to Republicans.” In this statement, I would change “Republicans” to “Donald Trump.”

By the way, did everyone understand Mr. Hunter’s allusion to “flying monkeys?” These creatures appeared near the end of the classic 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 book of the same name and starring the (then) young singing phenom Judy Garland.

I fear that nothing of interest or substance will come of this hyperpartisan “investigation.” I read somewhere that any fact-finding mission should be conducted in an impartial and objective manner. We can forget that this will happen here. My main objection to this ridiculous tribunal? There is no defense allowed. There is no counter-narrative at all.

However, if you want to see the manner in which the Joe Biden administration and other Democrats try to ruin our country and its citizens, just tune into the hearings.

Robert E. Graham, Union

NRA sells fear

Editor, the Journal,

So the NRA doesn’t believe its own B.S. At its recent convention, they banned guns, knives and even selfie sticks in the speakers hall. Ex-President Donald Trump’s Secret Service, Sen. Ted Cruz’s guards, event security and all of those responsible NRA members wouldn’t be able to stop one bad guy with a gun?

Remember their old slogan, “Outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns.” Now it’s “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Clearly they don’t believe it but it sure sells fear, which sells more guns.

One armed trained security guard lost his life trying to stop one bad guy. Nineteen well-trained police officers didn’t stop one bad guy.

No guns at an NRA event, yet these are the same people who think it is OK for Congress members to carry guns in the chambers of the U.S. House and Senate. They think it’s OK for people to carry guns to state houses and governor’s houses to intimidate lawmakers.

They are the people who want to arm teachers. Do they not realize every adult on campus would have to be armed? Every secretary, principal, counselor, teacher, cafeteria worker, custodian and bus driver, including all substitutes, all with AR-15s, or whatever will be the next gun of mass killing.

And let’s make all schools as tight as prisons. As well as all churches, grocery stores, malls, concert venues and whatever will be the next mass killer’s choice.

Or maybe we just do what the NRA and gun manufacturers want and make it mandatory for everyone to carry an AR-15. The government could issue every person a gun. We’ll start with 5-year-olds since they are targets of killers and manufacturers. Five-year-olds to death. All must carry a gun. Can’t leave home without it. Alexa will remind you. And maybe you can’t get in your car without your gun. Get the carmakers on that. Of course, anyone visiting this country will be issued a gun when they enter at any point of entry. How about that, would all that make you feel safe? Would all that make you feel free?

Or we can just keep sending thoughts and prayers until we’ve moved on and everyone forgets until the next mass killer. Twenty in just the week of Uvalde. Not counting all the daily killings in Seattle, Tacoma or any other city across this country.

Action is required. Sensible laws. But we still have guns that aren’t sensible for civilized society. So, you have to have an AR-15 because bad guys have one? And you have to be able to shoot multiple rounds in seconds? How many people are you expecting to invade your house? Oh, but it’s fun to shoot these guns, fun to shoot as many rounds in a second as possible. Yeah. Fun! Remember when the police handguns were out-gunned by street guns. They had to get bigger handguns. Now AR-15-style guns are the latest version. What will be next best thing?

Thoughts and prayers to our gun culture.

Donna Holliday, Shelton

Corporate taxes

Editor, the Journal,

Last week there was a letter telling you you should not vote for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray because she wants to tax corporations. I found it somewhat simplistic and misleading. I also believe it is a far better plan than the one U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has, which is to tax workers and the retired to fund more tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.

First there is no obligation of a corporation to pay a dividend. In fact, hoarding cash and not paying dividends has become a common practice. In February of this year, Apple was sitting on $204.5 billion in cash. They paid $27 billion in dividends.

Share prices are influenced to a degree by earnings, but perhaps less so than you would expect. There is one measure of stock value tied to earnings called the price-earnings ratio (PE). The S&P 500 PE has varied from a low of 5.9 in May of 1949 to 122.39 in May of 2009. Over the past 90 years, it has the midpoint seemed to be about 15 from 1928 through the 1980s, when it jumped. It took a spike in the Trump administration to the high 30s, and now is returning down to the lower 20s. Why did it get so high? Well, most conservative economists have been railing against the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing since it began well over a decade ago.

What did the last administration do about quantitative easing? Well, every time the Fed was thinking about backing off, that administration lobbied against it because the then-president wanted to crow about stock prices. The current Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, was nominated by the last president.

When the corporate rate was 35%, the PE was about 25, and corporations were rolling in dough. The last administration was crowing about the stock market. Now somehow raising the rate back up to 27% or so is going to kill them? Give me a break. How about this explanation: the market was simply over-valued due to speculation and monetary policy. And that over-valuation may have been in play since the 90s.

Now, I have a choice between the Democrats who want to tax corporations. On the other hand, the one and only Republican platform that has been enunciated, wants to tax workers and the retired because they don’t have enough skin in the game. That’s right, the head of the Republican Senate effort, Sen. Rick Scott said exactly that. The official position of the Senate GOP is to raise your personal taxes so they can keep giving breaks to the corporations. Which do you prefer?

Oh, I almost forgot, they want to put some, and preferably all, of Social Security on the block. It seems they want it all.

Andrew Makar, Hoodsport

Saving gas money

Editor, the Journal,

Here’s an addendum to my recent letter to the editor regarding the topic of our release from the COVID-19 lockdown and national sport of yachting from Pacific Motorboat, May 1928: “El Mistico’s lines are particularly pleasing, and as an indication to her efficiency she was run to Vancouver and back and four weekend trips for a total fuel cost of $6.10. No additional funds were expended other than food and incidentals.” This, in comparison to this season’s expenditure of $1,500 for – what – less than 300 gallons of fuel (and I’ve been told the diesel prices have risen another dollar a gallon in less than a month) ... I suspect President Joe Biden would gain great popularity if he were to rescind his most peculiar distaste for the use of petroleum products. I think it’s far more expensive to fill the fuel tanks of his fleet of armored cars and Air Force One than the tanks in my ancient boat. Just think of the money we can save the taxpayers — of whom I am one.

James Poirson, Shelton

Show your proof

Editor, the Journal,

A letter was published with the declaration “Only 29% of voters approve of the Biden presidency.” I was not asked.

Letter writer, please provide citation for this statement.

Arthur Rohlik, Shelton

They sure fooled us

Editor, the Journal,

Welcome to the United Corporations of America, where we’ve all been sucked in. I came across a photo of myself and a fellow activist from the fall of 2011. In the photo the sign I held read “We The People vs. Corporation$.”

Eleven years later, I wish I could say We the People had paid more attention to this message. As it is these days, most Americans get their news from Facebook and other unsourced social media. Those corporations are marketing to every one of us just the way they want with specific ads and information targeted to each set of eyes. They keep us distracted and often misinformed; they are raking in the dough and calling it “inflation.” Everywhere you turn, you hear how terrible the economy is doing. We pay more for gas at the pump and other commodities, and corporate profits are at an all-time high. Reports are that oil company profits are up as much as 300% in the first quarter of this year.

They sure fooled us, didn’t they? And let’s not forget, most of these corporations pay a smaller percentage in taxes than you do (if any), and they use The Commons a whole lot more than you do, so they’re getting a real bang for their buck. They invest in lawmakers to be sure the status quo continues. They are very good at privatizing their profits and socializing their losses. 

Now, once more, I find myself going to another protest. Unfortunately, this one isn’t simply about the loss of money as in the Occupy days, but rather the loss of more life. I don’t understand why we Americans want to live in a country that worships guns over lives. I do know that those gun and ammo companies have been making a serious killing of their own over the last few decades by pushing us to be afraid, be very afraid. I have news for you, it’s not your safety they’re concerned about; it’s their profits, and they could care less how many more people die for their greed. I suppose the terrifying part is that there is a contingent of these gun buyers who “want to take our country back.” What does that mean exactly? Take it back from whom? From those who support our democratic republic with all its flaws, or from those multinational corporations who think democracies are simply an inconvenience?

Sheri Vincent Staley, Shelton