Trendy T-shirt
There is a trendy T-shirt that many of President Donald Trump’s supporters wear, including some in our valley, that says, “Trump 2020. F*** Your Feelings,” and I love it. It’s such a versatile meme.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies with less than 50 days left until the election, and the Republican Senate says, “Trump 2020. F*** Your Feelings.”
While Republican deceit is par for the course, please hear me out. The meme works for Joe Biden’s supporters equally well. When Biden becomes our next president and Democrats take control of the Senate and expand their control of the House, all you have to say is “Trump 2020. F*** Your Feelings.”
When Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., become states, as they should have many years ago, and four more Democratic senators get sworn in, say it with me, “Trump 2020. F*** Your Feelings.”
And then, when the Supreme Court expands from nine justices to 11 thanks to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell following a scorched-earth policy with regard to judicial nominees, we can all say, “Trump 2020. F*** Your Feelings.”
Brian Kolstad
Clarkston
Tired
I’m tired of all the rhetoric about masks and freedom. I hear about constitutional rights and it being the “Idaho way.”
Idaho way?
I am a fourth-generation Idahoan and it is not the Idaho way I was brought up with. Idahoans are independent and strong. ...
Independent means rolling up your sleeves to get the job done. It means making things work when the odds are against you. It means helping your neighbors when things are tough. It means being part of a community — something bigger than you.
My grandparents talked of times when they had to sacrifice for the greater good. The “war effort,” they called it. They weren’t part of the war, but they stepped up to do the right thing — to support a community bigger than themselves. It was what you did. It was the right thing to do.
Idaho is not all about me or you. It is not a free-for-all where individuals are more important than the collective. It is compassionate and not afraid to step up to do the right thing, even if it is hard or not what I want.
The Idaho I knew seems to be struggling right now, maybe even on the brink of losing her way. ...
Let’s get back on track. Let’s step up and start doing the right thing. Maybe get back to belonging to something bigger than ourselves. Maybe helping out our neighbors when things are tough. Maybe working hard to get through this tough time. ...
Tracy Dixon
Potlatch
Tribune caving in
It’s disheartening to see the Lewiston Tribune cave in to the valley’s racists and neo-facists who complained about Mike Luckovich’s cartoon depicting Black children’s fear of police actions.
Valley bigots complained so vociferously that Nathan Alford, the Tribune’s publisher, issued an explanation and apology. Several of the complainers even suggested converting the Tribune into an evangelical propaganda publication.
Alford apparently listened because less than three weeks later he added four new cartoonists, all from Creators Syndicate, a rabidly conservative outlet for evangelical beliefs.
Creators Syndicate claims to be neutral, but an analysis of its contributors shows a very strong right-wing bias. Bill O’Reilly, Pat Buchanan, Judge Peter Napolitano, Oliver North, Neil Cavuto, and Mike Huckabee all contribute regularly to Creators Syndicate.
Creators Syndicate has some liberal contributors, but for every liberal, there are at least five arch-conservatives with anti-progressive biases. Note, for example, the many Creators Syndicate cartoonists waging a campaign to belittle presidential candidate Joe Biden.
It’s bad enough that the Tribune insists on keeping rabidly conservative commentators such as Rick Rogers, Jeff Sayre, Marvin Dugger and Cindy Agidius spewing President Donald Trump’s cult propaganda in every column they write. Now we have to guard against the brainwashing influences of ultra-right-wing cartoonists, too.
It’s sad.
Paul Oman
Clarkston
Supports Fulcher
As an Idaho resident, I am all about the Second Amendment. It’s a part of the very culture in this great state. With that in mind, I would like to keep those rights as they are or loosen the tightening restrictions on them. This is yet another reason I support Russ Fulcher.
He has an A-plus rating with the National Rifle Association and has endorsement from the Gun Owners of America. He introduced the SAFE Act this year and has worked to expand conceal carry weapon permit reciprocity. He’s fought against legislation that would hinder family transfers of firearms. He has been a fighter for the Second Amendment since he arrived in Washington, D.C.
This is just another reason for Idaho gun owners to vote for Russ Fulcher in November.
Justin Goodman
Culdesac
In their own words
Republican senators’ comments before the 2016 election:
l Lindsey Graham: We should not “be moving on a nominee in the last year of this president’s term — I would say that if it was a Republican president.”
l Ted Cruz: “A lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.”
l Cory Gardner: “The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes the decision.”
l Rob Portman: “It is common practice for the Senate to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term, and it’s been nearly 80 since any president was permitted to immediately fill a vacancy that arose in a presidential election year.”
l Mitch McConnell: The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. This vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”
l Mike Crapo: “The next Supreme Court justice will make decisions that affect every American. Therefore, the current Supreme Court vacancy should be filled by an individual nominated by the next President of the United States.”
Here’s Graham in 2018: “If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election.”
Soon, we’ll see if these (and other Republicans) are men of principle or partisan liars.
D’Wayne Hodgin
Moscow
Apathetic? Hardly
In her recent column, it took about three, long, idyllic lakeside paragraphs to get to former Rep. Cindy Agidius’ initial complaint: Current voters are apathetic.
How did she reach this conclusion? In the town where she lives and where I went to school, my voting friends range from angry to hysterical about the coming election. They can’t wait to vote. They don’t sound very apathetic to me.
She blames the media, of course, for everything, forgetting the Lewiston Tribune graciously publishes her rants.
The “masses,” she says, need to seek out so-called independent sources for truthful information. However, she doesn’t offer any possibilities. Here are a few: NPR, the BBC and even the family-owned Tribune, which is beholding to no one, not even its advertisers.
Respectfully, I need to share an observation with the representative. She’s neither a conservative nor a Republican. Take a look at the Lincoln Project or the growing list of former and current elected Republicans who do not support our beloved president. She condemns him for whatever reason, then votes for him. She says look past what he says, and look at his accomplishments.
OK, let’s do that:
The president refers to the honored war dead as “losers. ...”
Everything out of his mouth amounts to nothing but vile spew, but she still supports him.
In accordance with her misguided and ill-conceived opinion, I will now “educate” myself in order to not do “something foolish” with my vote, just as long as she does the same.
Bruce Pemberton
Palouse
Hats off
Thanks to both Moscow City Council and Lewiston’s city department heads for modeling good government in the face of disingenuous anti-government hostility from a vocal minority of their respective communities. The current Moscow City Council was elected in by a wide margin and is doing a fine job representing the interests and protecting the lives of their constituents during a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans so far.
That a relative handful of city residents object to wearing face masks to prevent the spread of a fatal disease can be attributed either to selfishness or ignorance of basic science, neither of which should be the basis of public policy, obviously. For elected officials to stand up to this kind of organized pressure is commendable, a kind of calm courage and resolve that needs to be recognized and respected. Had we anything approaching this kind of leadership and responsibility in the current White House, I dare say we would be burying far fewer COVID-killed fellow Americans at present.
Likewise, Lewiston’s city department heads standing together in defense of an excellent city manager, Alan Nygaard, is a profile in courage given the organized bullying they have faced from faux-libertarians, professional noisemakers and Ammon Bundy-wannabes, for whom government is the enemy specifically when protecting civil rights, public health and the environment, or otherwise promoting the public good. Finally, hats off to the Lewiston Tribune for having the maturity and restraint not to run the obvious headline: “Nygaard lightly scuffs Boots.”
Chris Norden
Moscow
Vote for Biden
To my fellow young Americans, especially those disillusioned with Joe Biden winning the Democratic nomination, I appeal to you to put aside ideological purity and vote for Biden this November.
I understand the temptation to say that there’s no difference between Biden and President Donald Trump. Neither Biden nor his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, were my top choices for the nomination. I can assure you that it was not a pleasant experience watching my preferred candidate lose the primary to an establishment politician.
That being said, now is not the time to try and make a grand statement about democracy by not supporting Biden. Our nation is in the midst of a five-alarm fire and the only way to start fixing it is to remove the incompetent president in the White House.
Wyatt Coil
Orofino
