Prager’s ludicrous claims
In his outrageous April 25 column, Dennis Prager praised the Jews and White Anglo-Saxon Protestants for making our country great. He neglected to tell us that WASPs were primarily responsible for discrimination and violence against the Jews. Prager’s charge that leftists were at fault is ludicrous.
Let’s start with the lynching of Leo Frank in Atlanta in 1913. Frank had been accused of murdering one of his female employees. The local sentiment against Frank was clearly anti-Semitic, and there was a furor when his sentence was reduced to life in prison.
In the 1920s, the government placed immigration restrictions on Asian and other “undesirables” from Europe, many being Jews. The most horrific example of this anti-Semitism was the turning away of the USS St. Louis in 1939. The ship carried 900 Jewish refugees and after its forced return to Europe, 300 died in the death camps.
Also in 1920s, America’s elite universities established a quota for the number of Jews allowed to teach and to study. Thousands of clubs, hotels, and restaurants posted signs (privately and publicly) stating: “No Hebrews allowed.”
Henry Ford was a rabid anti-Semite. Ford’s four-volume “The International Jew” drew praise from none other than Adolf Hitler.
Even some Catholics turned on the Jews. Father Charles Coughlin’s weekly radio show reached 15 million, and one source stated that Coughlin “justified Nazi violence against Jews and provoked his American followers to paint swastikas on Jewish businesses and gang up on Jews in the streets.”
Nick Gier
Moscow
Ode to Biden
I just sent this to the president of the United States: I was just listening to Michael Moore’s 100-days song to you on his podcast, “Rumble,” today. What you said to him when you met him, I’m saying it back to you, dude.
Of course, I voted for you and Kamala Harris. My parents met at the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1934, patronage appointees of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. My father was from North Carolina and my mother was from West Virginia. I confess I shrugged and called you Sleepy Joe. But Moore has nailed it. You are a sleeper cell, a “trustee from the tool room,” in novelist Nevil Shute’s phrase.
So, thank you and KH — all prior sins are forgiven. You cannot move our foreign policy before our domestic ducks are in a community-based row.
Our role as the shock troops for financial capitalism will quiet down when Lockheed shifts over to commuter planes and the software to keep them from colliding.
In the meantime, I and my loved ones say God bless you and yours —and thanks.
Ronald Hufham
Moscow
No evidence for evolution
Professor Don Matteson, your scientific credentials are impeccable and I’m sure you have a “pretty good grasp of what science is.”
Thank you for your many years working as an educator. I have great respect for teachers and professors as I have had some great ones during the years.
In my letter of April 18, I cited well-known scientists in different fields of science. More and more scientists are speaking out and standing against evolution because there is no solid evidence. As a chemist, do you accept Charles Darwin’s idea that under the right circumstances a bear could turn into a whale over time? What is the evidence for that statement in the “Origin of Species”?
That speculation was so outlandish that Darwin’s friends prevailed upon him to leave it out of future editions of “Origin.” What evidence is there that any animal changed into another animal?
I had a year of chemistry in high school. The chart of the elements is real physical science validated by research, observation and experiment. Now compare that chart with the evolution charts.
Every evolution chart from professor Ernst Haeckel’s embryos to horse evolution, ape to man and terrestrial animal to whale chart have all been shown to be invalid.
They are invalid because there is no hard physical evidence for change. Evolution is not science; it is the speculated history of the diversity of life. Is there anything certain about evolution?
Fritz Kettenburg
Riggins
Skeptical about hemp
Marilyn Beckett’s April 29 letter raises a few items that need a response.
One misconception is that hemp production will save young farmers. Farmers in other states have increased production enough already to reduce large early profits from this crop. That does not mean Idaho farmers should not have the opportunity to grow, transport and market the crop. But it is unlikely to be a significant economic driver in the state.
Beckett calls wheat production in our area to be a “wheat monoculture.” This is rarely the case in the Palouse or the state’s irrigated production areas. Wheat production is usually rotated with other crops such as peas, lentils or garbanzo beans — also known as pulse crops — or oilseed crops such as canola, mustard or rapeseed. Other grains such as barley or triticale may be grown on these acres following wheat production.
I have never heard of hemp as being a nitrogen-fixing crop such as the legume or pulse crops we raise. That claim doesn’t seem biologically possible, but I have not had enough interest in hemp production to study it.
Finally, if hemp production deserves research from the University of Idaho College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the parties that would benefit from the research should find a way to pool their money such as like a checkoff assessment, and offer to pay for the research they want. I do that as a wheat producer. But I am not interested in paying for hemp research projects as a taxpayer.
Joseph Anderson
Lewiston
Indoctrination is real
The April 23 Lewiston Tribune headlines screamed that there was no evidence of indoctrination of students.
Let me tell you indoctrination consists of many forms. Years ago, I filed a complaint with the Lewiston School Board over a book in the Sacajawea Junior High library. The name escapes me now. It was a book about a group of teenagers in a group home. One, a girl, committed suicide. The main character was raped and assaulted by an older boy. Instead of reporting the incident to the proper authorities, this boy took it upon himself to talk to the older boy about the rape.
The older boy was taking a shower. The older boy’s response was to force the main character to his knees and engage in oral sex.
The book focused on the reaction to this threat by the main character.
He reached the conclusion that he liked the experience and was in fact a homosexual. The rest of the book dealt with his feelings and what his family’s reaction would be when he told them the news.
I objected to this book. A self-serving committee was formed to hear the case. I was told the kids have a right to be exposed to all lifestyles.
Indoctrination comes in many ways. It doesn’t take 40 years as an educator to figure that out. Teachers are better served listening to the common sense of parents.
State Board of Education President Kurt Liebich should concentrate on returning teachers to the classroom.
David Estes
Lewiston
Brandt hit the mark
I must admit being a bit baffled by this currently ongoing effort to create Second Amendment sanctuary cities.
As an attorney, I am well familiar with the Constitution of the United States.
It does not seem to me that there is any doubt that the Constitution and the amendments thereto are the supreme law of our land. That being the case, there is no way whatsoever that a mere state statute, city ordinance or even a regulation will add anything at all to the right of American citizens to bear arms. What I suspect is that the people pushing this whole Second Amendment sanctuary cities thing are just angry that some U.S. cities have declared themselves to be sanctuary cities for illegal aliens and have decided to do their own sanctuary thing. It is alright to be upset that some cities are harboring aliens, this being America and all, but there does not seem to me to be much point in enacting some meaningless law just to be able to say you did something in response.
I don’t agree with much that Skip Brandt, the Idaho County commissioner, does or says. But he was right on the mark on this issue. We have a lot of things to deal with in our country. Save your energy for what will accomplish something.
Danny Radakovich
Lewiston
Shining brightly
The Clarkston Lions Club would like to thank everyone who made donations for the Christmas star and Easter cross.
We have had so many generous donations that our fund for the star and cross is overflowing. The donations we received for the star and cross can only be used for that purpose. Due to COVID-19, we have not been able to do projects that raise money for our everyday operating expenses. If the club is unable to stay open, the star and cross could go away.
If you are going to consider a donation in the future, it would greatly be appreciated if the donation is made to the general fund. Again, thank you all for your generous donations. It is because of you that the star and cross has shown brightly over the years.
Linn Pemberton
Clarkston
Bravo for Blumenauer
I was elated to read your article of May 2 regarding new support of the Snake River dam removal proposal. I commend Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer for his courageous support of Rep. Mike Simpson’s plan to save salmon.
About $17 billion has been spent to recover salmon with only dwindling numbers to show for it. We need brave politicians with creative ideas. We need to reach across the aisle, negotiate and create a plan that will work to support tribal treaties and culture as well as save salmon for future generations. Bravo.
Leslie Kreher
Monroe, Wash.
