Letters to the Editor 12/07/2005

To the Editor,

I would like to respond to comments made in the “School board rejects grievance” article (The Nugget, November 30, page 1). I was a little thrown back when I read (a quote from school board member Glen Lasken) “saving enough money to pay for an entire teacher.”

As an employee of the school district for 10 years I felt a little hurt; he might of well have said, “look classified staff... you are all just fill-ins until we can replace you with something a little cheaper.”

I know a large majority of the staff and teachers here, and we do what we do because we care and love our children. Whether you are a teacher, bus driver, mechanic, teacher’s aide, custodian, secretary, or food services person we are all educators in some way. We are all equally important in the school. We have a very unique staff, we all have very good relations with these kids, and my kids on the bus know they are my second family. I don’t think we can put a price on that.

And in closing, please don’t make us feel like we are mere replaceable items.

Susan Waltosz

s s s

To the Editor;

We are a small group of Sisters High School students and we would like to respond to and thank Mitch Elliott for requesting assistance with youth issues in our town (Letters to the Editor, November 23).

We agree that there are serious problems which need attention, but there are some good things going on that youth can get involved in. Our community offers lots of opportunities such as Boy/Girl Scouts, Camp Fire, 4-H, Youth Groups, Young Life, Key Club, SOAR and others.

At our high school, student participation is at high levels in sports, band, art, music and leadership. Students raise funds for our Sparrow child or for Hurricane Katrina victims; we honor our veterans in assemblies and we gather food for the hungry.

Please know that we care for our community and each other and we’d like any youth to contact us if you’d like to join us in doing some fun activities.

Dane Moorehead, Evan Eady, Erik Brown, Sam Simone, Luke Glick

To the Editor:

For all the people who didn’t attend the Sisters Area Photography Club meeting last week at the new Arts Center you really missed out on a treat.

I would like to thank Brent McGregor for his incredible “Cascades Adventure” presentation. His photos are truly amazing. Brent you are so very talented and I thank you for taking the time and sharing such beauty with us all. We are all so lucky to be surrounded by such beauty — in nature and in people.

Jeanne Sellgren

s s s

To the Editor:

All goals of the Democratic Party leadership appear to have morphed into a solitary, irrational objective: Bring down President Bush at any cost. If this means trumpeting absurd claims that he knew of 9-11 in advance or that he deliberately lied about the threat posed by Saddam then so be it.

If scoring damage on the President requires smearing his character with forged documents, do it. If it means deliberately ignoring every shred of good news from the Middle East, ignore it. If hurting the President even requires that Democrat congressmen falsely declare to the world (and our enemies) that our military is broken and we are losing the war — then go for it. The list of tactics goes on for pages.

Negative words and actions from the left are now driven by the ironic reality that every success in Iraq (and there are many) is a stinging blow to the campaign to bring down the President. The outcome of the left’s negative drumbeat and false accusations is nothing less than direct aid and support to terrorist enemies who are energized by every such pronouncement.

It matters not whether this result is incidental or intentional. Either way, it strengthens the terrorists’ position. Democrat leaders demanding immediate U.S. withdrawal provide the enemy with the ultimate recruitment tool for more assassins and bombers who see such reports as American cowardice and weakness. It convinces al Qaeda in Iraq that its bombings and murders are working.

Irresponsible statements by the likes of Murtha and Pelosi undermine our troops and signal to our enemies that America will cut and run if the bombings and slaughter get ugly enough. The consequence: Far more of our soldiers and far more innocent Iraqis die or get maimed because of it.

The elected officials (and former Presidents) I am most ashamed of are those who actually understand the deadly overseas consequences their statements and actions cause — yet readily accept that if it helps in handing President Bush a major defeat. Such behavior is beyond my comprehension.

B.A. (Bruce) Williams

s s s

To the Editor:

We’ve all heard this before: a nation ignorant of its history is doomed to repeat it and it’s now happening again.

After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, our government spent billions supporting the brave “freedom fighters” (now called terrorists) resisting the Soviet hordes. For the best narrative of this struggle I suggest “Charley Wilson’s War,” by George Crile. Of course the victory of the “freedom fighters” resulted eventually in them turning against us. Remember Osama Bin Laden?

Then our government supported with arms and intelligence Saddam Hussein’s bloody war against the Iranians. We know what happened next don’t we; two wars against Saddam.

Now this history-challenged administration is training and arming the new Iraqi military dominated by Shiites. Any bets on when they will turn against us? Prediction: after the U.S. leaves the Shiites will turn their full attention on the Sunnis, if necessary calling in their Iranian brethren for help and a new round of genocide will ensue.

The Kurds will declare independence thus arousing Turkey whose large Kurdish population will take notice. Now if the formidable Turks get involved, all hell will break loose and we will see another Middle East conflagration that makes the current one look like an English soccer match.

Meanwhile our oblivious President and his merry men will try to spin the whole mess as a “victory over terrorism.” Wake me when it’s over.

R.T. (Rene) Tihista

s s s

To the Editor:

The idea that we can somehow peacefully disengage from the insurgency in Iraq and the militant Islamic Jihad against us by appeasing the enemy in Iraq, left-wing apathy and cowardice and al Qaeda Middle East strategy, is contradicted by the extreme Islamic-fascist hatred of America and the fact that the jihadist’s fury is targeted at Europe as well.

Withdrawing our support from the Saudi or Israeli governments won’t end the Islamic-fascist hatred for the West. Cutting and running, as Rep. John Murtha (PA) suggests, will embolden the enemy, even as Murtha suggests we cower in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar is dead wrong! Rep. Murtha served 37 years in the Marine Corps and is a 16-term congressman; now he is guilty of sedition and should resign.

Rep. Murtha said, “The military has done all it can do, we can’t win.” That is sedition. Murtha wrongly stated that only Congress can send troops into combat — WRONG! Congress can only declare war. Only the Commander in Chief, our President, can send troops into battle, even without congressional approval. If Congress wants to end the war, they can only vote down funding for the troops, as they did to end the Vietnam War.

The goal in Iraq is to achieve in the militant Islamic Arab world what Kemal Ataturk achieved in Turkey — a relatively stable, pro-Western model for Islamic societies.

The Smith Act, passed in 1940, outlawed sedition, making it a crime to knowingly advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing the United States government or to affiliate with an association to do so.

Steve Coltin