Your voice: Sept. 11, 2024

Anna Diem

Hood River

Test case

Some would say that evil is beginning to cast its dark shadow across Yakima County, as Christian nationalism is establishing its anti-Christian and anti-American presence there. It's like a test case on a county scale, similar to what DeSantis is doing in Florida on a state scale (bit.ly/3YW9jWL).

The test is to determine whether American citizens care enough about our democracy, rights, and freedoms to stop Project 2025 and Christian nationalism.

Here’s investigative reporting on this terrible development in Yakima County: bit.ly/3X1qofm.

Project 2025 and Christian nationalism are entwined — a complementary union (bit.ly/4dDyUrZ). Briefly, Christian nationalism is the power grab and Project 2025 is the power conduit. Christian nationalism has nothing to do with Christianity; it's just in the name apparently to dupe the uninformed.

If Trump is elected, this union will become a deadly cancer, metastasize fast, and kill our democratic republic and our freedom.

Stop Project 2025. Save our democracy and freedom. Vote for Harris-Walz and Democrats, state and federal, up and down ballot (www.stop-project-2025.info).

Steve Heitmann

White Salmon

Threat to democracy

Let’s see. The “Democratic” National Convention just put out Kamala as the Democratic nominee for president. Did you vote for her? Nope, you did not. What was the tally of the number of voters across the country who voted for her in the roughly 57 primaries? (57 because territories count also) That math is easy — zero. She was not on a primary ballot. As a matter of fact, there was not even a primary in Florida.

Let see, which party and their Political Action Committees (PACs)sued to keep challengers off the primary ballots in Nevada, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent and Jill Stein of the Green Party? Oh, that’s the “Democratic” Party. Who needs competition?

Let’s see, which candidate has not given any press conferences or interviews (as of Aug. 23)? Oh, the “Democratic" nominee. All on the heels of supporting Joe, described as “sharp as a tack” until the debate and 10 days later — “Joe's gotta go."

Doesn’t make  you wonder who is the real threat to democracy?

Steve Nybroten

White Salmon

Kamala vs Trump

Here are two things Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have in common: They both ran for president in 2020, and they both lost to Joe Biden. The difference is that one of them got on board with the new president and helped bring our economy roaring back from the devastation of the COVID pandemic, while the other spent the next four years whining, spewing nasty lies, and plotting revenge and retribution.

It is so inspiring to finally have someone who leads with joy and an open heart, looking to the future, instead of ruminating about the past. Someone who knows right from wrong and is willing to listen to all Americans, without name-calling, bullying, and trying to win by dividing us.

You know I can talk about a lot of things with my MAGA friends (and I have some), and we agree on many of them. Or we just chat about why the fish aren’t biting, how much snow we are likely to get, and who’s turn it is to shovel it off the older neighbors' walkway. Or how the flatlanders are ruining our little town. It is not even beyond imagination that I could sit in a clubhouse and swap lies about golf over a beer for a few hours with Donald Trump. There is something that I am certain is not beyond imagination though: If someone were to sit in any of the bars I go to, and say to a woman's face the things he has posted on social media about Kamala, Niki Haley or many other women, he would soon find himself invited out back to settle things in a very personal way.

That sort of person wouldn’t even get my vote for dogcatcher.

Howard Bulick

Bingen

Republicans and Social Programs

The Republican Party fought against the creation of Social Security in 1935, again fought the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1967, and fought especially hard against the Affordable Care Act in 2011. All of these programs benefit the common worker, the vast majority of U.S. citizens. All these programs were created by Democratic presidents: Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama.

Republicans would have you believe Social Security is in competition with all other Federal programs. The ($2.79 trillion) Social Security Trust Fund has always been funded by deductions from worker paychecks. It is capable of funding all obligations through 2035. Republicans say it is entitlement program about to collapse. Benefits are earned and paid for by workers!

While Republicans have tried and failed to grab the Social Security Trust Fund, Congress does provide the funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA). With control of the purse strings, Republicans have launched a 40-plus year mission to strangle the agency! SSA had 80,000 staff and 35.5 million recipients in 1980. In 2023, the agency had 60,000 staff and 70.6 million recipients. As expected agency morale is at an all-time low, offices have closed and the public is unhappy with months and years delay in applications.

All recent Republican speakers of the house (Gingrich, Boehner, Ryan, McCarthy and Johnson) have urged drastic cuts or elimination of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They have voted 61 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

GOP repeatedly called these programs “a Ponzi scheme,” “Socialism,” and said they “should’ve been pulled up by the roots,” “sunsetted and voted on every five years,” and that it “might coax seniors to return to the work force.”

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation blueprint for a Trump second term, represents the Republican Party’s entire plans for the nation.

The Republican Party has utter contempt for the common man, and any programs that would benefit us. They have never created a social program! They are now, and always have been working for corporations and billionaires who buy them with infinite “dark money.” We vote against our own best interests.

Ronald Nelson

The Dalles

WWJD

The time has come for the followers of Trumpism who wear bracelets engraved with the letters “WWTD” to cast them aside and put on bracelets engraved with “WWJD” (What would Jesus do?).

Janet Holen

White Salmon

Ceasefire in Gaza

Ending genocide is the moral imperative of our era. I am horrified that the Israeli government continues to annihilate the Palestinian people from Gaza and the West Bank.

Our government continues to provide billions of dollars for weapons used by the Israeli military. U.S.-made weapons have killed more than 42,000. We bear responsibility for the starvation and rampant disease in Gaza. Our tax dollars have been used to separate families, to decimate homes and neighborhoods. It is our bombs that have taken schools from children, destroyed hospitals and places of worship. I feel the weight of crushing people’s sense of hope to live life in peace.

Oct. 7 will mark a year since this catastrophic cycle of violence began between Hamas and Israel. I struggle to understand why this unconscionable slaughter continues. There are the political obsessions of Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu. There is the money profiteering made through arms sales within the United States. There are the politically motivated misperceptions that calling for an end to Israel's military violence is somehow related to anti-semitism (nothing could be further from the truth).

These days, governments are failing to call for a permanent ceasefire and failing to stand for the values of basic human rights. U.S. foreign policy remains in the grips of the Israeli governmental lobby.

Millions of people across the planet are mobilizing and arising from complacency to call for a permanent ceasefire.

We join with neighbors everywhere to reclaim and recover a sense of our connection with all humanity. The election season compels us to be visible and to give voice that genocide is immoral. For the sake of our humanity a permanent ceasefire is essential.

Every Friday at 5 p.m. on State Street and Second in downtown Hood River, people gather to call for a permanent ceasefire. We have been there since last November. We are people of many faith traditions who seek peace with justice for the people of Palestine, Israel and the entire region. We join with countless Israeli citizens. Please join us!

By Rev. John Boonstra

Hood River