Letters to the editor: Congress, Trump, legislators, essential items
COVID-19
Our representatives in Congress have tragically failed us. They knew the COVID-19 virus was deadly and likely to be a pandemic. They made sure their wealthy friends knew so they could sell shares. They knew Trump was wrong to call it a hoax, but they said nothing, indeed they heaped praise on him. Now Idahoans are dying. They are dying because Idaho was allocated no testing kits, testing kits the WHO offered to Trump, but he refused them. It takes two weeks for tests to be returned to Idaho. Are you proud of your actions, Crapo, Risch, Fulcher, Simpson? Will you continue to praise Trump ? I fear you will, as long as your donors can turn a profit off this, you will turn a blind eye.
Dennis Schrecongost, Boise
Trump
I know that a president’s approval rating goes up in any crisis but, for the life of me, I cannot understand how citizens of this country can approve of Trump’s handling of the current pandemic.
Trump lied to from the outset going from stating there was no cause for concern, the virus would not hit the US, that the virus was a hoax to damage him, democrats are to blame, the Chinese are to blame, Obama is to blame, “I have no responsibility,” ad nauseam to his crass statement that “100,000 deaths in the face of this pandemic would be a great outcome.” Trump’s lied about test kits, ventilators, even going so far as to state he would not help any state that was “not grateful.”
Trump is president of the United States of which there are 50 states! Are Trump and his followers so ignorant to believe any state has to be nice to him for the federal government to do its duty to the states? Wake up people, you elected an ignorant, manic, ego-driven idiot, dump him!
Joan Ehrnstein, Meridian
Legislators
Heather Scott and Tim Remington should be jailed for encouraging people to ignore all the science-based evidence in front of them. Their lack of any apparent critical-thinking skills puts every Idahoan at risk of infection by COVID-19. Our lack of test kits assures there are probably many Idahoans who are positive and don’t know it. These people can and will infect others. Remington’s church service here in Coeur d’Alene last week gleefully ignored the facts. Real facts. Now people who believe this far-right dogma that it is “like the flu”, and “God will protect me” are placing everyone else at intolerable risk. More elected officials in Idaho are racing to get on that wagon, like Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler who is questioning Governor Little’s directives. Who voted for these people with questionable intelligence? I can’t wait to hear the back-stepping that will go on as our curve doesn’t flatten, and more and more cases are found in states that think self-distancing and isolation are needless measures, Idaho among them. Yep, they’re out there: these people who are supposed to represent and protect us but are clearly failing on every level. God save us from fools and knaves.
Michele L. Martin, RN, CLNC, Worley (Coeur d’Alene)
Essential
Stores selling “essentials “ should be selling only that. They can rope off the other areas of the store. They can post signs stating what they will sell at this time. Stores can insist only one person from a family can enter and limit the time they are allowed to shop. Comparison shopping can be done online. Nonessential items can be purchased online and picked up outside.
Marie Diane Bird, Star