Letters to the editor: Duck killings, Marjorie Taylor Greene, vaccine, morality, COVID-19 relief money

Duck killing case

Regarding the recent duck killing case, now that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game knows the identity of the two men who killed the ducks, I’m concerned that Fish and Game intends to mitigate and encourage dismissal of the criminal charges.

The identity of the 18-year-old should not be withheld by Fish and Game. Fish and Game refers to the men as “kids.” Fish and Game says “poor planning” led to the “kids” being “forced” to “dump” the meat because they exceeded the limit.

Fish and Game’s description of the incident is lightweight. The facts are that two individuals with guns chose to slaughter 34 animals, chose to take a fraction of the meat and chose to leave the animals’ bodies strewn behind Fred Meyer.

These men are not “hunters.” I’d like to know the location of the killing. A park, perhaps? Do these individuals have criminal records? Will Fish and Game encourage the charges to be dismissed?

A good portion of the community is sickened by this slaughter.

Susan Brooks, Boise

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Congressman Mike Simpson’s vote in support of Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House of Representatives is a vote for QAnon, conspiracy theories and white supremacy. He has lost all credibility when it comes to solving the very real world problems that are confronting us. I hope that he will get out of the way, so serious members of Congress can meet the demands of our challenging world and bring science-based ideas to tackle the issues we face.

Eileen Schoenfelder, Boise

You can’t legislate morality

Once again, I take my pen in hand and now must take exception to the legislation of morality and marijuana. I’m certain that was resolved with the 18th and 21st amendments regarding the consumption and selling of alcohol. Possibly we should look at that for guidance. The resounding answer to this legislation of morality was ultimately a big fat squishy no. I found this quote (by David Trillo in the Citizens Project) that I think is a good summation of what any rational thinking person would agree with.

“(The expression ‘You can’t legislate morality’) means that we don’t, or shouldn’t, legislate moral beliefs based solely in tradition or religious beliefs. Unfortunately, people and groups who wish to do exactly that have been attacking this axiom of freedom ever since.”

Enough said.

Daniel J. Kern, Garden City

COVID-19 relief money

Thanks to Gov. Little, Idaho has received $900 million in new federal aid to help Idahoans impacted by COVID-19. This includes $164 million for rent assistance, $851,000 for Meals on Wheels for seniors.

Now it is up to the members of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee to actually help Idahoans.

However, many of the bills I have seen introduced in the last 3.5 weeks seem to suggest that there is no pandemic, no economic crisis, no health emergency: constitutional amendments blocking Idahoans from getting pain relief and treat other medical conditions through medical marijuana; a bill to ban abortion thus taking control over someone else’s body; free-range parenting; lemonade stands; stripping the governor of his emergency power that helps providing funding (such as the one I mentioned above); making the community less safe by allowing bigger gatherings; allowing concealed weapons in schools. The list goes on.

On Thursday, I’ve been assured by one committee member that they’re “working on pushing the supplemental appropriations out of committee this week and next.” It should have happened as one of the first actions of this legislative session.

Idahoans, please pay attention to what is going on and hold your elected officials accountable!

Katrin Lepler, Idaho Falls

This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 5:46 PM.