Letters to the editor: Burning forests, voting rights, Giddings, COVID-19, funding education
Burning forests
Referencing the article regarding Governor Little’s snub by the White House to discuss wildfire prevention, Western governors were now going to attend a virtual meeting with White House bureaucrats to discuss “...forest management activities such as prescribed burning and forest thinning...”
There was a time, 40 or so years ago, when the West had a viable forest products industry that employed thousands of people that utilized the valuable resource for the benefit of mankind. Our bureaucrats decided this was not good. Not only was the industry lost, the resource now goes up in smoke, smoke that is inhaled on a daily basis (probably far more than the average person would ever inhale due to cigarette smoke). Instead of being able to utilize the timber that is now burning, the price of lumber products has soared. As little kids we learned that a burning match produced heat; thousands of acres of burning forest would seemingly have a tendency to increase global warming.
Hopefully in another 40 years our bureaucrats will see the light through the smoke and allow mankind to utilize the forest resources as intended.
Dennis Dufenhorst, Eagle
Voting rights bill
In a recent letter, the objections Sen. Mike Crapo cited as his opposition to the Voting Rights Bill are:
• Kept people who have died or moved on local voter registration files, undermining election accuracy. (Voting roles are “purged” regularly. Death notices and voting registrations are PUBLIC records.)
• Inserted further potential for fraud into the elections process by permitting paid political operatives to go door-to-door collecting thousands of ballots and delivering them — unsupervised — to a county clerk. (Please! When has that happened? Nursing homes, maybe?)
• Forced states like Idaho to abandon any form of voter identification. (Really? With poll watchers monitoring polling places, do you really think they would not call their party’s lawyers in a New York minute?)
• Allowed ballots to be counted up to 10 days after Election Day, eroding confidence in the electoral system across the country immediately after an election cycle in which more than one-third of Americans already did not trust their vote counted. (Too bad about our troops and diplomats serving in remote areas with poor mail service.)
No, the real reason Republicans oppose the Voting Rights Bill is they do not want ALL eligible citizens to vote!
Elisabeth Ratcliff, Garden City
Funding education
“My kids and grandkids are all out of school and living in other areas. Why should I support public school funding?” Because an educated populace is good for the entire state. Because education is the building block for a thriving economy. Because maybe you would like your family nearer.
Idaho’s students deserve a quality education as mandated by the state constitution. What if they must compete with students from another state for a spot at their higher education choice? What if Idaho could offer that top choice? What if students were able to learn an employable skill through a high school vocational program?
Instead of moving away after school, what if our kids could find meaningful employment right here in Idaho? Corporations are looking for an educated and diverse workforce. They know that their workforce in turn values a quality education for their children. If those requirements are missing, corporations will seek another location.
What if, instead of defunding education, as the 2021 Idaho Freedom Foundation-led Legislature did, we enhance it? Maybe we could lift Idaho up from the bottom among states in per pupil investment. Inadequate education shortchanges our kids. When we shortchange our kids, we shortchange Idaho.
Penny C. Neely, Caldwell
Giddings
Shame on Priscilla Giddings for, once again, plucking buzzwords out of the air and attempting to use them to deflect from her poor behavior. Let’s take a look at her buzzwords. “Woke,” which generally means aware. Aware that we should be kind, compassionate and care for others. Aware that it is important to be truthful and honest. Aware that everyone should behave fairly and treasure justice for all. Aware that her job is to protect the persecuted and harmed, not belittle them. How about “cancel culture”? Giddings is trying to cancel a woman’s right to work free from harassment and abuse. Giddings is trying to cancel a woman’s right to choose her own health needs...like a grownup. Giddings is trying to cancel our right to vote as full citizens of our country and vote for whom we choose. She is trying to cancel our rights to use the initiative process to get wanted and needed measures on the ballot. While it would be easy to go on, I will close by observing that Giddings’ lack of self awareness is stunning, buzzwords and all.
Georgia Boatman, Boise
Back to campus
“More Campuses Scramble to Mandate Vaccines and Masks Amid Spread of Delta Variant,” reads the Aug. 4 headline of the Chronicle of Higher Education (www.chronicle.com). A same-day news item there announces, “The University of Maine System ... will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students who are on campus this fall, a change in policy the system said is due to growing concerns about the severity of the delta variant.” The entire California State University system requires vaccinations.
Where’s Boise State? Equivocating in the smothering smoke of Republicans punishing universities and skirting mandates. Universities must exercise courage for the health of campus and community. So should the city beyond government buildings. Forced to smell but hopefully not drink the Kool-Aid, slouching toward “freedom” from masks, vaccines and communists has Idaho’s political “middle” joined to the far right. Politics beats up public health and universities. Students will still attend; medical exceptions will happen; and masks will supplement vaccines, if we’re lucky, off-campus, too.
Meanwhile, the delta variant could care less. If you could smell cigarette smoke where odorless delta-COVID-19 lingers, it has your nasal passage. Wafts and evolving from there, it roams with students and employees through Boise’s businesses, buildings and streets.
Ed McLuskie, Boise