U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, of Idaho, levels serious accusation against Biden administration | Opinion

Complicity?

I recently received an email from U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo. The subject line of the email reads “The Administration is Complicit in the Flow of Fentanyl Into Our Country.” The definition of the word, complicit, is “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act.” That is quite an accusation against any administration, choosing to be involved in getting fentanyl into the country. Does Mr. Crapo have proof of that complicity? If not, be silent and apologize. It was the Republican Party, at Donald Trump’s request, that refused to consider the bipartisan immigration bill that Crapo’s fellow Republican, Sen. Langford worked so hard on to get it done. Fortunately, usafacts.org is recording lower fentanyl coming into the country in the first six months of 2024.

James Polk, New Meadows

MAGA

The MAGA movement is having its day! The People have elected an oligarch who pretends to be one of them. They hate to be told but don’t mind being conned. However, the Trump/MAGA movement is regressive, negative, punitive, and destructive. It doesn’t look to the future, rather returns to the past. You don’t destroy your way to the future. The future must be created. I predict it will fail to improve conditions and lives for people and, in time, will be deeply regretted.

Brian Goller, Boise

DEI

As a master’s student in social work in Idaho, I know how critical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are for preparing future social workers to serve diverse communities. The National Association of Social Workers emphasizes DEI as a core principle of ethical practice, essential for addressing systemic inequality and promoting social justice.

Idaho’s DEI Task Force, with its unbalanced composition of seven Republicans and only one Democrat, raises concerns about whether it’s truly committed to fair dialogue. Without clear definitions of terms like “diversity” and “equity,” as Sen. Melissa Wintrow warned, the task force risks undermining these crucial programs. The 2024 law banning written diversity statements in hiring and admissions already threatens DEI, and further censorship could limit the very discussions that help us understand marginalized communities.

Eliminating DEI programs would severely weaken social work education, leaving future professionals without the tools to advocate for Idaho’s vulnerable populations. As someone entering the social work profession soon, I hope the task force chooses transparency and honesty and recognizes that governance transcends party lines. The education of future generations—and the strength of Idaho’s communities—depends on it.

Ashley Townsend, Boise

Recess

For the sake of sanity, we can all take a page from children’s playbook and to the innocence of children not knowing or caring what in the world is going on in the world. Children of a certain age are protected from the doom and gloom that spews hourly on the tv and internet as “Breaking News”. Children go about having fun and playing and engaging in make believe. They do not care about the latest outrage or scandal in the news.

For way, way too long, we have all been bombarded with dire predictions of the possibilities facing all of us. As Wordsworth said, “The world is too much with us.”

So now, after the recent election, the way of the child is the way to go. Watch them play and have fun.

This is not to suggest that we give up or quit trying for a better world and doing everything we can to achieve a better world for everyone. We just have to give ourselves a break. We need a recess.

Mary Feeny, Boise

PragerU

The PragerU partnership is a great opportunity for kids, teachers, and parents to employ free materials that truly benefit the kids. Sadly, The Idaho Statesman chose to do a hit piece on this partnership, full of incomplete quotes. Readers should dig deeper. For example, the article quotes from a video about Christopher Columbus:

COLUMBUS: No slavery, is as old as time and has taken place in every corner of the world, even amongst the people I just left. Being taken as a slave is better than being killed. No, I don’t see the problem.

But the reporter failed to add:

LAYLA: Well in our time, we view slavery as being evil and terrible.

COLUMBUS: Ah, magnifica! That’s wonderful. I am glad humanity has reached such a time. But you said you’re from 500 years in the future. How can you come here to the 15th century and judge me by your standards from the 21st century? For those in the future to look back and do this is, well stupid...

PragerU Video: https://www.prageru.com/video/leo-and-layla-meet-christopher-columbus

Elizabeth Olson, Garden Valley

Holocaust falsehoods

On the night of May 10, 1933, 25,000 books were burned in Nazi Germany, books that Hitler and the Nazis deemed “inappropriate” for their citizens to access. The public schools were then instructed to teach only Nazi propaganda, a curriculum that had no basis in truth or history. Our grandparents volunteered to fight the Nazis, to make sure that Europe could once again institute fair elections and rewrite their history to reflect the painful truth of what had happened. They understood that truth and facts were of the utmost importance going forward. Our grandparents were proud to have served and proud to uphold our constitution, especially our first amendment rights guaranteeing us a free press and freedom of speech.

Yet, 79 years later in Idaho, our Secretary of Public Education, Debbie Critchfield, approved an “alternative” K-12 supplemental curriculum for use in our schools. This curriculum, developed by PragerU, contains inaccurate information and falsehoods about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. In addition, topics on slavery, indigenous history and genocide are also inaccurate and misleading. Our grandparents would be horrified. I know I am. Our children deserve accurate information, verified facts and the truth. Our constitution demands it and so should we.

Heather Stout, Moscow