Letters for July 11, 2024

Be careful with your vote

Rob Chase is running for 4th Legislative District state representative under the slogan “Truth Matters.” But what does this really mean? He’s quoted in the Spokesman-Review (July 3) as using the slogan as “a guide to tell the truth.” Chase says if he’s wrong, then he’s “honestly wrong.” But isn’t “truth” more than just being honest? What standards does he use to determine truth? What happens to the people negatively affected by an “honest” mistake? How does one disagree with his truth? Does he accept fact checking? For most Republicans, the only guideline seems to be the equally vague “common sense.” According to their truth, objective facts don’t exist.

Trump has shown Republicans that if someone disagrees with you, the proper response is to ridicule them first, then ostracize them until you have enough power to threaten them with bodily harm or imprisonment. Is that part of Chase’s truth? Can he acknowledge a truth that he doesn’t already believe in? Is it possible for truth to exist that is incompatible with his own? Historically, numerous future dictators have campaigned with truth that included racist scapegoating, disdain for women and minorities, exaggerating the weaknesses of government, ultra-nationalism, religious persecution, conspiracy theories, favoritism toward the wealthy and cynicism. They could lie with abandon because, according to their truth, the ends justified the means. It’s each candidate’s “truth” that sets them apart from the others that is important. Everyone knows that matters! So be careful with your vote; the truth that’s sacrificed could be your own!

Cris Currie

Mead

Reminder: Fireworks are illegal in Spokane

If fireworks are illegal in Spokane based on July 4, there are a lot of people who didn’t get the memo.

I guess it’s like a lot of things today laws and rules don’t really apply to everyone.

The fireworks have gotten a little worse each year in the last few years, and this year reminded me of before they became illegal. If they are going to remain illegal then enforce the law have the police patrol cars roll their windows down and follow the sound. How many tickets were written?

While I am on that subject patrol cars should always have the driver’s window partially open so the officer can hear what is going on outside around them. The AC and heater still work with the window open a bit.

Larry Reisnouer

Spokane

Snake River dams

We all want a better future for Washington, that might mean breaching Snake River dams

It’s time Snake River dam proponents stop using the same flawed arguments and downplaying of Indigenous sovereignty to prevent change in the Pacific Northwest (“Battle over dams and salmon still rages in Pacific Northwest,” June 29).

Washington is a national leader in renewable energy, and that is something to be proud of, but that title highlights a weakness, too. Climate change has already altered the reliability of water flows in our rivers, energy generation in the Lower Snake River Dams has seen declines for several years, and this will only continue.

Replacing the dams is not only a necessity for salmon recovery in the Snake, but a blessing for our clean energy future and grid resilience. In addition to being the best chance salmon have for recovery, removing the dams requires the onboarding of non-hydropower renewables such as solar and wind. The state has added more capacity than what the dams provide before, and it can be done again.

Breaching the dams also brings us one step toward meeting treaty obligations under the U.S. Constitution. These dams have harmed Snake Basin tribes every single day since they were built 50 years ago. The dams flooded sacred sites, endangered food sources, and disrupted ancestral land stewardship duties. The Biden report merely acknowledges the suffering inflicted on tribes, something the U.S. government has never done. To criticize it for being “politically motivated” rather than based on centuries of violence against Indigenous people is ignorant. It is our obligation to stand with tribes, the dams must go.

Malin Plut

Seattle