With Ukraine at war, the US response needs realism — not ‘petty Boebert-isms’ | Opinion
‘Realism, not petty Boebert-isms’
Most of us were not present when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary in 1956 and then Czechoslovakia in 1968, but we now face a 21st Century version. If we do not contribute to the establishment of a secure and stable Europe in the wake of an invading power, another chance is more expensive and far less likely.
Zelensky is right. It’s an investment in a sustainable world. Ukraine has turned to the West and freedom.
This new House of Representatives is motivated by revenge for the Trump psychosis. We need sober realism, not petty Boebert-isms. American vision and determination, not looking backward or investigating whether Hunter Biden is more corrupt than Dick Cheney.
How about things that need attention: the budget and the debt ceiling, climate change, interest rates, mass shootings and guns, food production, droughts, fires, floods, war in Ukraine or Taiwan, new energy sources and diversification, our failing schools? How about doing what needs doing?
Stefan T. Battin, Roy
Loud, slow and messy
As usual, The News Tribune has chosen to put the election of the Speaker of the House in the most negative light. However, what TNT misses is that this is what a representative democracy should look like: loud, slow and messy, with many voices being heard.
I hope we will see more of this in this Congress. For too long we have seen a Congress where only one voice matters and all members of that party weakly fall into line.
That model may work in China, but it’s not what our framers envisioned.
David Splinter, Tacoma
Pelosi’s ‘ultra-partisan’ reign
Thank goodness the reign of Speaker Nancy Pelosi is over. She has been the most ultra-partisan politician in my lifetime. She spent the last four years in Congress passing two unconstitutional impeachments against President Trump, according to Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, and setting up the one-sided January 6 Select Committee.
The obvious goal for all three was to get rid of Trump. That included stacking the committee with pathological liar Adam Schiff of Russian-collusion fame and self-righteous Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who was kicked out of the Wyoming GOP for forgetting who she represents.
The committee had no cross-examination or adverse witnesses. It was the Hollywood production of the year and a colossal waste of taxpayer money. The four criminal referrals against Trump were worthless, according to Dershowitz and other attorneys.
Craig Chilton, Bonney Lake
More roundabouts
Driving a car is dangerous. Period. I find it amazing that we citizens are convinced it is perfectly logical to get inside a 3,000-pound machine and drive it 60 or 70 miles per hour on a crowded freeway, just a few feet away from other 3,000 machines, some zigzagging between lanes.
Putting unrealistic speed limits on city streets or freeways will not change how people drive. All it will accomplish is making traffic cops work harder handing out more unnecessary tickets. Why? Because the road tells the driver the logical speed limit.
Want to make drivers drive slower? Make the road slower. Stop signs, roundabouts, traffic lights, curves. Expecting drivers to drive 25 miles per hour on a wide, straight road is asking for failure. If anything, it makes it less safe since now not all the cars are driving at a similar speed.
To seriously make it safer for pedestrians, bikes as well as other drivers, build sidewalks and bike lanes separate from the roads.
Yes, it is more expensive. But it actually makes the road safer.
John Whitmore, Gig Harbor