TNT letters to the editor, 6/19/2021

Voting reform

There is no doubt that the recent avalanche of voter suppression laws in many states is despicable.

As Democrats we are faced with a choice. We can stand back, file lawsuits and hope for salvation from a broken Congress and a lopsided Supreme Court. Or we can buckle down and deal with these new laws.

There is no excuse for an adult in the 21st century USA not to have a valid picture identification. We have over a year until the next national election cycle begins.

It is time to mobilize and be sure that every eligible voter in every state has the proper ID and is properly registered to vote. We need to inform them exactly how, where and when to vote.

This is the only way we can restore sanity to state governments and put the final nails in the coffin of the Trump era.

Alan Robinson, Tacoma

Mask regulations

I ride Pierce Transit buses almost every day because I’m disabled. Lately, over the past two months, I’ve noticed that some drivers (not all) are wearing their masks below their noses, and some further down than that.

Bus rules say: Keep your masks on above your nose, and it’s federal law that all passengers and drivers follow these rules. The drivers on the buses that I ride neglect to follow them at all.

I have made complaints to customer service and to supervisors who say: “I’ll talk to the driver about this matter.”

If they do, the words mean nothing to repeat offender drivers who keep breaking the law.

This is an offense to bus customers like me who do wear their masks above their noses so that we don’t get the blasted COVID-19 bug or its lethal cousins.

These drivers need to be fined for each offense.

Kaylan Ardora, Tacoma

Abortion

Re: “We can’t take abortion access for granted, even in Washington state,” (TNT, 6/12).

The columnist’s own words are damning and laced with gender-erasing verbiage.

She states that Roe v. Wade’s “core” argument is that abortion is legal prior to “viability,” but she does not champion the baby’s right to life, liberty or pursuit of happiness.

Therefore, “pregnant people” or “patients” who abort/kill even in a “safe” manner are still killing a baby, a living human, a boy or a girl.

To boast of “enshrining” a law to allow the killing of the voiceless unborn who had no vote is heartless and extremist language.

The NARAL & Pro-Choice agenda is social climate change – a potential catastrophe, a meltdown for future families’ ability to pass on the most basic, positive values of society.

We can do better in a crisis, or an unwanted pregnancy left behind, including providing help for women who suffer PTSD because of their abortions.

Timothy P. Butler, Tacoma

Congressional filibuster

News coverage of the debate in Congress over whether to remove the filibuster is leaving out a lot of vital information and may be deliberately disingenuous, trying to sow discord.

I am in favor of getting rid of part of the filibuster, not the whole thing.

Get rid of the administrative version they invented in the 1970s, where a senator can obstruct legislation simply by sending a note to the floor, then kick back, have lunch and drink with lobbyists or go home for the day.

We need to keep the original filibuster, where a group of senators who feel strongly enough about a subject must stand on the floor and try to do Jimmy Stewart (“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”) proud.

That is the one that we should keep in the congressional arsenal.

Robert Mitchel, Enumclaw

This story was originally published June 19, 2021 at 1:04 PM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 6/19/2021."