Letters to the editor: Jan. 10, 2025

Signage blizzard redux?

Don’t count Lindsay Berschauer out just because she lost her re-election bid to Bubba King. There’s a rumor circulating that she plans on running again in about 18 months for Mary Starrett’s seat when Mary term-limits out.

If true, so sorry, Yamhill County. You will be seeing those annoying Lindsay election signs again.

Philip Haynes

McMinnville

Betraying the blue

Fortunately, the country has made it past Jan. 6 with an unremarkable certification of the vote.

We all remember the violent chaos attending the process four years ago. We followed it live on television, along with President Trump, who did nothing for more than three hours.

Now we’re being told Jan. 6, 2021, was just like any other day at the Capitol. Meanwhile, the president-elect is promising to pardon those charged and convicted for their involvement, saying “no group has been mistreated so terribly.”

We saw members of Congress running for their lives in the halls of the Capitol. We learned members of Congress and Vice President Pence’s security team were calling loved ones to tell them goodbye, fearing they were about to die.

The crowd chanted “Hang Mike Pence” as gallows with a noose appeared. Capitol Police ordered members of Congress to don their gas masks, as tear gas had been released in the rotunda.

Some 140 police officers were injured. One died three days later after suffering strokes and four died by suicide in the following days.

Meanwhile, one rioter was killed by police and three members of the crowd died of medical emergencies. So there is no denying the violence.

Approximately 1,600 rioters have been charged with federal crimes. More than 900 have been convicted, 379 of them on charges that include assaulting a police officer. And members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys are serving up to 22 years for seditious conspiracy.

How can Trump, who prides himself on backing the Blue, pardon individuals associated with assaults on police officers? Officer Gonell, one of those injured during the attack, said a sweeping pardon would be “a betrayal, a stab in the heart.”

Les Howsden

Amity

Power his, hardship ours

Nothing warms the heart of a billionaire more than an amateur government, a government that does not have the will or the skill to slow the flow of wealth and power to the top of the pyramid.

Elon Musk bought the best wrecking ball he could find, and it paid off. That $250 million he spent on “campaign support” immediately returned $708 million to his net worth and guaranteed our government would be functionally disabled.

That’s great news if you want the government on the sidelines, but not so great when you need an effective government to beat back the greed of our corporate billionaire class or to help stem the authoritarian tide they encourage here and abroad.

Elon warned us we should prepare for a period of “hardship” while he realigns our government’s priorities to suit his needs. He wants to see which politicians are eager to help him implement his agenda and which ones need a primary challenge, but still needs to figure out how Congress works, as that was not covered in his private school curriculum back in his native South Africa.

In his world, the job of government is to rig the economy to wean the lazy lower-classes from the social assistance they are used to, redirect the money to the billionaire class, round up those who object, and then stand back and watch the miracle as his unchecked power transforms our society.

Of course, he will not participate in the “hardship” he wants us to accept. But as long as our government protects his interests around the world with its money and might, it will all be for the greater good — his greater good.

Each party has its own billionaire problem. We need appropriate taxation, regulation and enforcement to put these predators back in their place as citizens, not gods.

Bill Johnson

McMinnville