Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, July 21, 2017

Beware use of 'unpatriotic'

I didn't vote for Donald Trump, I am a Libertarian. And I am very concerned with the U.S. losing its international standing. But I am also concerned by signs of neo-McCarthyism now coming from the left.

How else would you characterize Elise Patkotak's statement that she "always thought that they (Republicans) were patriotic Americans," (ADN, July 19)? Are they unpatriotic now? Do we now need Senate hearings to decide who is patriotic and who isn't?

And what about her statement that the president's family is "potentially treasonous?"

She writes that Putin is "a despotic strongman who kills his opponents." Very true. But was Joseph Stalin any better? Nevertheless, we cooperated with him because we had a common enemy — Nazis. And now we have a new common enemy — global Islamic extremist terrorism, not to mention tension in the South China Sea.

In "real politik," time and time again from Woodrow Wilson to Jimmy Carter, we cooperated. The Soviets got the entirety of Eastern Europe for their cooperation in World War II. Had such cooperation between world powers started in 1930s, we would have seen the end of fascism not in 1945, but much earlier, during the Spanish Civil War.

Yes, President Trump spoke admiringly about Putin. But you should see FDR's letters and Churchill's memoirs, where both praised Stalin. That is the real politik, pure and simple.

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One might say that times are different now. Indeed, they are. It is ironic that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world became more unstable and unpredictable.

Richard Nixon well understood that the U.S. could not face two adversaries — China and Russia — at the same time. And so does Trump.

Patkotak has written two very interesting memoirs because, I guess, she knows the subject well. I am waiting for the third book of her memoirs.

— Rudy J. Budesky
Anchorage

Do the right thing, delegates

I want to encourage all readers to contact our delegation to Washington, D.C., to warn against President Trump's call for all citizens' voter data.

Alaska's members of the U.S. Congress need to speak out against Trump's attempts at voter suppression and intimidation that he has launched under the guise of a voter-fraud investigation.

Trump's statements on behalf of your political party are an attack on our state's citizen- and voter-records by characterizing any state's resistance to submit voter data as somehow deserving suspicion of illegal activity.

Trump's new voter suppression commission is a blatant attack on our democratic institutions and you, along with other members, will be called out as complicit in this attack if you do not provide appropriate oversight.

Do the right thing.

— Raymond O'Neill
Anchorage

More TNR nonsense

Becky Robinson is indeed an enthusiastic proponent of trap-neuter-release, known as TNR, for cats. And no wonder: she draws a six-figure income from her role as founder and president of Alley Cat Allies. That salary plus more in expenses is drawn from the thousands of individuals she has convinced with her carefully groomed defense of the indefensible. Consider just some of the weaknesses in her "Truth about TNR" in ADN, July 20.

Her very first sentence claims that "cats have lived outdoors along humans for over 10,000 years on every continent where people live." While this is true about cats in general, house cats are an alien species to the Western Hemisphere. We brought them here and we are therefore responsible, not only for the terrible effect they are having on birds and other wildlife, but also for the diseases like toxoplasmosis they inflict on us.

Next, she claims TNR "stops the breeding cycle and stabilizes the population." Why then do we have an exponentially increasing number of free roaming cats? TNR has been around for a half-century but we are overrun with cats. Not much stabilization here.

Finally, TNR is not as Robinson claims — science. It is misdirection fueled by the enthusiasm of cat lovers. Those of us who love birds, wildlife and our own welfare, disagree.

Now she demands we exempt these animals from Alaska law that prohibits the dumping of cats whether by uncaring individuals or TNR activists. Do not be misled.

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— Gerald R. Rising
State University of New York
at Buffalo
Distinguished Teaching professor

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

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