Readers write: Letters to the editor, August 11, 2016

Elect new, dynamic legislators

Unhappy with our state Legislature? Alaska primary elections are coming up on Aug. 16, and this is our opportunity to put some new blood in Juneau. There are 10 Senate and 40 House seats up for re-election with dozens of new faces on the ballot. You can learn about your district and options by visiting www.elections.alaska.gov. On the left of the screen, click candidate information then, from the text, primary & general election candidates, then choose candidate list, district search. This will bring up a list showing. district-by- district, who is running for office.

Currently, our Legislature is dominated by Republicans, so it might be helpful to choose candidates with alternative party affiliations to create more balance. We all know how vital it is to create a new legislative dynamic that can resolve the critical budget issues our beautiful state faces so, let's do it!

— Mary Garrett
Anchorage

Lisa does a ‘Melania’ in ad

Watching the Olympic gold medal winner Ryan Held sobbing during the national anthem Sunday night was quite moving. Then we were blessed with Lisa Murkowski's umpteenth ad proclaiming we should vote for her because she "walks the walk." What does that even mean? It is a rip-off of the time-honored Alcohol Anonymous saying to "walk the talk." Does she employ the same speechwriter as Melania Trump? Do Alaskans a favor and let us enjoy the Olympics without corporate, Trump-sponsored vacuous drivel.

— Sheila Burke
Eagle River

Young talents wowed at UAA

Thank you for telling us about the Saturday afternoon recital held at the University of Alaska Anchorage by students of the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival. My husband and I interrupted yard chores and attended. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing and hearing the performances by 32 students as enhanced by 15 dedicated faculty artists. Several young performers wowed us with their talents. I suspect one particular 11-year-old could have a professional music career if he chooses that path. All demonstrated great concentration and devotion to the music.

Bravo to the festival founders, parents, faculty and patrons for this great program. And thanks to ADN for notifying us of its presence.

— Becky Kimball Faunce
Anchorage

Broaden ADN’s party politics

I was disappointed to see nothing in ADN about the Libertarian Party's Town Hall meeting on Aug. 3, which was covered by CNN. Please feature information about presidential candidates other than Trump and Clinton in your paper sometimes. The Libertarian Party is close to achieving the 15 percent in polls that is required to get a place in the presidential debates this fall. Please help this alternative party has a chance to be recognized by including it in the newspaper's election coverage.

— Jeannette Rice
Kasilof

How about CIA and Clinton?

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof must have forgotten to balance his offering (ADN, Aug. 6) of what a Trump security briefing with the CIA would look like with one featuring Hillary Clinton.

Her's would have been much shorter.

CIA: "Secretary Clinton, this completes our briefing. Do you have any questions?"
Clinton: "Huh? Sorry about that, I was deleting emails from my phone thingy and didn't catch a word you were saying."

CIA: "Well that's unfortunate, would you like us to repeat it?"

Clinton: "Uh … no. I'd probably get all of that complicated stuff cross-circuited again and post it on my website. Besides, what difference does it make anyway?"
CIA: "No one could have said it better."

— Nick Varney
Homer

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.