:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/adn/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/13191615/letters-home-office.jpg)
Luck to new owners, old staff
Yeah (!) for the new owners who have Jerry "G" (Grilly) helping them get ADN back on track. Now, let's get the newsroom straightened out, and bring Howard Weaver back out of retirement to assist with that job. Here's my wish that the new owners bring ADN back to its former glory.
— Donna K. Daniels
Anchorage
Trump comforts the terrorists
Alaska's clergy, citizens, community groups and congressional delegation have spoken with one clear voice: White supremacist terrorism is a moral abomination that has no place in America. Tragically, President Donald Trump will go to any length to comfort these terrorists. First he blamed "both sides," even though there is only one group of white supremacist terrorists that attacked and killed innocent people in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Then, under pressure, he issued a terse statement saying "racism is evil." And yet today, he retreats from his own statement, and again blames "both sides." There are not two equal sides of this debate. There is America, and there are American terrorists who are attacking peaceful Americans.
There is no numerical or moral equivalence between the millions of Americans who support our democracy and the few unhinged psychopaths such as the white supremacists who bludgeoned and ran over peaceful citizens in Charlottesville.
Trump is offering aid and comfort to American terrorists even as they slaughter innocent American citizens and perpetuate Nazi ideology.
— Kevin McGee
president, Anchorage branch
NAACP
Seeing is believing
Tinted windows are dangerous.
— David McCargo
Anchorage
No place for hatred in 2017
Check out the June 1, 1927 New York Times article "Warren Criticizes Class Parades." Oh, and don't forget the 1973 Department of Justice civil action case number 73c 1529. A couple of names turn up on both items. Why is anyone surprised and shocked by recent comments made by the president? There was no reason for hatred and violence in 1927 and no reason for discrimination in 1973, and there is no place for hatred, violence or discrimination in 2017.
— Karen Delkettie
Anchorage
No necessary link between Nazis and Confederacy
One aspect of the conflict in Charlottesville, Virginia, that deserves discussion is the connection between Nazis and the Confederacy (and neo-Nazis and modern nostalgia for the Confederacy). We read and hear repeatedly that the perpetrators in Charlottesville were hate groups, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and people attached to the Confederacy. These links quickly became a journalistic formula.
Yet I find it difficult to find any necessary connection between Nazi beliefs and ideas behind the Confederacy (though Lt. Col. Kamal Kalsi almost gets there in his excellent opinion piece, ADN, Aug. 16).
It is worthwhile to refer to an American literary classic (and excellent movie) "To Kill a Mockingbird." (Can you remember ninth grade?) Author Harper Lee knew her native Alabama and the South intimately, of course. When Scout's teacher, Miss Gates, expresses outrage at developments in Germany: Hitler and his henchmen are increasing their persecution of Jews. Cecil speaks up, declaring "that (money changing) ain't no cause to persecute 'em. They're white ain't they?"
Young Cecil cannot make the connection between persecution of Jews in Germany and persecution of the local African-American community by his neighbors, who were willing, even eager, to lynch a framed African American. The Germans are bad, the locals are good. Even worse, Miss Gates is equally hypocritical; we overhear her discussing how the local African Americans needed someone to "teach 'em a lesson, they were gettin' way above themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is marry us." Young Scout is dismayed and confused at Miss Gates' ability to express moral outrage on one hand, racial hatred on the other.
Young Cecil is an incipient fascist; Miss Gates a willing and unthinking apologist; and the unjustly accused Tom ends up dead. Lee was a master of her subject; she knew her people. She knew the impulses behind Nazi behavior were similar to the impulses behind the KKK and lynching with impunity. This story has played out thousands of times in the South, and not just there.
Apparently the Charlottesville aggressors, whatever the superficial differences and labels of the various groups, are at heart one.
(There is at least one major difference between German Nazism and Confederate racism, though. The old South, and then the Confederacy, were founded on human economic exploitation; the Final Solution was pursued for entirely different reasons.)
— Clarence Crawford
Anchorage
Dog whistle now a megaphone
During the eight years of the Obama administration, as you may recall, the Republican Party took great glee in calling the Democratic Party the "Democrat" Party. A small slight, but they made a point of every Republican doing it. Along with this was the racist dog whistles the Republicans persist in blowing.
Well, with the election of Donald Trump as the leader of their party, the dog whistles have been replaced by a megaphone. As the party's leader, Trump has set the tone for the remaining time of his administration. It is time to change the name of his party to the Republican Party. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?
— Jay Cross
Big Lake
Salmon is Alaska's lifeblood
Wild salmon. In these divisive times it is nice to grab onto something that most Alaskans can agree on, namely the great value our wild salmon gives to the Great Land. And all those wild salmon aren't here by accident, but because Alaska hosts free flowing spawning rivers with good water quality. We literally are the last remaining wild salmon fish hatchery of the world.
Because I love wild salmon, I love learning about the dismantling of the Eklutna River dam. This project has the potential of restoring a historic salmon river to its former spawning significance. This benefits everyone, and the Great Land Trust and the Eklutna Native Corp. deserve thanks for removing this dam. As the Elwha River Restoration in Washington state shows, such restorations see immediate positive effects on local salmon spawning. The last piece of the restoration will be getting Municipal Light & Power to release a minimal amount of water from Eklutna Lake to feed the river system, the historic situation for thousands of years. Destroy the dam and feed the river, the salmon will do the rest.
We know that our veins and arteries, and the blood they carry, are a critical part of personal health. Let's treat the Eklutna as a vital piece of the "salmon circulatory system," restoring its free flow so that the salmon who once spawned there can flourish again.
— Ted Eischeid
Anchorage
ADN made its share of mistakes
In the ADN bankruptcy story on Aug. 13, it was announced that a new publisher is set to purchase the largest newspaper in the state.
I applaud the Binkley family for taking action to preserve a statewide newspaper presence in Alaska.
I have subscribed to home newspaper delivery in every community my career has taken me. The Alaska Dispatch News was the first paper I cancelled a subscription to in my life.
There are many business reasons that led to the slow decline of the former Anchorage Daily News and modern Dispatch News. The biggest mistake ADN made was turning away from its core audience.
Alice Rogoff spent her life surrounded by wealth and power-players. Rogoff's biggest miscalculation was not the $34 million price she paid to purchase the ADN.
Her biggest mistake was believing Alaskans would be eager to financially support an ideology that is left of the Libertarian bent of the state populace.
A hired pitchman tried to draw me over to the ADN booth to sign up for a subscription at the state fair last year. I told him politely I would be interested in renewing my subscription when ADN returned to a more balanced approach to news. He immediately dismissed me. That is what Rogoff has done to the people of Alaska.
— Chase Spears
Owings, Maryland
Longing for 'Leave it to Beaver'
Since the out of touch, nonsensical, irrational, mamby-pamby humans in our nation are banning free speech and parts of our history, (statues and idols are ridiculous anyhow), I suppose the Southern accent, which the Confederates had, will be on the ban list next. After all, that dialect must be offensive? Well let's head overseas and get rid of the British accent while we are at it. We did win our independence from Britain, didn't we? I long for the "Leave it to Beaver" days. Even a large dose of Eddie Haskell would be pleasant right now.
— Rolf L. Bilet
Anchorage
Jesus healed the sick for free
Many have believed the United States has the best health care system in the world, but now our leadership tells us, the whole system is imploding.
The problem is, we have an exploding elderly population, combined with expensive medical advances that enable life-extension, combined with private insurance, pharmaceutical and medical corporations all trying to maximize profits at our expense.
Health care givers should not be capitalists. President Donald Trump has it backwards. A capitalist health care system is unethical, wrong and can no longer work.
Jesus never charged money to heal, and the time has come for us to follow His lead, and take all profit out of our health care system. Providers can make a fine salary without greed-driven private corporations and profit-seeking middlemen. Only in this way, can we enjoy a solvent, affordable, well-balanced health care system.
— Daniel N. Russell
Anchorage
Joint Chiefs show real courage
In the most stunning and precedent-setting rebuke of a sitting commander in chief in our nation's history, all the Joint Chiefs issued statements schooling President Donald Trump on the subject of racism and coddling Nazis, essentially a sixth grade lesson in civics. Our Joint Chiefs are all quite expert on the subject of Nazis. They read up on it in war college. Our president is an expert on how to sell overpriced condos and hawk frozen beef steaks, on settling disagreements between Gary Busey and Lil John, and setting up fraudulent real estate "universities" that bilk the unsuspecting out of their life savings. He is also quite a pro at neat tricks like bragging about sexually assaulting women,while married to his third wife, and then still convincing the religious right he is their path to legislate moral purity. My party, the party of Lincoln, bartered away its legacy and legitimacy in exchange for the chance to end "Obamacare" and reverse the progressive tide of the last eight years. The party did that so we could go back to the good old days, so we could take our country back from people who did not look, or sound, like "us" (much like Germany immediately preceding WWII ). The jury is now in. Electing Trump was an exercise of cutting your own throat just so you could bleed on the enemy.
— Bob Lacher
Palmer
High school activities unite our communities in the best way
Pep rallies. Friday night lights. Running trails. Swimming pools. Ball courts. The new school year is here. And that's exciting news for student-participants and high school sports fans alike.
Research shows that being a student-athlete is about a lot more than fun and games. It teaches important life lessons, too. In fact, high school athletes not only have higher grade point averages and fewer school absences than nonathletes, they also develop the kind of work habits and self-discipline skills that help them become more responsible and productive community members.
Attending high school activities teaches important life lessons, too.
Among them, it teaches that we can live in different communities, come from different backgrounds, faiths and cultures, cheer for different teams and still have a common bond.
That's why attending the activities hosted by your high school this fall is so important. It's not only an opportunity to cheer for your hometown team, it is also an opportunity to celebrate our commonality. And that's something our country needs right now.
The bond we share is mutually supporting the teenagers in our respective communities. We applaud their persistence, tenacity, preparation and hard work, regardless of the color of the uniform they wear.
We acknowledge that education-based, high school activities are enhancing their lives, and ours, in ways that few other events could. And we agree that, regardless of what side of the field we sit on, attending a high school sporting event is an uplifting, enriching, family-friendly experience for all of us.
Many of the high schools in our state lie at the heart of the communities they serve. They not only are educating our next generation of leaders, they also are a place where we congregate, where people from every corner of town and all walks of life come together as one. And at no time is this unity more evident than during a high school athletic event.
This is the beginning of a new school year. Opportunities abound in the classroom and outside it. Let's make the most of them by attending as many athletic events at the high school in our community as possible.
Turn on the lights, and let the games begin.
— Bob Gardner, executive director, National Federation of State High School Associations
— Billy Strickland, executive director, Alaska School Activities Association, Anchorage
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.