Letters to the editor for Sept. 20

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• Published September 20, 2008

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Republican governors abuse the truth

The Republican Governor's Association has a long history of having slanderous TV ads pulled off the air. Now they must be getting fed up with that pesky insistence on truth in advertising because they've moved to the Internet -- a fertile ground for smear attacks and outright lies.

As The Olympian reported, the RGA's Internet ad distorts Gov. Chris Gregoire's record on gaming compacts -- to the point where their narrative has next-to-nothing in common with the real story. The RGA has conveniently forgotten that Gov. Gregoire vetoed a $140 million revenue sharing deal for a reason: to prevent gambling expansion and avoid conflicts of interest for the state. Unsurprisingly, it's also slipped their mind that her decision received widespread support from state Republicans and was called "scrupulously" legal by a Republican attorney general.

The RGA, on the other hand, is only scrupulous in spreading lies. They've already had ads declared illegal in three states for being "grossly inaccurate" and "highly misleading." I hope that the same laws will keep them exiled to the Internet for our governor's race -- but with the way the Republicans have been running this campaign, I'm not holding my hopes too high.

Rachel Peters, Lacey

Shellfish growers ready with answers

Shellfish growers believe Pierce County's recent letter regarding the environmental effects of geoduck culture is a positive development in the land-use debate over geoduck farming.

After reviewing a laundry list of possible effects raised by waterfront opponents, the county has narrowed the discussion to three areas of potential concern. In each of these areas we look forward to providing additional information to the county from research that has been done both here and in British Columbia. We believe that additional information will allay the county's concerns. It is encouraging to see the State Environmental Policy Act review process moving forward.

Bill Dewey, Taylor Shellfish, Shelton