Letters to the editor for Dec. 29

Why put up with the politicians?

How much longer are the people going to put up with their worthless politicians? Nothing will change until we vote them out again and again and then maybe things will change. The saying that my senator or representative is good but yours is bad is stupid. They are all bad, both mine and yours. We elect them to represent us but instead they represent themselves and corporate America. Can't people see what is going on? As long as you let them get away with it they will continue.

Never vote for an incumbent. I served my country for over 20 years and for what? So some bunch of politicians can give this country away without firing a shot.

Does no one remember Pearl Harbor? We bought the cheap stuff from Japan which gave them the finances to bomb Pearl Harbor. Now we are doing the same with China. I spent two years in China and was run out in May 1949.

There is nothing wrong with the Chinese people but the government is terrible. They or the Muslims will eventually run this country. Our great politicians can provide money for the health care for illegal aliens but cannot provide for the military retirees who were promised medical care if they completed 20 years of service. What a bunch of lying, rotten bums. I cannot understand why the people put up with it.

Bill Lock, Olympia

Impeach Cheney, then Bush

When impeachment of Cheney and Bush was "taken off the table" by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2006, Congress finally had a Democratic majority and there was promise for making change. Impeachment was viewed as a distraction to this work. But opportunities for change have dimmed, thus weakening Pelosi's case against impeachment.

Meanwhile, the case for impeachment has strengthened. Evidence is mounting of the administration's violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, protecting us from lawless physical and electronic surveillance. Also becoming clearer is evidence of the administration's use of torture. This defies the law Congress passed, as part of the 2006 defense budget, outlawing the use of torture, or cruel and inhuman treatment of detainees being held by the U.S. military and civilian agencies such as the CIA.

Additionally there is the unprecedented and controversial use of signing statements in which Bush has overridden 750 statutes contained in 125 bills.

In July 2006, a bipartisan commission of the American Bar Association determined that these statements "undermine the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers."

There comes a time, in all walks of life, when someone needs to pass judgment — and assert consequences — on a fellow human when he or she has crossed a line. Parents, employers, social workers, parole officers, librarians, and others are called upon to do this as a part of their duties.

Our duty is to begin the investigations which will lead to the impeachment of Cheney, and then Bush.

Becky Liebman, Olympia

Where are voices of citizens of Iraq?

Certain prominent officials within the Bush administration continue to perpetrate and to get away with a wrongful, aggressive and illegal war of occupation in Iraq. There are many factors which enable the Bush administration's imperial aspirations; not least among them are the politics of fear and division, the leverage of a compliant Congress, and an apathetic public.

But the Bush administration may be most enabled in its pursuit of global dominance by a compliant and cooperative mainstream media. For example, embedded military reports are taken at face value with little to no question about the veracity of what are oftentimes virtually anonymous sources. In its compliance with the Bush administration politics of fear and division, the mainstream media does the USA harm.

Iraq did not pose a threat to the United States prior to invasion.

Our nation's military and military personnel are being misused, and abused, in the service of an unjust and aggressive occupation.

The Port of Olympia blockades were an attempt to stop an unlawful occupation; one that is hurting the people of Iraq and the service personnel of the USA. To speak against the blockades is comparable to saying that a police officer should not drive in excess of the speed limit in order to apprehend a suspect.

Millions of people in Iraq suffer on a daily basis because of the war. Their suffering goes unreported or glossed over. Where are their voices in our media? Why don't we hear from those who are most impacted by this war?

Robert Whitlock, Olympia