Letters to the editor for Jan. 17

Matt Shea is no conservative

I found Tim Weston’s letter about his support for Matt Shea interesting.

First, he schools us on the US being a constitutional republic, then launches into his support of Shea, who he describes as a Conservative Libertarian. In fact, Matt Shea is a radical Christian white supremacist.

Shea passed out literature calling for the country to be turned into a Christian theocracy. The four-page manifesto called for the killing of non-Christian males. He was also a member of an extremist right-wing chat group that called for violence against political enemies, and he volunteered to do background checks on people in Spokane that they deemed enemies. An investigation commissioned by the State House reported he was involved in three separate acts of domestic terrorism.

The list goes on, but one thing Shea definitely does not agree with is the US Constitution. He took an oath as an Army officer to defend the constitution, but all he’s done is disgrace it.

People are the collateral damage of war

“The bombs we drop in Vietnam will explode at home.” – Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I, like most people I know, really do not know much about Iran. After getting out of the Army and obtaining a master’s degree in 1973, I applied for Peace Corps positions. I was offered a teaching position at the University in Tehran, Iran. In researching the country and who really controlled there then, I learned it was the CIA who had established the dictator, the Shah, to benefit US and British oil companies, and so I turned down the opportunity because we were not a good actor there.

Since then, everyone I know who has visited Iran has been amazed not only by the art, poetry and ancient culture but the love the people there have for people in the US, in spite of what the US has done there, and the incredible hospitality they experience in their visits. This seems something we could build on. These Iranian people and their ancient culture are the people who will be destroyed in any war we have with Iran. They will be written off as “collateral damage.”

We all need — individually and collectively, in our city councils, state legislatures and our organizations and faith communities — to stand against war and also look for opportunities for person-to-person opportunities such as sister city relationships and other cultural exchanges. These are things we can all do here in Thurston County for peace and the planet.