Letters to the editor for June 9

Chick-fil-A site already a bottleneck

Really? Another fast-food business in Olympia?

The area Chick-fil-A wants to build it in is already bottlenecked at times. I used to live in King County and both Bellevue and Kirkland are gridlocked around the locations where they built. The businesses in the area will be affected because people will say I do not want to sit in traffic.

The people who will make the decision as to where it is allowed to be built need to take a closer look. Once it is built, it will forever change the traffic mess in that area — and not for the better.

Jackie Kure, Tumwater

Please don’t vote Republican

I’m not sure where to begin. The Republican Party represents such an existential threat to America that it’s hard to focus blame.

Let’s start with climate change. First Republicans said that the science was inconclusive, and then just a downright hoax. Now we have catastrophic drought, flooding, fires, hurricanes and tornadoes plus extreme heat/freeze events just as predicted. Republicans have given us this.

Then there is their threat to democracy by refusing to accept election outcomes. It was Republicans and their fellow right-wing extremists who stormed the Capitol trying to stop Biden’s certification, not Democrats. And even without evidence, a majority of Republicans still believe Trump actually won the election. That is scary stuff.

Next there is this thing about treating women like breeding livestock when it comes to abortion. Republicans support forcing females to give birth against their will so they can provide babies for mostly infertile couples to adopt. Hopefully branding won’t be involved.

And now we have guns, again. I write this as the death toll from the most recent mass shooting (Uvalde) just keeps rising by the hour. Nothing ever happens to stop this insanity because Republicans won’t let it. Gun votes are worth more than lives to them.

Finally, Republicans want to use the rule of law to force us all to be good, model citizens, which means straight, conservative, unaborted Christians. Democrats, instead, want to use the rule of law to protect everyone’s right to just be who they are.

Please don’t vote Republican.

Steve Shanewise, Olympia

Changing times, changing values

As one of the last dinosaurs who rarely reads a newspaper, I understand that doing so is a reflection of my age and my ancient priorities. Sadly, some of the behavior that was passed down from my parents to me and in turn was passed down to my children has disappeared,

Most of the changes I view in television commercials, and for whatever reason, they reflect our society as lazy, wasteful and without regard to the value of money, possessions and time. Is this the new way we live and raise our kids?

For example, there is a commercial showing Melissa McCarthy nonchalantly breaking dishes, vases and other household items as the Property Brothers look on. Other commercials show mothers laughing with their children as they spill food and beverages on the floors and even grape juice on the carpets, often in the name of family fun. And, supposedly, all of these issues can be fixed using the latest, two-ply paper towel or running a vacuum over the problem.

Have we gotten to the point where we Americans have so much money we can just throw it at any problem rather than correcting the behavior? Have we so much time that constantly cleaning up after ourselves and children is easier than teaching responsibility? I cringe every time I see McCarthy breaking dishware, but then I realize I’m so consumed with her behavior, I don’t even know what the commercial is selling, and I still don’t.

Bob Hill, Olympia