Letters to the editor for July 28

What world do we want?

As a young person, I am absolutely appalled at the Supreme Court’s recent decisions that limit both women’s reproductive rights and the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air pollution. This is unacceptable as we need to move forward in our country, not backward toward some unhealthy vision of the future.

I thank the three justices who voted in support of women’s reproductive rights and clean air. As for the other six, I would like to ask them, what sort of world are you looking to create? Do you think a world in which more people are dying of asthma and other pollution-related health issues is a desirable one? Do you think that a select few justices should decide what girls and women of any age should be able to do with their bodies? As a young woman, this is maddening and unacceptable.

If these recent rulings make you angry, please get out and vote. Vote this November and in the future, for people and measures that will support clean air, clean water, and a livable planet. Vote in support of reproductive rights for all, no matter their class, race, or otherwise.

Rebecca Canright, Olympia

Wasting tax money

A recent Olympian article discussed COVID relief funds that Thurston County has received but hasn’t spent. This caused anxiety among staffers such as senior budget analyst Diana Arens, who determines how to spend taxpayer money.

According to Assistant County Manager Robin Campbell, if it’s not spent by Dec. 31, 2024, the remaining money must be returned to the U.S. Treasury. What a tragedy; having to return taxpayer money to the U.S. Treasury, which then should return it to taxpayers. Their argument is if they don’t spend it, another county or state will. Hey folks, that’s our money. Not Thurston County’s; not the U.S. Treasury’s; not Biden’s — OUR money.

This money will be spent — wastefully, I’m sure, but spent. Why do bureaucrats think because this money came from the U.S. Treasury, it’s free money? They should get a real job in the real world and live like real people.

I’m angry. During COVID, grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores were open. Clerks, police, firefighters, sanitation workers, postal workers, military were working, but government offices at all levels were closed to in-office meetings. No employees available except those named above. Why? Are city, county, state, federal bureaucrats more important than those named above?

The answer is definitely NO, but they are unionized. They work for the union but taxpayers pay their salary. Remember this on election day as you decide which politician to support!

Ardean Anvik, Shelton

Religion will kill democracy

I wish to address our U.S. Supreme Court. This previously revered institution has simply gone off the religious rails when it comes to judicial rulings. The current court is upholding the Bible, not the Constitution.

Many Christians believe life begins at conception, and that this moment is an ordained blessing from God. Hence, to abort a mass of growing cells is now equated to the murdering of a human soul. This religious belief has made abortion a crime in over half of America.

Believing that a human soul begins at conception is something our Constitution should protect us from. Separation of Church and state has always been a foundation of governance in America. Yet the Supreme Court has now ruled that a woman’s right to choose is subverted by the will of God. To what inferno have we now descended?

And to further establish this religious theme, the Supreme Court has also ruled that praying at public school events is a Constitutionally protected right. Really? Religion has no place in our public institutions because government needs to be secular. The founders of our nation rightly saw that religious rule would simply kill a true democracy.

Our country is quickly descending into a religious caldron of hatred and evil where people who don’t believe in an evangelical God will be prevented from living their own lives. I hope instead that someday our federal officials will be sworn in with their hands on the Constitution instead of the Bible.

Steve Shanewise, Olympia