Frank Luzzo, Troy

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 5/9/12

This letter is to the people who think Dan Carscallen was wrong when he opposed the Moscow mayor in the acknowledgement of the megaload protesters.

If you have one piece of plastic in your possession or have rubber tires on your bicycle, then you are a hypocrite.

And how much oil did it take from conception to finished product if you are reading this newspaper today?

Also, 98 percent of a pro football player’s outfit is a by-product of the petroleum industry.

Victoria Seever, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News

It is not illegal to gather in protest against an action or law – it is a guaranteed freedom in this country.  For many, it is a civil duty if things get to that point.  When done well, opposing parties maintain a respectful demonstration and neither property nor persons are injured.  In this country, political dissent does not reap the immediate response of prison and torture or death – a point not lost on our founding fathers.

The megaloads are a hot button and part of a critical issue on multiple fronts.  Please do consider the many angles and make your concerns known in appropriate venues where you feel compelled to do so.

If it is the mayor’s prerogative to include megaload protestors as an Earth Day award, I’m sure she is recognizing it takes commitment to stand up and be counted, even on the streets.  I’m sure she knows there would be some flack and disagreement because of it. Continue reading →

D’Wayne Hodgin, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 5/5/12

This letter is not about politics.  It’s about not letting ignorance have the day.  Don Meyer’s letter to the editor (Opinion, May 1) displays he knows next to nothing about the “megaload protests.”  He says “on many occasions … your group disobeyed lawful directives given you by the police.”  Since I never saw Meyer at the protests, I wonder how many police he quizzed to get his “facts.”

On the half-dozen times I joined the protesters, I saw no one break the law.  On each occasion, I talked amicably with police officers while I waved my sign at the passing megaloads.  Several officers even mentioned they respected our (and anyone’s) legal right to protest.  The only folk I saw come close to breaking the law were a few anti-protester protesters who yelled at (disturbing the peace, anyone?) the protesters.  The only time citations were given (yes, once, Meyer) was on the first or second time – of the more than 30 times – that megaloads came through Moscow.  Yet Meyer says the protesters broke the law “on many occasions.” Continue reading →

Don Meyer, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 5/1/12

The April 26 and 27 letters to the editor by Jackie Voorhees and Jeanne McHale show me how really out of touch with reality they are.  They chastise Dan Carscallen for daring to voice his opposition to Mayor Nancy Chaney’s Earth Day awards to your tar sands protest group.

No one has ever said your group didn’t have a right to peacefully protest.  But on many occasions, members of your group regularly disobeyed the lawful directives given you by the police.  A sit-down in the street is not peaceful when the police told you to stay on the sidewalk. Continue reading →

Jeanne McHale, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 4/27/12

Dan Carscallen wants everyone to know that the Mayor’s Earth Day award to megaload protesters was not his idea (Letters to the Editor, April 20).

Perhaps he is smarter than the climate scientists who decry mining the Alberta Tar Sands as the final act of irreversible, anthropogenic climate change.  Perhaps he doesn’t mind that indigenous people of northern Alberta are suffering from alarming rates of rare cancers and being robbed of their livelihood as fish and other wildlife are poisoned.

He bemoans the lack of respect given for drivers and flaggers who were “just earning a living.”  There were employees at Auschwitz who were just doing their jobs, too.  And he cites the need to have police “out in force” because “there was no telling what a protester might try.”  This statement implies that police were needed to prevent protesters from committing some unknown but apparently heinous act that Carscallen imagines us to be capable of. Continue reading →

Jacki Vorhees, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 4/26/12

This is in reply to Dan Carscallen’s letter to the editor (Opinion, April 20).

Don’t worry, Carscallen, none of us in attendance would ever think you were for this award.  We saw the eye roll and the lack of respect you showed the mayor.  Your letter is just another chance to stick a pin in your Nancy Chaney doll.

What went on out there on the streets was no worse than what goes on before and after a Vandal football game.  I know you were really hoping for those Molotov cocktails to be thrown, but sadly the group you saw accept the award — and was there every night the megaloads ran — had an average age of 50 and recognize those “just doing their job.” Continue reading →