Sammamish Forum
December 29, 2008
By Administrator
Thanks to the road crews
As a nurse who is expected to commute into Seattle, regardless of weather, I’d like to thank the cities of Sammamish and Issaquah for their efforts to make the major arterials drivable after the recent storms. I utilized information from both cities’ Web sites to plan the best route out of my neighborhood and was able to get to and from work without difficulty.Deborah A. Meehan, RN, CCRN
Sammamish
Sign him up
Muntader Al-Zaidi, not doubt, will soon be in talks with the New York Yankees. If he can throw an awkward shaped shoe that well, just imagine what he could do with a perfectly round baseball.
I’m proud of my Commander-in-Chief: He dodged those shoes and then joked about it.
Tony Emanuel
Sammamish
Cyclists should clean the shoulder
In response to a recent letter from a white-line-riding bicyclist, may I suggest that the precedent set by our industrious local trails club provide an inspiration to the local bicycle clubs — take responsibility for the safety of your riders and the motorists and establish a regular maintenance crew and schedule to keep the road shoulders clean.
Sweat equity and some capital outlay deepen appreciation for a public resource and please do this in a way that does not impede motorized traffic.
Pat McArthur
Issaquah
State capitol made a bad choice
First, a statue of Jesus. Then, an anti-religious solstice sign. And now, we might have a display honoring the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a sign from Kansas bigot Fred Phelps that Santa will send you to hell, and a display for Festivus, a joke holiday.
It’s a joke all right. Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Department of General Administration have learned a very valuable lesson about the separation of church and state, courtesy of the gutsy Freedom From Religion Foundation. The state had the option of either keeping our government property free of religious displays or allowing every display under the sun and turning our state Capitol building into a circus. Our state government has now learned that it made the wrong choice.
I can only hope that other state and local governments across the country, having witnessed this embarrassment on national TV, will vicariously learn the same lesson.
Moral of the story: If you want to look at a plastic baby Jesus, read about the winter solstice, dance around a Festivus Pole or raise a noodle to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you can do so in the comfort of your home and/or your local house of worship. Thus, you can celebrate your holiday as you wish, and no one has to look at nonsense in the Capitol. A win-win for all, and for all a goodnight.
Matthew J. Barry
Issaquah
To the Honorable Gov. Gregoire,
I implore you to revoke the permit for the signage within the capitol building that mocks and denounces Christianity. No matter at what level of Washington state government the decision was made to allow such a travesty remains your direct responsibility. At this point, you have the opportunity to correct a clear embarrassment and misuse of governmental offices.
Calls requesting your office take appropriate action to remove the anti-religion sign have been met with a blame shift to the offices of gubernatorial minions. The end result is no responsibility is assessed or action taken. The insult to the foundational religion of our culture continues to be attacked with governmental indifference.
Following the politically correct shift in culture, religion is fair game to hate speech while even the simplest and most intended perception of slight to any other demographic is tantamount to a holocaust-esque proportion.
No intellectually honest person can misconstrue the intent of the sign’s message — it is clearly intended to suck the joy out of a holiday dear to the hearts of Christians. Denigrating the value system many Washingtonians hold dearly by labeling its congregants as misinformed, archaic in their thinking and essentially ignorant cannot be missed. Those of faith, and many who are not, would like to have the opportunity to celebrate the season’s meaning and spirit in the state’s capitol without the intrusion of political message — of any kind.
It is time for the governor to step away from political correctness and expediency. Do the right thing and remove the sign.
Mark L. Bowers
Issaquah
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