Letters to the Editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

It’s finally opening, but what about churches?

I can only bear a limited amount of news about the number of people infected with coronavirus all over the world before I turn off the TV. Then I go outside where we have sunshine and clear, beautiful skies. I need to see these things in person, not through a window. This gives me BALANCE in my life.

I have lived a long, full life. Right now I miss my family in other parts of the country. Yes, I can Facetime with them. I also miss my church and my church family. I would NEVER go to church if I had a fever. I would never jeopardize any church member. I would stay home as I have been doing.

When are we going to open up the churches? If we can go to Walmart, Home Depot, and Albertsons and be safe, why not churches? Shoppers can come and go; church members should be able to do so too. Surely going to a limited church service is safer for me than going to an over-crowded Walmart. God is there.

Right now, I can safely go to beauty shops and have my hair and nails done. We need more places to safely gather in small groups together.

Pahrump is an unusual place where 70% of us are retired. We spend money, and we want to spend money locally. Now we need to make plans to open up places safely. We need to learn to enjoy the day, our summer and our sunshine, and the long daylight hours. I am staying in the moment. Come and join me.

Betty Cotner

America wants concern, encouragement, not threats

Over the past three plus years, I’ve become convinced that many Americans, myself included, have grown weary of the chaos that seems endless within the current administration. Plus the rhetoric that continues to flow from the people’s house, has not always been a source of reassurance. Further, and regardless of your political leaning, who is persuaded that photo ops mean every national leader is genuinely concerned or empathetic toward our people or the crises we are confronting? Even so, we do know and we want to hear words of encouragement because they can actually help to calm our fears, when delivered persuasively and in earnest.

By contrast, I’m doubtful that threatening to deploy the nation’s armed forces against citizens who protest injustice, will win the hearts and minds of right-thinking Americans. In the same light, recurring criticism and rebuke of state governors, rather than expressions of solidarity and support, serve no useful purpose. Yet, I’m expected to believe that the “chosen one” is my friend?

The benefits of being a citizen of the United States are abundant. To me, one of the most precious is the right to choose our national, state and local leaders. In that thought- provoking process, it is essential to consider where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we want to go.

Forgive my common man way of looking at things, but I believe that political leaders can be best evaluated by comparing them to things we are very familiar with and frequently rely on. For example, has your favorite candidate shown him or herself to be as useful—-and helpful, as say, toilet paper or duct tape? If your heart says yes, then by golly you’ll be making a good choice.

Ralph Bazan

Not really sure our leaders understand the Constitution

Our four joint chiefs are among the highest ranking officers from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines. In order to graduate from their respected academies they had to study constitutional law, and when they were sworn in as officers they took an oath to defend our Constitution. A great general, General Robert E. Lee, abandoned this oath and commanded an army against America, resulting in death to around 600,000 people, notwithstanding the widespread suffering and destruction of property.

Regrettably, President Trump has a poor understanding of what our Constitution means. He just recently used military force to disperse a peaceful protest near the White House, and immediately walked to a church and did a photo op with a Bible in his hand. He also threatened our governors to use our Army to “dominate” our peaceful protesters if they did not cease. Yes, there were some criminals in a few groups, and they inflicted destruction and damage. But, we should not condemn the overwhelming majority of peaceful protesters because of a few bad individuals.

Our Constitution gives our citizens the right to peacefully protest against our government, especially when they are convinced that injustice has and is being allowed. President Trump told our nation’s governors to stop the protesters or else he would send in the Army to “dominate” them. Imagine, armed soldiers stopping a peaceful protest. It would be citizens against citizens, sons against their mothers and fathers, brothers against brothers. Against sisters, aunts, uncles, friends, and neighbors. President Trump has said, “As president I can do anything I want to.” No, Mr. President, you can’t because our Constitution prohibits you from being a king. Our forefathers, having just defeated a tyrannical king, wanted no king under our Constitution.

Even one of our highest respected Marine generals, General Mattis, has rebuked the president for his ignorance of our Constitution, and said, “Previous presidents have tried to unite us, but President Trump is trying to divide us.” All four joint-chiefs of staff, some who have served under Republican presidents, including Colin Powell, have rebuked President Trump for his failure to follow our Constitution. Other generals have echoed the same sentiment.

In the upcoming election, each of us should ask, “Am I going to vote for someone who is not only ignorant of our Constitution, but also refuses to abide by it? Am I going to believe well-educated individuals of our Constitution or take advice from grade school and high school redneck dropouts?”

Jim Ferrell

It just takes a few bad ones to make a difference

So does Ms. Stevens believe there is no or very little chance of “monkey business” with massive mail-in ballots? Must be due to her belief in how efficient government and bureaucracies are.

Take today’s world, with the restrictions due to the pandemic, almost all assisted living places have extremely limited or no outside family or friend contact, and that means that these people are reliant on those who work there essentially for all their needs and decisions.

Most of these employees are very dedicated, honest hard-working people, but just like we have recently seen in the George Floyd incident, a few can make a difference. And it does happen, I know firsthand where a mother and her two daughters worked at one such place and were found to be stealing from residents there for years. Just change motives and it would be a simple matter to change many votes very easily.

Just to clear-up your automatic assumptions, I get some, but very little news from your “Satan” substitute FOX News. I do enjoy going to CNN and MSNBC occasionally too.

David Jaronik