Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Since 1941, I've made that pledge, before and after the amendment, over 2,000times. It always ended the same way. "with liberty and justice for all."
Anyone who has recited the pledge even once should learn that the full meaning of being American is to be "one without prejudice" – one who even pledges "liberty and justice for all." And who pledges – with even greater force – as a citizen of a "Nation under God."
Unfortunately, some citizens no longer take the pledge seriously, and even some of the leadership of our country, having taken the pledge, violate it. This is the time for someone in Congress to take a stand.
Fortunately, there is an increasing number of citizens with signs and banners, whose presence protest injustice, crying loudly "liberty and justice for all." Someone once said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

When people don’t see a correlation between Nazis and overzealous actions by U.S. federal immigration agents, ask, “Why?” They liked WWII Nazis? They read only what feeds their viewpoint?
Some complain that Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Walz fired up protesters. They missed Walz threatening protesters with arrest for crimes and urging peaceful protest.
Walz pointed out that, in Germany, those who helped people hunted by Nazis were breaking the law, adding, “…you know what’s right.”
Sadly, certain “Christian” leaders don’t ask WWJD. Instead, they allow arrests for skin color, arrests of citizens, breaking car windows to drag out non-threatening people, engaging in unwarranted physical abuse (throwing the compliant person to the ground), violations of gun safety by pointing rifles when not warranted, extrajudicial killings, battering down doors, detainments after refusing valid IDs, and use of threats, “Have you not learned your lesson when we killed that lesbian b*tch?”
Unpack that; in Trump’s U.S.A, do as we say or you’re “smoked,” as some agents call it. That’s tyranny.
If Minnesota had a Republican governor, protesters would still object to agent brutality.
Recall before Trump, there were no broad federal terror tactics regarding illegal immigration.
Trump campaigned on deporting the “worst of the worse.” Children, such as 5-year-old Liam Ramos? Trump’s promise was false. He has a 40% approval rating.
Noticeable disapproval caused Trump to recently tell DHS that feds won’t intervene during protests in Democratic-led cities, unless asked to. He easily changes his mind. Will that stick?

Urgent attention to all residents:
When masked thugs take over streets to maim and murder fellow Americans for all to see, it’s not just gone too far. It’s gone apocalyptic. If you care anything about America, its people, and our constitutional republic, it’s past time to stand up to tyranny. If we don’t act now, it will be too late for the "pitchforks" to save us.
We are currently experiencing a police state rehearsal in Minnesota unlike any seen before. Sadly, must citizens of Minneapolis needlessly die for us to be shocked into awareness of the consequences of fascist ideology and hatred? Governor Ferguson recently announced his intention to prepare for a similar onslaught in our beloved state of Washington.
Make no mistake, we are not safe here just because we happen to live in rural Stevens County. Although German cleric Martin Niemöller was a Nazi sympathizer, he got it right in his poem with which almost everyone is familiar. His last stanza:
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
As Miles Taylor, one of the creators of ICE puts it, “When Americans start asking, sincerely, whether the Trump administration is sliding into ‘Gestapo-style policing,’ it’s not hysteria. It’s rational pattern recognition.”
Put simply, stupidity coupled with inaction results in the end of us all. It’s definitely past time for action. Please do your part today.!
With peace, love, and hope,
Doug and Sally McQuain

Dishonor-Abelled
Dishonorable Hunter Abell, WA 7th LD Representative, you are not the first nor the last, to be mis and dis-informed, and worst, a dissembling legislator.
You introduced legislation to honor, by monument, the lawless U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Your idols-war-criminals George Duh-Buh-Yuh Bush and deceased Dick Cheney’s “shock and awe-full” murdered Arab peoples for their temerity, having “so-called-oilmen” Bush’s and Cheney’s oil under their sand. Lies to Congress to attack Iraq and Afghanistan caused GI-s killed.
U.S. troops on the ground followed un-lawful orders to execute and terrorize peaceful Arabian civilians, kicking down doors-to-doors. Sound familiar? You dishonor your grandfather Henry Abell, a reported respected Inchelium educator. You dishonor tribal members and our military veterans, many of whom were terrorized by fascist, anti-Indian residential work camps policy, and/or are descendants of those Christian terror-torture camps about which you have no conscience.
Like your MAGA Republican leaders, you want a monument to genocide such as that of attempted exterminations of Indigenous peoples and other non-White peoples around the world. Your leaders want to give medals to the Custer 7th Cavalry for their role in genocides.
This letter requests my dishonorable 7th Legislator Abell to instead honor those military veterans holding Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with a monument to human civility, not fascist barbarity like that expressed by every settler-colonial-defending president for the last 250 years. A monument denouncing White Christian Nationalist Supremacy and anti-Indian residential work camps, yet honoring missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.

Are we great yet? It sure doesn’t appear so. In fact, it seems more like we are quickly moving in the opposite direction.
In just over two weeks, federal agents have created chaos in Minneapolis. On Saturday, Border Patrol agents executed Alex Pretti. While documenting their terror and assisting a woman who had been pushed to the ground, Alex was pepper sprayed by Border Patrol. Then, multiple agents riddled his body with bullets as he held a camera in one hand and tried to block the spray with the other. His legal, concealed handgun was pulled from his waistband by an agent. He never brandished it. But he was murdered anyway. And just like Renee Good, who was shot in the head and killed by ICE on Jan. 7, he was cruelly mischaracterized as a domestic terrorist by Trump’s spokespeople. The truth is that he was an ICU nurse at a VA hospital and, like Renee, was praised as an upstanding citizen and a compassionate person by those who knew him.
Fifty-three detainees have died since the current admin took office. Even young children are being swept up. Conditions are dehumanizing, overcrowded and filthy.
The horrible treatment provided has not gone unnoticed. Faith leaders are speaking out. Students and workers are walking out. Massive crowds are gathering to protest and express their outrage. The disregard of our Constitution and the Rule of Law is unacceptable. Please join the growing resistance and make sure you vote in November.

Michael Baumgartner asked me this week if I think the U.S. should take Greenland. He framed it casually, as if asking whether I think he should wear green or blue tomorrow, equating the independence of a sovereign country to a click-bait opinion poll.
That Baumgartner would use, in this manner, a topic of such dire consequence to the world, illustrates, as always, just how unfit for office this depraved man is. Through inane performance, he chooses to denigrate the people of Greenland and our Danish allies rather than understand his serious responsibility to his country and constituents as a member of congress. It’s not a game Mike.
Baumgartner also continues to portray his betrayal of CD5 constituents as “winning” by touting the crumbs Republicans offer to our agricultural community. Farmers don’t want handouts; they want markets. But the Republicans killed the markets by allowing Trump’s disastrous tariff taxes, with Baumgartner’s full-throated approval. Yes, tariffs are a tax on us; no one else is paying them.
And with Baumgartner’s baseless request to begin “program-integrity” reviews of Washington’s Medicaid services, child nutrition programs, and child-care subsidy systems, he aims to further sabotage our systems here in eastern Washington. I guess it’s the second act, after torpedoing healthcare.
How did we elect such a repugnant individual to be our reflection of CD5 in Washington DC. Let’s not make that same mistake this November. Vote him out.

OSPI approved a spending plan for an Enrichment Levy, not for the EP&O Levy that Mary Walker is asking voters to approve.
In 2027, it increases our tax 44% over our 2025 tax, increasing to 64% in 2030. This increase of 84% since 2021 is unsustainable.
This levy is a blank check that has no defined budget or goals. Its spending plan does not pay for sports, transportation, operational costs, maintenance, safety or teachers for regular classroom instruction. The plan authorizes salaries for staff and programs that have produced disastrous results.
Of students entering the ninth grade in 2025, 93% did not have consistent grade level knowledge in Math and 76% in Language Arts. Of 11th-grade students, 94% were not on track in Math and 76% in Language Arts.
Not voting “no” may enable highly motivated special interest groups who want your money to pass this levy.
Please take the time to vote “no,” joining me and others to oppose special interest groups and defeat this massive, unsustainable tax increase.
Ask your neighbors to vote “no.” If they want to donate to the district, encourage them to do so, but ask that they not force you to take money from your family budget to support failure.
Voting against this levy is in the best interest of students, families, voters and our community. Working together, our district can be better.
Do not be misled by their deceptive marketing to get an extra million yearly. Visit 4freedomwa.com for state data, concerns and facts.

I have noticed in the last few issues of this paper that there seems to be a lot of opposition to the president and his administration. As I see it, he is doing what he was elected to do. It appears to me that there are a lot of citizens who have drunk the fruit juice supplied by the Demos and their publicity arm, the mainstream media. For those who missed my reference here, it is likened to the followers of Jim Jones in Jamestown. I find it difficult to fathom how sane citizens can be in favor of supporting the illegals in this country and villainize the law enforcement trying to remove them. The call for immigration reform is not needed; the immigration system is not broken. The ones complaining are only looking for a way to justify open borders. Those citizens who justify the actions of those breaking our laws seem to be only drinking more and more fruit punch. The people who were brought here years ago by their parents are not exempt from being illegal; they have had years to apply and go through the process to become citizens.

Thank you to the Miners!
I am uplifted and grateful to Lynn and Becky Miner, who live outside of Chewelah, and who donated their 100-acre tree farm to Washington State University Extension Forestry. The Miners bought this land in 1992 and found the land had been mismanaged through poor logging practices, and needed loving attention. Not knowing anything about forestry, they did research and learned what they needed to do to restore the land and to make it habitable for birds and other wildlife.
And so, with the labor of love, they planted thousands of ponderosa pines and western larch trees on their land, and supported wildlife by hanging up hundreds of nest boxes for birds and small animals.
In speaking with Lynn Miner, he shared that he and his wife Becky wanted to leave the land they so love to an organization that would use it to teach wise management of the land. Although they could have made a personal fortune by selling it, they chose the path of honoring our earth and educating people in good stewardship of the land. Their generosity is an inspiration to me. Thank you, Lynn and Becky Miner!

Letter to the Editor:
In the Jan. 8, 2026 issue of the Chewelah Independent, an article noted that our 7th Legislative District (LD) Representative Andrew Engell was selected by the bi-partisan Council of State Governments to be an “early career state legislator” participant in its December 2025 Western Legislative Academy. The training focused on rules of legislative institutions, effective communication, negotiation, and conflict management. As Engell stated, to better his approach to work “thoughtfully, professionally, and with respect for the institution and people we serve.”
Engell feels his participation reflected both his commitment to serving all constituents in the 7th LD and advancing sound public policy. His goal is the use of honest conversations, searching for “solutions to improve people’s lives, not destructive politics that divide us.”
He's a legislator who hopefully will live up to the expectations of both the council and voters, like myself, that he will indeed search for sound bipartisan solutions to the urgent challenges (including overcoming the current massive billions-of-dollars state budgetary shortfall) facing the citizens of Washington State and our rural 7th LD, many living in a crisis battle-for-survival mode. That he will reach across the aisle in Olympia and work with his Democratic counterparts. That he will vote his conscience, not lock-step, frog march to the Trump party line rhetoric. That he will not pull a Baumgartner. That he won’t just talk the talk. But vote the walk. And help take us forward to a life that is both sustainable and affordable!

To The Editor:
As a retired 84-yr old police officer, I have seen a lot in my lifetime that was both good and bad. This is now how I see what’s happening to the great U.S.A. We are losing our love for God and country. What has happened to our common sense? We are allowing many anti-Christians into the country who want to destroy our Christian values. As Christians, we need to push back on what is destroying our country.
First a notice to all Catholics and Christians. If you vote as a democrat you cannot be Catholic or Christian, you are either one or the other. The Democratic party is very much against Christian values. They are anti-U.S. citizens, anti-public-safety, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-sex change, pro-LBTQ, and many other anti-Christian teachings.
Backed by Democrats, there are now many protests against our federal law enforcement officers who are trying to protect us against criminals and illegals to make us safer.
When George Floyd and Renee Good died, it was because of their own doings. They put themselves in harm’s way and suffered the outcome.
The only unjustified police killing was by the D.C. Police officer Ashley Babbitt, who should have been charged with 1st degree murder. Where were the protests against him for that killing?

Last week, Rep. Michael Baumgartner shared on social media that he announced Washington State University’s new football coach on the floor of Congress. Folks around here love WSU as much as anyone, but that moment raises a simple question: is that really what Congress should be focused on right now?
People in rural communities expect their representatives to take their jobs seriously. When someone is sent to Washington, D.C., it’s to stand up for constituents, protect basic rights, and keep an eye on federal agencies that have real power over people’s lives.
Across the country, there are growing concerns about immigration enforcement, due process, and accountability. Reports of people being detained without clear justification – including U.S. citizens – and of deaths occurring in federal custody should concern anyone who believes in the Constitution and limited government overreach.
At a time when trust in government is already thin, symbolic or lighthearted moments in Congress can feel out of step with what many Americans are experiencing. This isn’t about party politics. It’s about whether elected officials are focused on the work they were sent there to do.
Congress is not meant to be a stage. It is meant to be a check on power and a voice for the people. Washington’s 5th District deserves representation that reflects that responsibility.