Final Response to Mr. Kattner…

Dear Editor and Cliff Kattner:

This will be my last installment in the dialog I started with Cliff Katner by replying to his letter of Jan. 19.  So, if the Reader publishes this letter and you elect to respond, Cliff, I am giving you the last word.

Cliff wrote (gleefully, I think): “In the last six years, Dems have lost the Senate, Congress and over 900 legislative seats.” Although I can’t dispute those facts, I can point out that much of the Dems’ losses can be attributed to voter suppression, gerrymandering and, sadly, and perhaps most importantly, the intense reaction and outpouring to state-level and mid-term election polls of many deplorables who were outraged that a black man was in the White House. And here are some more numbers for you Cliff: Hillary won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes; 20 million people have signed up for Obamacare; and Obama’s approval rating at the end of his second term was 60 percent as opposed to Trump’s 40 percent approval rating. Cliff, if you haven’t yet realized that our “so-called” President Trump does not give a damn about the middle class or the poor (all “losers”) and that he seeks only to exercise power, enrich himself, his family and his billionaire buddies, then you just aren’t paying enough attention.

Based upon the enthusiasm and numbers of the protesters against Trumpism, I am hopeful that progressives will begin to prevail in two years. So, Cliff, enjoy your glee while it lasts. That glee may be shorter lived than you expect, especially if the toxic wastes that Republicans are allowing to spill into our rivers begin to destroy the beauty of our lake.

Stanley Birnbaum
Sandpoint