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A political flyer sent out by King County Councilmember Kathy Lamberts campaign depicting her opponent as a puppet controlled by prominent Democrats of color is being criticized as fear-mongering and divisive imagery and rhetoric.

The flyer contains an image of Lamberts Democratic opponent, Sarah Perry, as a puppet being controlled by Senator Bernie Sanders, Vice President Kamala Harris, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, and Lamberts King County Council colleague Girmay Zahilay. The flyer accuses Perry of being a socialist puppet controlled by these politicians of color.

Lambert did not respond to requests for comment despite multiple calls and emails to her campaign office.

Perry said she was deeply disappointed by the imagery and language used on the flyer and was surprised that Lambert would sink that low. She said the depiction of her as a puppet was not only offensive to her as a strong, professional woman, but to other women like her as well.

She accused the flyer of being racist and antisemetic, replicating imagery that has been used by nationalist propagandists for centuries to depict certain politicians and public figures as being puppeteered and controlled by Jews, and tropes that play into xenophobic fears and attitudes through history.

King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, who was depicted as puppeteering the strings on Perrys back, also found issue with the flyer, accusing Lamberts campaign of fear-mongering. Zahilay endorsed Perry for Lamberts District 3 seat.

Some might say its because I endorsed her Democratic opponent. Actually 6 of [Councilmember] Lamberts colleagues endorsed her opponent, Zahilay tweeted on Oct. 6. And yet, of those 6, its only my face in a big red bowtie and my name in red boogie man letters that she chose to distribute to thousands of voters.

Zahilay said that painting a Black elected official with a foreign sounding name as an enemy to suburban and rural values is nothing new.

Perry said while she was endorsed by Zahilay, she has only met him twice before. She also said she has never met nor has any connection to Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders or Kshama Sawant.

She said rhetoric used in the flyer labeling her as a socialist or aligning her with the defund the police movement mischaracterize her ideology and remove nuance from her political beliefs.

I do not know why she chose to use that term, Perry said, as she doesnt identify as a socialist and doesnt seek to defund police resources. In fact, she said she supports giving law enforcement and first responders additional resources, and her focus on police reform will be to increase transparency, accountability and standards, she said.

Her feeling is that the imagery and rhetoric used in the flyer was intended to elicit a gut-level response to the fear, doubts and uncertainty felt by more conservative constituents in the district. The flyer uses buzzwords such as socialism and defund the police, which have been used and misused, not just recently, by conservatives to mobilize voters against Democratic candidates.

Perry said that kind of rhetoric is not healthy for the community and only ends up creating more divisiveness. She said in the end, elected officials and communities move forward by working together and collaborating, not burning bridges.

Perry pointed out The Seattle Times endorsement of the incumbent Lambert, in which Kathys effectiveness at working across party and geographic lines is touted by her former colleague Larry Gossett as a reason for her success in the non-partisan county council seat.

Perry said this flyer shows her true partisan nature during what could be a closely contested election this November. The District 3 primary election left Lambert leading Perry by only around 2,000 votes.

With a list of endorsements including from Gov. Jay Inslee, Perry feels that Lamberts campaign rhetoric may have come out of fear of losing the election. Perry accused Lambert of having to try to attack her credibility simply because Lambert does not have enough accomplishments to stand on during her incumbency.

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County councilmember sends out flyers depicting her opponent as a socialist puppet - Mercer Island Reporter

In his "Opening Monologue" on Friday, host Sean Hannity warned that President Biden's continued pleas to his party to pass trillions of dollars representing a socialist takeover of the American economy and social programs is more proof he cares only about himself and not about the future generations left paying for his monstrous expenditures, nor the current generation that will be hit hard by its repercussions.

"Joe Biden is much more worried about his sinking poll numbers," he said. "This has gone so bad so fast, even I can't believe it... We are on the brink now," he said on "Hannity".

"Border crisis, jobs crisis, inflation crisis, crisis in Afghanistan -- And now, a crisis in the Washington swamp as his fellow socialist Democrats are in a full-on civil war."

Hannity noted that the only two remaining moderates in the Democratic Party, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia have for the time being essentially slowed the remaining Democratic majority's lurch toward socialism.

"That's why today, he limped over to Capitol Hill and begged lawmakers to pass his insane $3.5 trillion "Build Back Better" Socialist Spending Proposal -- what could go wrong!? Everything Joe touches turns out just great."

Hannity noted that Biden's apparent disdain for the American people he is supposed to represent is fully evident in the bill, which allocates billions of dollars for benefits for illegal immigrants, billions for taxpayer-funded family leave and government jobs for young "climate warriors."

"Joe thinks that this big government, socialist, spending bill will be a historic political win for him he doesn't care that it will cause massive inflation on top of the historic inflation we're already experiencing."

"He doesn't care that Americans' grocery bill will get more expensive he doesn't care that Americans' energy bills will rise He doesn't care that the price of a gallon of gas will go up and up and up He doesn't care about the quality of your life Joe Biden cares about Joe Biden. That's it."

Hannity noted that because Biden's selfish and destructive political behavior is reaching new levels, he of course has completely ignored Republicans' concerns despite branding himself as "Mister Unity" in the words of the host.

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He said the "radical socialist" wing of the Democratic Party currently controls Biden and that they together want to "destroy what makes this country great."

"They want to control your means of production. They want to take away your property rights. They want to abolish the concept of borders. They want to turn the United States of America into a Communal wasteland -- believe it or not... You have the power to stop them."

"But it starts at the ballot box," he said, as New Jersey and Virginia prepare to hold gubernatorial races this year and as candidates across the country gear up for the ever-approaching 2022 midterms where Republicans seek to deliver the House gavel to Rep. Kevin McCarthy and not Pelosi once more.

See the original post:
Hannity: Biden's pleas for 'socialist' takeover is proof he 'doesn't care about your kids, grocery bill, job' - Fox News

For decades the Communist Party of Cuba has blamed the United States for Cubas misery and poverty, alluding to the blockade that the U.S. maintains against Cuba. However, the alleged blockade wielded by the island is in reality a trade embargo that only makes it impossible for people and companies in certain sectors within the United States to do business with Cuba, the rest of the world can trade freely with the island.

Even the United States annually exports about $277 million in goods to Cuba despite the trade embargo, a majority of these exports are foodstuffs.

In addition, despite the establishment of a dictatorial regime in Cuba that has been in power for more than 60 years without any kind of alternation, elections or basic freedoms, the whole world recognizes the communist authorities and Cuba has a presence in all multilateral international organizations, the main one being the United Nations.

Then there is Taiwan, which has characteristics very similar to those of Cuba, since it is also an island that is close to one of the two world powersChina. In the case of the authorities of Taipei they have been completely blocked by the Asian giant, since China claims sovereignty over the island.

Taiwan is recognized by only a dozen nations around the world, has no representation in the United Nations, and its official name cannot even be pronounced at any international event: be it an Olympic Games, a United Nations General Assembly, or even by the embassies of most countries in the worldincluding the United States. And yet, despite all these difficulties, today Taiwans economy is one of the most important in the world, with a poverty rate of 0.7%, as opposed to Cuba, which has one of the most depressed economies on the planet and 90% of its population living in poverty. What is the difference between the two islands? The economic and political model they applied in their nations.

Cuba and Taiwan, despite being located at two different poles of the planet earth, have very similar characteristics, the one that most resembles them is the fact that they are less than 200 kilometers away from the two superpowers of the worldthe United States and China respectivelyand suffer trade embargoes or political blockades by the neighboring superpowers; on the other hand, Cuba has a little more than 11. 3 million inhabitantsa couple of million more have fled the country, while Taiwan has 23.5 million residents, despite the fact that Cuba has a land area about three times larger.

Despite the similarities, both nations are currently a long way apart in terms of economic, social, cultural, and technological development, as well as individual freedoms and democracy. Today, Taiwans economy is five times larger than Cubas, but fifty years ago things were not so different, in the 1970s the GDP of both countries was similar and the largest industry of both was agriculture.

The painful results of the cultural revolution in Mao Zedongs communist China, which caused the death by famine of at least 30 million Chinese, illuminated the path of the regions governments, who quickly understood that the failed model of putting the State in control of the means of production would make them all more vulnerable and miserable.

Then the Peoples Republic of Chinas neighbors began a series of economic and political reforms that would drastically change the quality of life of their inhabitants; Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and, of course, Taiwan, would begin to open their markets, encourage private enterprise and transform their authoritarian regimes into nations with democratic institutions, and little by little the sun began to shine for the so-called Asian tigers.

Despite territorial limitations and Chinas political blockade of the island, Taiwans inclusive institutions paved the way for the production of technology to supply a severely deficient world market. Taiwanese entrepreneurs began to specialize in the production of semiconductors, those microchips that today we find in all electrical devices in the world, from computers to smartphones and even cars, and little by little the poor island of the past became a rich and developed country.

Currently, Taiwan has the sixth freest economy according to the Index of Economic Freedom, Singapore is the first nation in this section, while Malaysia ranks 22nd and South Korea 24th.

In an article published by the Taiwanese embassy in Mexico, the authorities stated that: Taiwan, thanks to the policies of its government, began a rapid and overwhelming commercial development, becoming a stable industrial economy. Today it is the 22nd largest economy in the world. This allowed it to establish relations with countries that were in search of good trade relations.

In the same brief they explain the transition that occurred in Taipei:

Despite having started as a one-party military dictatorship, in the 1990s it began a process of democratization that today has it as one of the freest countries in the world, with high rates of press freedom, health service, public education, economic freedom and human development. That is why communist China sees Taiwan, and its international recognition, as an existential threat. The contrast is stark. Democracy has not only proven that it can work, but has brought multiple benefits to the population. The Taiwanese have a better quality of life, and opportunities for personal development, than the average Chinese on the mainland. And all this within a framework of freedoms that are unthinkable in a communist China that censures dissidence and whose ruling party increasingly tightens its control over all aspects of the country.

On the other side of the planet, in Cuba, they decided to cover their eyes with the results of the cultural revolution perpetrated in China, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union. While Taiwan took off with a capitalist model, Cuba remained anchored in the old revolutionary dogmas of Fidel Castro, who far from trying to change, he sought to expand his regime of misery in the rest of the continent, achieving it quite successfully in countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The Cuban revolution took power on the island in 1959 by force of arms and never let go again. With popular slogans such as redistribution of wealth, supposed aid to the poor, and socialism, Fidel Castro began to expropriate land and private companies to be managed by the state, and in a short time Cuba, which used to be one of the largest producers and exporters of sugar in the world, found that it could no longer even produce sugar for internal consumption and had to import it.

For decades, the Cuban revolution was able to stay in power exclusively thanks to the financing offered by the Soviet Union with the aim of increasing the ideological enemies in the backyard of the United States. After the fall of the USSR, in the 90s Cuba lived one of the worst decades of its history, until the political astuteness of Fidel Castro managed to put Hugo Chavez in power in Venezuela, and since then they lived off the oil of that country, until the same failed socialist model ended up ruining the nation with the largest oil reserves in the world, and Cuba was again involved in a tremendous economic crisis, with millions of citizens in extreme poverty, which has recently provoked one of the largest civil uprisings against the communist authorities.

Cuba and Taiwan began the decade of the 70s with similar economies, but today the GDP of the Caribbean island is five times less than that of Taiwan, and 90% of its population lives in poverty, while in the Asian island only 0.7% of its population is poor.

It is definitely not the fault of the blockade, but of socialism.

A version of this article originally appeared in El American.

Here is the original post:
Taiwan's Wealth Shows Cuba's Poverty Is the Result of Socialism, Not a Blockade - Foundation for Economic Education

I read the editorial and a detailed article on Wailupe Peninsula a few days ago with interest (Compromise on Wailupe access, Star-Advertiser, Our View, Sept. 30; Public shoreline access issue stirring in Wailupe, Star-Advertiser, Sept. 26). It was enlightening to read how the area was developed by big money, possibly with minimal regard to the environmental impact of filling the natural ponds and dredging the surrounding reef and building private piers.

The tradition of free access to oceans and forests initially was the right of commoners for foraging for food, but today such access is for some fresh air and the pleasure of walking away from crowded living spaces. It is this right to the oceans and forests that gives us all a feeling of freedom in Hawaii.

Wailupe is a very peaceful area, where people are wonderful and friendly. Their fear of occasional invasion by riff-raff is not unfounded. I would request the residents quietly open access to the sea without any fanfare. It will go unnoticed and we will all be better off.

Birendra Huja

Waialae Iki

All kinds of science contradict one another

Science generally approximates the truth to a large degree of certainty. Oddly, when it comes to COVID-19, there are all kinds of science.

In Hawaii, fans are forbidden from attending University of Hawaii football games because science says they could die. However, Hawaii science also says the band may attend games because they wont die. Michigan science, however, lets 100,000 fans (plus the band) go to football games without the threat of dying.

Hawaii science says only vaccinated people are allowed in restaurants in groups no larger than 10. Eleven promises death. Traveling in an airplane? Federal Aviation Administration science says 250 vaccinated or unvaccinated people sitting right next to each other for six hours is fine.

Are the examples above based in science? Of course not. There are a bunch of clueless, self-idolizing politicians with dictator complexes creating science and truth out of very thin air. Its sad we let this happen.

Mark Middleton

Pearl City

Invest in people now, or in civil unrest later

I am so tired of hearing how expensive President Joe Bidens Build Back Better program is. You know what else was expensive? President Dwight Eisenhowers interstate highway system. If todays Republicans were around back then, they would say no. After all, why should government care about roads? Just look at all the new businesses we would have lost out on.

This country is going to face increasingly difficult economic problems with the presence of artificial intelligence. The least the government can do is to make it easy to work. Bidens plan will help many cope in increasingly tough times. For those who do not want to pay for anothers child care: Would you prefer to pay for more jails or civil commotion? You may find out that allowing the situation to fall further, the cost will end up being far more. Dont be so tight.

Peter Ehrhorn

Kailua

Build Back Better fight about stopping socialism

For those not paying attention to the fight over the $3.5 trillion bill in Congress, it is actually a fight to save our country from outright socialism.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus is nothing more than a cover for socialist advocates. Free tuition, free child care, free health care, debt forgiveness and universal income are all agenda items for socialism.

Who is going to pay? The hard-working people who want to do the right thing and earn their livings and their possessions.

We have plenty of people already not willing to work and accept the free benefits from government. This country needs more jobs and to get people back to full employment.

Otherwise we are on the road to ruin and demise.

James Roller

Mililani

Tee-time reservation system didnt need fixing

Auwe. Why are we spending money trying to fix something thats not broken? The new city tee-time reservation system is worse than what we had before.

The messages were recorded by someone who does not know how to pronounce the course names correctly. We are unable to make reservations seven days in advance (we cannot call on Sunday for a tee time the following Sunday). We are not able to make reservations for six players; only foursomes are allowed.

How can the city allow this new system to be put online with so many problems? I sure hope the city did not pay the vendor for this system.

Let me repeat: Why are we spending money to fix something thats not broken?

Winslow Tanabe

Manoa

Responsible people should be protected

I learned that according to the Crisis Standards of Care Triage Allocation Framework, I am disposable because I am over 65. It seems that youth is a tiebreaker for certain medical care in a COVID-19 crisis. I lose, even though I have had all my vaccinations and follow all safety rules.

The deal breaker should be: Did this person get all needed vaccinations as a responsible community member?

Since those over 65 are disposable, the Legislature should introduce a bill exempting us from all taxes, since were worthless anyway.

Laura Bolles

Waialua

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Letters: Open up Wailupe access without any fanfare; All kinds of science contradict one another; Bui... - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Letter writers| Fort Myers News-Press

If The News-Press editorial board and its cadre of ex-Republican letter writers could closet their Trump-DeSantis anxiety for a moment, would someone please cry out against Lee Countys desecration of the Sanibel Causeway islands? Taxpayers are spending I dont know how many millions to basically destroy one of the few remaining Real Florida spots in the county.

Here, where any old Joe could park tailgate-to-shoreline and offload a kayak and cooler or drive out on the beach for a sunset cocktail in the old Firebird T-top for just the cost of the toll will soon become paid parking in restricted numbers. All in the name of erosion control and improvement. Okay, Ill say it. This stinks!

J. Taylor Buckley, Sanibel

How low can we go?

If you think that Bidens choice of VP Kamala Harris, or Secretary of State Blinken, or Secretary of DHS Mayorkas, or Secretary of Defense Austin, or Treasury Secretary Janice Yellen, are way in over their heads and have failed at every assignment thus far in this incompetent administration, wait until you see Bidens choice of Comptroller of the Currency, Saule Omarova. This woman makes Bernie Sanders jump for joy. He only claims to be a Russian-favoring socialist, she is a true Russian-educated radical whose ideas on banking would turn Sanders' face red with embarrassment. She hates banks more thanElizabeth Warren. You can read more about her in the Wall Street Journal.

When Obama was elected he said he would fundamentally change the United States. In his eightyears he did much of what he promised by increasing and extending the socialist ideology. Trump reversed as many of Obamas missteps as was possible in his hectic fouryears. Now bumbling Joe, the puppet too amateurish and incompetent to be on "Sesame Street," having his strings pulled from the likes of Rice and Obama, is becoming even more outrageous. Pelosi recently said it is imperative that they pass the Obama agenda. Do we need any more proof?

Michael Zubrow, Naples

Some politicians are mistakenly defining items in upcoming legislation as socialism. The mistake has been around for a long time. More than 50 years ago, when I was a sophomore in a college economics class, the professor asked the class to write the definition of socialism in our notebook. All of us defined socialism as government control of industry. Wrong, according to the professor and Webster's dictionary. He stated socialism is not control but ownership of industry and means of distribution. Government programs providing benefits do not fit this definition.

Dave Pryal, Estero

This is rich, a letter writeris "offended"by a recent cartoon Get Fuzzy. I appreciate the email response pointing out the obvious that this is satire. Thank you editorfor trying to educate this contributor.

This is a cartoon! The human is silent for not calling out the cat for his "hate speech"?Perhaps this is the first time you've seen this panel. This cat generally always does things that are obviously wrong. Andthe docile dog, Satchel, is often the brunt of the cat's misplaced issues. Rob, the owner of these "pets,"often has to wade through all this crazy rhetoric.

Leave the comics alone. Mallard Fillmore is gone from The News-Press, Doonesbury, a very left-leaning panel, also gone from the editorial page. I understand the reason was to trim space for more letters to the editor.

The comic page is for fun, for jocularity, for a respite from the regular bad, disturbing, and sobering news that is presented daily. Stop looking for "hate speech"that isn't there, for "violence"that also isn't presented.

Michelle Birtley, Cape Coral

Im old enough to have seen almost every imaginable political stunt and hoax. The most recent canard regarding the economic fantasyland and utopian wishes in the $3.5 trillion billclearly takes the cake. Several Democrats have come out publicly to state that the $3.5 trillion will actually not cost anything. It will be free. And I thought Houdini was the the greatest magician of all time.

John McWilliams, Fort Myers

So let me see if I have this correct.The liberals running the country (into the ground, I might add) want changes made so that women have the right to decide what to do with their bodies when it comes to abortion, but at the same time the worthless Biden administration is ordering women to get vaccinated, otherwise they will lose their jobs, thus blackmailing them and taking away their choice as to what to do with their bodies.

This country under this administration is doomed.

Michael Adler, Miromar Lakes

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Letters to the editor for Wednesday, October 6, 2021 - News-Press