Soap Box

Three of our wolf pups that crossed the border of northern Colorado into Wyoming were killed by Wyoming hunters. Is this what should happen to an animal that was endangered, and also known to be a keystone species in improving the health of an ecosystem? Aren’t you outraged?

How can we reintroduce wolves in Colorado if this happens in Wyoming, as well as Montana and Idaho? Also, people are using horrid methods to kill wolves, which are allowed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (although a judge in Montana outlawed snaring). In Idaho, any wolf can be shot on sight. If this is to be the fate of Colorado wolves, I would ask that we vote again on wolf reintroduction. I am an ecologist and voted for wolf reintroduction, but now that I see the fate of wolves I do not want any introduction.

Use social media to protest. Take action and donate to Western Environmental Law Center, Defenders of Wildlife and/or the Endangered Species Coalition. Also, contact U.S Secretary of the Interior Deb Halaand, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and President Joe Biden to stop the slaughter. Contact Wyoming, Idaho and Montana’s fish and game departments. Write editorials in newspapers in these states, including statements that you and others will not visit these states until they stop the slaughter. Tell Colorado Parks and Wildlife not to go ahead with their plan to kill any wolf that kills livestock. Instead, ranches should have dogs bred to deter wolves, as they do in France. – Margaret Mayer, Durango

Dropped the ball

On Oct. 9, the City of Durango inadvertently posted on its Facebook page “Happy Columbus Day” instead of Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Within an hour it was taken down and replaced. An informal apology was issued.

Shortly thereafter, the Community Relations Commission (CRC) requested that the City Council issue a formal apology over this incident. The City Council refused to do so. What a missed opportunity to build understanding and trust between the City Council and the CRC. Even if the City Council did not

really want to apologize formally, what could it have hurt to do it anyway?

Instead, I was left with the impression that the City Council didn’t care, refused to accept responsibility and/or just wished to ignore the incident. Really? Again, this was an opportunity for the City Council to demonstrate thoughtful leadership, as well as sensitivity, to the multicultural environment in which we live. Had they put a little more thought into the situation, taken a moment or two to “walk in another’s shoes,” they might have better understood the value of a formal apology. Instead, the CRC was told no apology would be issued, so four of the five CRC members resigned.

What does this say about the City of Durango and its cultural and community awareness? It is quite sad. We need you, City Council, and we need the Community Relations Commission as well. How are you going to go about repairing this situation? – Lissa Paak, Durango

Trump, the dictator

After spouting out more than 30,000 publicly documented lies, Donald Trump has finally told the truth to the American people.

By advocating the “setting aside of the United States Constitution,” Trump is saying, truthfully and unarguably, that he wants to become a dictator.

It is as simple and as disturbing as that. “Setting aside” constitutional government in favor of dictatorial rule is what defines dictatorship.

The 75 million people who voted for Trump in 2020 owe the rest of us a deep, heartfelt apology. And some who voted for him should also apologize for supporting Trump’s Big Lie: that he was cheated out of a 2020 election victory. That lie has been defeated in the courts, as well as in all public arenas. That lie fizzles out when held up to the lamp of truth.

That is Trump’s most damaging lie. It has called, untruthfully, into question the cornerstone of our government: free, fair and honest elections. That lie besmirches the honesty of the brave, dedicated election officials and volunteers at every level and at every step of the campaign and election process. Many of those people risked their lives to participate.

Such a lie is like a cancer that eats at the heart of the Constitution and at our governing principles.

Much later than it should have happened, most of the rank and file of the Republican Party have now come out strongly against Trump’s outlandish request to “set aside the Constitution.” Far too late; but, welcomed never-theless.

In my opinion, Trump is what mental health experts informally (back in the old days) used to call a Freudian Delight. He displays a real “bouquet” of pathological symptoms, cutting across and encompassing a number of pathological classifications. Many highly respected psychopathologists have publicly ascribed pathology labels to Trump.

Trump is far, far more dangerous, as the number and range of former and still current adherents attests, and because he is also shrewd and resourceful, as sociopaths and psychopaths commonly are.

By advocating the dictatorial step of setting aside the Constitution, Trump should at last have disqualified himself from standing for election to any office at any level.

The Republican Party, its formal officials and every Republican office holder and office seeker should declare that immediately.

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A few months ago, I was purposely smashed into while driving my car. The car was totaled, and I started using the buses here extensively. For the most part, the buses are good and usually arrive on time.

The only problem is the lack of driver authority to kick off some of the more odious folks who use the bus regularly. Sometimes it’s just obnoxious smelling. This can be fixed, as programs all over the country have shown, by making soap and showers readily available to people.

We could have a warming center if the City Council would just get the hell out of the way. The Durango Catholic Worker, of which I am part, would happily make showers, food and beds available, but we need funding, and a lot of it. Mental health can be nonviolently treated, and it’s time to help District Attorney Christian Champagne back onto the golf course.

I’ll gladly run for office as a Democrat and help institute nonviolent treatments, and get enough showers and food sources to help people get to work, into some kind of housing and find supported care in the community. – Christa Turnell, Durango

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