Letters to the Editor — Sequim Gazette, Sept. 21, 2016

Published 1:31 am Wednesday, September 21, 2016

How about using some common sense?

It’s been suggested that common sense trumps juris prudence as a prerequisite for Supreme Court justice. And, the Constitution is sacrosanct, not open to interpretation.

Forget about those pesky amendments.

Imagine, if you will, a want ad: “Supreme Court justice wanted. No experience necessary. Common sense a plus.”

Why not advertise for the presidency as well? A pizza magnate, a neurosurgeon and now a real estate mogul is vying for the job.

Our bureaucracy looks like Lucy’s barbecue anyway so what have we got to lose?

Roger B. Huntman

Sequim

(Editor’s note: This letter is reprinted from the Sept. 14 edition; an editing error is fixed here. — MD)

Application of common sense needed

With reference to: “Wanted: Sense regarding the Supreme Court” (Sequim Gazette, Sept. 14, page A-12):

Is the writer denying that the “Constitution is sacrosanct, not open to interpretation”? If the Constitution is not sacrosanct, why take an oath to “Protect, preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States”?

As for the “want ads” I might remind the writer that Supreme Court Justices are Presidential appointments and that the people of the United States elect the President.

What’s wrong with “A pizza magnate, a neurosurgeon and now a real estate mogul vying for the job”? Our Constitution states that the person(s) vying must be a U.S. citizen and have attained a certain age, it doesn’t require that a person must have graduated summa cum laude in political science from some Ivy League university.

My last question: Has the writer an aversion to the application of common sense?

Ethan Harris

Sequim

Sequim’s Back to School Fair impresses

I was very impressed with the Back to School Fair that was held at the Boys & Girls Club on Aug. 27. I had no idea the large amount of participation by groups sharing services and information, and all the families in need of these supplies and services. And what a treasure the Boys & Girls Club is for our community … I did not realize.

I am so glad I was able to be part of this. My thanks to everyone involved with this project … it is well worth the time and effort.

Nan Burris

Sequim

Hardly sportsmanlike

My mother was excited to move to Sequim and delighted in her yard and property of forest. She and my stepfather moved to this place to retire and find peace. My mother can’t do a lot of physical activity, so she loves to watch the animals in her yard. I remember the day she posted the pictures of a doe that had given birth in her yard with the fawns. She posted pictures to Facebook periodically, with mother deer and babies. She loved them a great deal.

It was with a broken heart that she reported to my siblings and I, that a neighbor had shot the mother deer with a crossbow as he lured the deer into his yard. These were deer that trusted all humans, so it wasn’t really sport, but slaughter. They also trespassed onto my mother’s property trying to hunt down the injured deer. They just didn’t seem to “get” what they did to an entire neighborhood that had even named most of the deer. They then tried to make my mother and stepfather look like they were trouble-makers and denied the incident, only to later on admit this as they again tried to “retrieve” the deer.

The fawns have been in my mother’s yard alone with no mother since the incident. Another fawn appeared in their yard today. I have watched all the joy go from my mother. I work as a therapist; neighbors such as this would be a case of someone who has “no boundaries.” I imagine they had their thoughts of “country living” a little warped. Where my mother lives, there are a lot of retirees who love nature and wildlife around them. That’s why they retired where they did.

In my home state of Utah, there is deer hunting every year. Rule of thumb: You normally don’t shoot does. You definitely don’t shoot does with fawns.

Also, it’s a sport, so you don’t shoot them like shooting fish in a barrel. You also don’t hunt down an injured doe on your neighbor’s property without their permission and at night. You might as well be hunting deer in a petting zoo.

I see nothing right with any of this. If you insist on wanting to murder wildlife, could you please at least do it in a responsible and sportsmanlike way?

Tamara Wright

Salt Lake City