Soap Box

To the editor,

What ever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on the 4th of July were traffic jams and wayward fireworks?

According to the USDA’s Meat & Poultry Hotline, this year’s top threat is food poisoning by nasty E. coli and Salmonella bugs lurking in hamburgers and hot dogs at backyard barbecues. The hotline’s advice is to grill them longer and hotter. They don’t bother to mention that high-temperature grilling of meat products also forms lots of cancer-causing compounds. And, who knows what they really put into those hot dog casings in the first place?

Luckily, a bunch of enterprising U.S. food manufacturers and processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious and convenient veggie burgers and soy dogs. These plant-based foods don’t harbor nasty pathogens or cancer-causing compounds. They don’t even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs or pesticides. And, they are waiting for us in the frozen food section of our supermarket.

This 4th of July offers a great opportunity to declare our independence from the meat industry and to share wholesome veggie burgers and soy dogs with our family and friends.

– Diego Horvath, Durango

To the editor,

The official U.S. narrative on Iran is that it is an escalating threat to “peace and security” in the Middle East and must be stopped. Step by step, with Mike Pompeo and John Bolton – two war maniacs – taking the lead, the Trump administration has sought to destabilize Iran with sanctions, if possible to bring about regime change, and if necessary provoke actions by Iran that will provide a pretext for war. If this sounds similar to the nonexistent Gulf of Tonkin “incident” in 1964 and the false pretenses behind the post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, it should. Only this time around is even more dangerous and more preposterous.

Journalists and Congress members have been pestering Trump and his aides with questions about their determination to go to war with Iran. Trump, typically, tells reporters to wait and see, stymieing them. They should be asking different questions, such as: What threat does Iran pose to U.S. interests? Why shouldn’t Iran’s actions be considered responses to the U.S. policy of “maximum pressure?” The answers to these two questions are clear: Iran is doing nothing that constitutes a new threat to the U.S. or any other country’s interests, and Iran’s latest actions – even if Tehran is responsible for the attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf and the downing of a U.S. drone – are best understood as responses to U.S. provocations.

What I believe we are now witnessing is the result of the ascendance of the hardliners on both sides. U.S. policy since the appointments of Pompeo and Bolton and withdrawal from the nuclear deal has energized their counterparts in Iran – the Revolutionary Guard, certain military leaders and others long opposed to the nuclear deal are now able to show that the Americans are completely untrustworthy.

The fact is that the Trump administration has been on a mission from day one, with open support from Israel and Saudi Arabia, to eliminate – not merely deter or contain – the ayatollah’s government. That mission has engaged U.S. administrations since the early 1950s, but unlike those previous efforts, Trump seems prepared to commit forces to accomplish regime change. Yes, he has said he wants to avoid war, especially with a re-election campaign under way. That is why his preference is not to deploy yet another war-fighting force to the Middle East, which would undermine his longstanding criticism of “endless wars” there. But preference is not policy, and the policy, being relentlessly pushed by Bolton and Pompeo, is to push Iran’s regime to the brink and get rid of it.

If Trump takes the U.S. to war with Iran, which could happen without consultation or authorization from Congress (another impeachable offense), the responsibility will be squarely on his head. Thanks to the Obama administration, Iran has been in compliance with the nuclear deal, an achievement that is very much in the security interests of the U.S. and its Middle East allies. Obama showed that moving from confrontation to engagement pays off, and that mutual respect can move mountains even when trust is absent. Now, however, the enemies of “peace and security” are in Washington, Tel Aviv and Riyadh. And among the most outrageous aspects of Trump’s Middle East policy is rewarding those enemies – Israel, with a full tilt to Benjamin Netanyahu’s assault on the Palestinians, complete with a dead-on-arrival “peace plan;” and Saudi Arabia, with billions of dollars in military aid so the murderous crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, can continue his aggression in Yemen.

I will say again: Donald Trump and his minions are the chief threats to America’s – and for that matter, the world’s – real security.

– Mel Gurtov, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Portland State University, for PeaceVoices

To the editor,

Consider Medicare for All like Medicare on steroids. There are differences, but legislation currently before Congress represents our best chance to cure our sick health-care system.

Polls show 70 percent of people like Medicare, which parlays payroll taxes to fund most of the coverage for people 65 and older and those with disabilities. People often purchase additional private plans to fill in coverage holes. Private plans include premium payments and out-of-pocket costs.

Even though Medicare covers the least healthy people who need the most care, it’s far more efficient than private health insurance plans. Medicare’s overhead costs are about 2 percent compared to private insurance in the Affordable Care Act with overhead costs around 20 percent.

Expanding Medicare to cover everyone means it would be modeled after the existing Medicare “system” but with improved coverage. The publicly funded plan would simplify health care for both the patients and providers. A simplified system would also serve to reduce costs.

Medicare for All would protect everyone from birth – not only those over 65. As the bills are written now, Medicare for All will include more comprehensive coverage, including dental, vision, hearing, long-term care and medications, without premiums, nor deductibles.

All providers are likely to participate because the new system will cover everyone. Improving access to doctors and hospitals. No more networks and denial of service. Our health care will be back in our doctor’s hands, not the insurers.

– Jan Phillips, Durango