Letters to the Editor

Dear editor, The River Valley Community, once again, stepped up and to help again. Seventy-one units of blood were collected on June 3rd and five were from brand new donors.  These donations have the potential of saving the lives of 213 people!   We would like to thank Christ Lutheran Church for generously providing us with the use of their facility.  All of our donors received a coupon for a free pint of frozen custard donated by Culver’s of Spring Green and a $5 e-gift card from the Red Cross. Our next drive will be on Friday, August 5, and we will again be serving our delicious sandwiches and baked goods! If you have any questions concerning the donation of blood, we encourage you to contact the American Red Cross at 1-800-Red Cross (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org. Sincerely, Barb Louis, (608) 588-7253, and Barb Baxter (608)  588-7038 Spring Green Community Blood Drive Coordinators   Dear editor, After the recent mass shooting events around the country we are again talking about access to guns and in particular military grade assault weapons and of course gun safety. Well at least some of us are. We certainly have heard quite a bit from our leaders. Republican Governor Greg Abbot of Texas offered his words of wisdom - “thoughts and prayers” etc. Most recently he opined that “it could have been worse.” Mr. Abbot uses the classic Republican politician’s playbook - never accept responsibility, offer no real solutions, and above all DO NOTHING.  Republican Senator Ted Cruz offered a simple set of solutions - lock the doors and arm the teachers. I wonder who is going to pay for all the guns, ammunition, and training to arm every schoolteacher in the nation? I can tell you that Senator Cruz has no bloody idea. In the Buffalo, New York, shooting the grocery store had an armed security guard on duty - an ex police officer. He did get a shot off but the shooter was wearing plate armor so the end result was one dead security guard and the shooter was able to continue killing. So thanks Senator Ted, once again the Republican politician’s playbook comes into play - accept no responsibility, offer platitudes and poorly thought out ideas and most importantly DO NOTHING.  A few days after the Uvalde slaughter a Republican ex-president spoke to the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in Houston and of course “guns are not to blame,” it was an act of evil and we need better healthcare in this country. Well of course we should be thinking about doing a better job in addressing mental health issues but just how does Mr. ex-president suggest we do that? Does he have a plan? How much money does he plan to provide to the states? Maybe pass a law against being or becoming mentally ill? Meanwhile, regardless of your mental state you can still get a military grade weapon, ammunition, and body armor for a few bucks and a few hours of time. Once again the Republican politician’s playbook comes into effect. Accept no responsibility, offer platitudes and poorly thought out ideas and above all DO NOTHING.  Closer to home Republican Senator Ron Johnson essentially blamed families, communities and then went down the drain criticizing schools for teaching “Wokeness.” Senator Johnson added to the playbook incorporating downright crazy to the lack of responsibility, empty words, poorly thought out ideas (actually the Senator had no ideas to offer), and of course he will DO NOTHING.  So what can we do? It seems to me if we actually take this issue seriously we can do one important thing to begin making a change. We have to stop voting for Republican politicians. Not permanently but for at least three or four election cycles. Republican politicians believe they are invulnerable. They don’t even have to do anything of substance to stay in their jobs. We vote for them no matter what. Just like rooting for the Packers no matter how badly they may play. But politics isn’t entertainment; at least it shouldn’t be. Politics turns out to be serious business and we all should take it seriously. It shouldn’t be about rooting for your side no matter what. In this case lives are at stake. This is important and we can be part of the solution or we can refuse to take responsibility, offer platitudes and poorly thought out ideas and do nothing. The choice is ours.  William Fannucchi Arena