Letters

I was shocked by Mark Worth's July 23 article about Mark Cook, "The Last Brigadier," whom you refer to on the cover and in the table of contents as "Washington state's last political prisoner." I was expecting a story about someone who was imprisoned due to their political beliefs or race. Instead, I read a story about a violent repeat offender who robbed a bank and shot a policeman in cold blood, and was then prosecuted for those crimes. Bank robbing and shooting policemen are not legitimate forms of political expression, and calling Mark Cook a "political prisoner" insults the situation of countless people worldwide who are really imprisoned simply because of their beliefs.

The writer bemoans the fact that Mark Cook is the last member of this gang to be in jail, but leaves out many facts. Did the other gang members also shoot any cops? Has Mark Cook admitted that his actions were wrong and apologized to the man he shot?

I realize you folks are just trying to be iconoclastic and trendy, but this article's dismissal of the act of shooting a policemen as mere political expression is sickening. If Mark Worth had been shot in the abdomen, endured 20 operations, and had to quit his job, I'll bet he wouldn't consider his attacker a political prisoner.
Christopher A. Flaat
Bellevue

Mark Worth responds: While I respect and welcome Mr. Flaat's input, I fail to see how I "bemoaned" Mark Cook's continued imprisonment for the crimes he committed two decades ago. The article was difficult to research and write, and I went out of my way to make it a fair one. I attempted to contact the original prosecutors in the case (including Christopher Bayley, now a US Senate candidate), as well as the officer Cook shot. And I explained in great detail Cook's extensive criminal history (alongside the extensive efforts he's made to redeem himself).

The question I sought to raise in the article was not whether Mark Cook should have been sent to prison in the first place, but whether he should still be there. That decision lies not with me or Mr. Flaat—or even with Cook's victim—but with the parole board.

I was particularly moved by Cooper and Casey's story, "My Brother and Me" (7/23).

During my high school years, we moved to a military facility in the Salt Lake Desert called Dugway. Dugway was predominately white and during my first few days of school there, I met Wally Capel, a black student whose father was also an officer, as was mine. We became fast friends.

As our friendship continued to grow, I also became increasingly close to Wally's family. I would do almost everything with them.

On a trip to Salt Lake City, the whole family went out to dinner at a ski resort with a beautiful view. At a table next to us were four young men around the ages of 1618 who were watching us. I turned around for a moment and made eye contact with one of them who in a very loud voice exclaimed, "Nigger lover!"

I was speechless. Wally's mother, on the other hand, was not. She rose up, went over to the men and asked, "What did you say?!" They all appeared stunned. She then went over to the maitre d' and told him what had transpired, and they were ejected from the establishment.

I guess, like Cooper and his parents, I saw good people and not color. After all, they had "adopted" me too. What I am thankful for is that my parents never did, by action or gesture, disparage any other race, and I'm reminded of the song from South Pacific: You've got to be taught to hate and fear/You've got to be taught from year to year/It's got to be drummed in your dear
little ear/You've got to be carefully taught.

Thank you.
Larry M. Phillips
via e-mail

Thanks for the great article that finally brings light to the traffic concurrency scam being perpetuated by our County Council and Executive over the past years ("The County's Fig Leaf," 8/6).

Having watched local grassroots groups such as the Coalition for Public Trust trying to bring issue with this traffic concern over the past year, and then seeing the likes of King County Executive Ron Sims and County Council member Chris Vance admonish them for being "activists" and "NIMBYs," it is indeed encouraging to finally have a member of the Fourth Estate stand up and take notice. Others in the local media have simply treated it as business as usual; corrupt politics is no longer news because it is the standard. Well, if the county insists on baking (dicing, pur饩ng, and saut驮g) the books when it comes to traffic concurrency issues (and ultimately our quality of life), then I hope that there are enough of us willing to stand up and insist that this standard is no longer acceptable.

Often in the process of watching the county give approvals and building permits to the urban developments for the rural sections of East King County, these politicos have become quite versed in George Orwell's Animal Farm double-talk and changing the rules of the farm while we're fast asleep. I hope that others in the community are as outraged as I am and will take the time to either phone or write County Executive Sims and County Council members (in particular, pro-development Vance).
Dan McFadden
Redmond