"Gary Locke is a decent guy and brilliant on policy issues, but his leadership is questionable."

Food metaphor madness

All the whining and complaining from people who wish they had a different kind of governor than the one they've got is nuts in my book ["Governor Soccer Dad," 5/18]. While it may not be politically correct to say so, when I go to a Chinese restaurant I don't expect to order lasagna. I order from what's on the menu. Yes, I wish Gary Locke were a lot more like me. I was just crazy about former governors Mike Lowry and Mario Cuomo. One of those governors got 'lost' and one got beat. Times have changed, and so have I. Perhaps the time is ripe for a celebrity ego-freak government basher like John Carlson, but I'm betting the sensible people will hire a seasoned, responsible CEO to keep running our state. Those are the choices on the political menu this year. Bon appetit!

NORA PORTER
PORT TOWNSEND

Election hooky

Thank you for publishing your article on Gary Locke ["10 things Gary Locke could do if he had a spine," 5/18]. Some points in the article are right on target. He wants to be known as the education governor, but would not support a living wage for one of the most important jobs in our society, the teacher. He certainly had no problem giving himself a raise. He refuses to take a strong stand on the environment and that really worries me. Should he be reelected, he may very well see the extinction of the salmon under his administration. The author was absolutely on target when he accused him of pandering to the farmers and the Association of Washington Businesses. His main interest is to stay popular, not do the right thing. Removal of the dams will not significantly raise our power rates. The four dams in question only provide about five percent of this region's power. If only Locke had the courage of the governor of Oregon. I am a staunch Democrat. However, I will never give my vote again to this man. I will skip the election before I do that.

LORRAINE BROOKS
VIA E-MAIL

Elian-Geov exchange

Geov Parrish's column "10 things Gary Locke could do if he had a spine" [5/18] was liberal socialism at its best. To address each of Parrish's suggestions individually would be cumbersome, but suffice to say that socializing health care and expanding welfare via the WorkFirst program while penalizing businesses that produce tax revenues and jobs would do Marx and Engels proud, not to mention Fidel Castro or Kim Jong-Il.

As well, giving teachers more money won't solve education problems. Teachers make more money than ever while working with smaller class sizes than ever, and yet student scores continue to decline. What's wrong with this picture? Until school districts and the teacher's union are actually accountable for their performance, nothing will change and scores will continue to fall no matter how much money you throw at teachers. Public education has become a bigger monopoly than Bill Gates could ever dream of building, although Microsoft is better at what they're SUPPOSED to be doing than teachers have been.

Restore I-695 cuts to transportation? From where? Raising taxes is political suicide, and no state program exists whose advocates won't cry bloody murder if they're threatened with the shifting of a single penny from their budget. Good luck!

I think Gary Locke is a decent guy and brilliant on policy issues, but his leadership is questionable. Problems exist that need fixing, but socialistic responses that drive businesses and jobs out of state is no answer (unless the "answer" is to make us all wards of the state).

Hey, here's one answer: Let's keep Elian Gonzales here and send Geov Parrish to Cuba. They'd both be happier.

BRUCE BASKIN
GALVIN

Cruel cover

I was deeply offended by your imagery for the governor of Washington on this week's cover [5/18]. I did agree with some of your 10 points of action he might undertake. However, as a woman who has spent decades of her life with a distorting congenital spinal disease, I think the real impact of your "cartoon" was to demean those of us who have spinal diseases. I am a citizen who does have and does act upon my political beliefs. But my bone structure does not "make a statement." You demeaned me. What you printed was not just in poor taste: It was cruel. Your using that depiction says more about your publication than it does about Governor Locke's action or inaction.

MYRA LUPTON
MERCER ISLAND

Moth governor

I LOVED your cover on the May 18th issue. What an appropriate representation of our very own governor. As a resident of Ballard, when I was awakened at five in the morning by the sound of helicopters flying about two feet above my house, spraying for that one gypsy moth AGAINST the protests of the residents of the affected neighborhoods, I decided I would NOT be voting for Locke EVER AGAIN. Thank you for fearlessly portraying his true nature.

B. BIERNAT
BALLARD

Pissing on Ballard

Mr. Downey's article concerning the moth spraying campaign waged by the state of Washington in the air over Ballard, Magnolia, and Interbay ["Moth-eaten state," 5/18], raises the larger issues of corporate science—which, as Ralph Nader recently said at a UW lecture, "Isn't science at all"—calling the shots.