The usual astute Peter Callaghan seems to have lost his way (column, 2-12).

He states the Republican caucuses are undemocratic. The Pierce County Republican caucus is structured by like-minded volunteers of modest financial means. There are no paid Pierce County Republican staff, and the organization is continually financially challenged. Also, there are no special interest groups influencing the volunteers. It is truly a grass-roots organization.

To be fair, Callaghan should enlighten the public on the undemocratic influences.

The president of the United States campaigns with government resources as does his staff, along with the public bureaucrats. Billionaires like George …

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Now that same-sex marriage has been signed into law in our state, the churches and religious people are going to circulate petitions to challenge the new law in the fall (TNT, 2-13).

I have always wondered how legal same-sex marriage hurts heterosexual people. My husband and I have been married for 34 years and raised three children together; not once has anyone else’s marriage issues hurt the strength of our marriage.

The Christians who are against legal same-sex marriage argue that homosexuality goes against Bible teachings and so they don’t want it legalized. Yet at the same time they …

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Re: “Obama backs off birth control rules” (TNT, 2-11).

Fifty years ago the Republican Party was telling us we couldn’t have a Catholic president because he would do whatever the pope told him to do. Today the Republicans are saying the current president has to do whatever the pope tells him to do!

Read between the lines of what the Republicans are saying: Women (including those not of the Catholic faith) must be denied birth control coverage if they work for Catholic institutions because celibate church officials oppose it.

Women denied birth control will have more unwanted pregnancies, thus …

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State Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, states that he voted against same-sex marriage, because he’s a representative (TNT, 2-10). Does that mean he is not a leader but just a mouthpiece?

His campaign website says he is “one of the most influential voices in the Legislature.” When the chips were down here, just who did he try to influence?

Look, I like Steve; he’s a good Democrat and there for working people when it’s important. But he needs to lead or get out of the way.

Re: “Pot users twice as likely to cause crash” (TNT, 2-10)

A Canadian university’s analysis of nine studies of more than 49,000 people who were involved in accidents on public roads found that drivers who had used marijuana within three hours had nearly double the risk of causing a collision as drivers not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Knowing this, how can the intelligent people of Washington state sit back and allow the legalization of marijuana?

Now that ballot signatures have been submitted, Washington could become the first state in the union to legalize marijuana. Rick Steves, …

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As the facts unfold about the unconscionable actions of one member of the Lakewood Police Guild, the trustees of the Lakewood Fallen Officers’ Trust Fund want there to be clarity in understanding the handling of the funds so lovingly donated.

The outreach from the public was so swift and generous that the funds were deposited into the Lakewood Police Guild’s charitable account. Immediately work began to establish the trust. That required trustees to be chosen; lawyers writing the documents, accountants and financial advisers being interviewed and selected; and the funds transferred to the established trust.

All the monies that were …

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Signs urging voters to vote no on the Peninsula School District tax levy were removed in Gig Harbor.  The “Vote Yes” signs are still in place. Do the tax proponents not believe in freedom of speech?

This tax imposes more than $700 yearly on the owner of a $300,000 house. Most of us don’t have the extra money sitting around to pay for this. Please vote no.

Re: “Call-takers criticized for 911 calls in Powell tragedy” (TNT, 2-9).

The News Tribune does a grave disservice to all employees of the Law Enforcement Support Agency (LESA) in suggesting that a communications officer inappropriately handled the call that preceded Josh Powell’s tragic murder of his two sons.

To criticize the officer’s tone as rude, impatient and abrupt shows a complete lack of understanding of the job. Communications officers at LESA are trained professionals who answer hundreds of calls daily and must extract critical details that can be crucial in protecting community members and law enforcement responders.

Over the …

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