Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

I attended the Hands Off protest in the Socorro Plaza last Saturday because, now, it is not enough to work a job, run a business, raise a family, pay the bills, save for retirement, practice a religious faith or support a charity. It is not enough to vote, serve on juries, obey the law, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and put your hand on your heart during the National Anthem.

As citizens, we must do more than that. Fundamental underpinnings of democracy are being ignored and dismissed. The rule of law is being actively disregarded by the current administration—in ways we can see and probably in more dire ways we cannot see. We must SPEAK UP—in our big outdoor patriot voices.

A family member told me yesterday that they voted for the current president (or rather, against the opponent), but “didn’t think it would be like this—what a s*&tshow!” Imagine how powerful it would be for their representatives and senators to hear “I voted for you and I do NOT like what is happening!” TELL THEM.

In my career as a communications professional and journalist, I ghostwrote many position papers, articles and memos, and kept my own opinions out of it. But now in retirement, the muzzle is off.

SPEAK UP. There is no script. Speak from your heart and your conscience. You are part of “We, the People.” And we need all y’all. TELL THEM.

Jay Ann Cox

Socorro

Dear Editor,

It seems like every few years during politically favorable times such as these a group of citizens in Catron County rise up with stories of how Mexican Gray wolves are destroying their long established ranching and farming way of life by encroaching on their lands, endangering their children, and wantonly killing their animals. A few years ago then Congressman Steve Pearce was encouraging building shelters for the children at school bus stops as protection from marauding wolves.

The truth is wolves have been here long before us and are the ones encroached upon. Our local Socorro newspaper, the El Defensor Chieftain, story was full of accounts of “murdering wolves” and the “blood everywhere” left in the path of these killers. Words like “cruel” and “horrible” and “being held prisoner” just inflame the situation. Statements of buying guns to protect the children and elderly are much more dangerous than any threat the wolves may bring. County supervisor McQueen says, “They can’t be allowed to just run”. They are wolves, that’s what they do!

The only real truth brought out is the fact that there has never been a reported case of a Mexican Gray wolf attacking a human. They do kill and eat cattle and sheep raised and intended for us to kill and eat, but there are more sensible and humane ways of dealing with the problem than are being proposed. For one, a respected organization called Project Coyote has proven programs and suggestions for coexisting with wildlife, Google it.

Erv Nichols

Socorro