Editor,
I begin by reminding folks Ken Pickard, with his polemic truck, is the very same polemicist who has lobbied on public record to Commissioner Helen Price Johnson and Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard — who have attempted peacekeeping in a troubled region — to “take the death machine on this issue, quit licking their jackboots!
Buck up! You know it is wrong for the military to abuse us with this toxic noise that is ruining our lives and property values, so act in accordance with what you know to be true instead of like worried, timid leaders, afraid of the military, afraid of losing the federal pork it delivers here on pay days.”
Some dialogue Ken seeks.
Sadly, his group’s preferred candidate wants “dialogue” too, inflaming a perception that Rick Hannold or his opponent will “Jack the Navy off of Whidbey.”
I will not remain silent while my ability to watch — and hear — EA-18Gs defend my freedoms to write, peacefully assemble, pray, speak and petition my government is attacked by “beyond sanity” levels of ignorance, if not intolerance.
Perhaps Mr. Pickard should put on his truck, “Thank you, America’s VAQ Wing, for defending my First Amendment freedoms, but I do not want to hear or see you defend the First Amendment over Central Whidbey.”
At least Mayor Conard understands that “all citizens have First Amendment rights of free speech.”
But let us remember that without aircraft carriers, there is no operating forward to put the fist of freedom into the face of evil.
Outlying Field (OLF) Coupeville is where the best practice happens — and it’s a treat to watch with earplugs in from 525 or fewer feet away.
If the noise were really “toxic” like Mr. Pickard and Bob Wilbur claim, then I inquire, why not file health claims against the Navy and seek eminent domain instead of, according to U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Mark Rich, wait more than 10 years for an “exceptionally challenging” OLF Coupeville replacement?
Eminent domain defined as “the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation”?
Finally, I’m going to give some counsel:
It would behoove the Coupeville Chamber of Commerce to pass a pro-Navy resolution like their Oak Harbor neighbor, and when the Whidbey EIS staff comes back to Coupeville, stress the need for civility with welcoming arms for the U.S. Navy and VAQ Wing supporters.
Otherwise, the discomfort many have with the silence of the supposed friend of the Navy that is Coupeville toward COER’s bullying of America’s VAQ Wing will only grow.
Joe Kunzler
Sedro-Woolley
