Dear Mayor Markley and Gig Harbor City Council Members:

Below are my comments concerning the proposed Flag Policy in the City of Gig Harbor. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word “flag” used as a noun as: “a piece of cloth, usually rectangular and attached to a pole at one edge, that has a pattern that shows it represents a country or a group, or has a particular meaning.”

Historically, the flags typically and most commonly flown by American cities, towns, and municipalities have been the U.S. flag and/or its various predecessors, and the respective state or territorial flag belonging to each region. The purpose of such flags is to help instill a national and to a lesser extent state identity and allegiance, a sense of patriotism and love of country, a system of laws and courts and government and commerce, clear boundaries, and an implied promise of federal aid and assistance of various types and kinds in times of natural and economic disasters and wars.

According to the results of a national 2022 Gallup poll research survey, 7.1% of U.S. adults consider themselves to have an LGBT identity. That is approximately the same percentage of the population that are military veterans nationally. However, in Washington State, the percentage of residents who are military veterans is 13.2%, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics (2020 data).

This progressive council, in its desire to align politically with neighboring cities in the region with liberal policies such as Bremerton and Seattle, proposes to fly the flag of a minority group that does not represent the values or lifestyles of a majority of this area’s population and voters at multiple locations in Gig Harbor. Strangely, and of concern, this Council apparently has not undertaken any comparable study to consider whether to hoist or raise the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) flag in the City of Gig Harbor, despite the simple math that nearly twice as many residents in Washington State are military veterans as those self-identifying as being LGBT.

If the Mayor and City Council adopt this proposed Flag Policy as currently written, this would not only send a clear message to our many military members and their families, as well as veterans, in the area who serve in a Drag Queen Story Hour and other such activities are considered as more valuable and important to society and the local community than service to one or more of the several branches of the U.S. armed forces in defense of our nation, at times offered while in harm’s way at the risk of life and limb.

In addition, if the Mayor and City Council adopt and approve the proposed Flag Policy in its current form, it would open a veritable Pandora’s Box, in my opinion, for the City of Gig Harbor. If one minority group of only 7% of the population that does not represent the vast majority of Americans or those living in the 26th Legislative District, is approved to have their flag displayed by the City of Gig Harbor on City-owned property, who or what is to stop other local groups from expecting, requesting and demanding the same equal treatment from the City?

For example, roughly 17% of Washington residents are Catholic, compared to 22-23% of the population nationally. Should Catholics be allowed to raise their flag in Gig Harbor? What about the Lions Club, Elks Club, Rotary Club, Gig Harbor Yacht Club, Gig Harbor Sportsman’s Club, Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce, and a dozen or a hundred other groups we could list, including the local school districts? Where does this kind of myopic policy end, except in litigation and courtroom battles? Those who vote to adopt and approve this proposed Flag Policy in its current form will be setting a dangerous precedent, violating historical norms, making an expensive mistake, and opening a Pandora’s Box of trouble for the City of Gig Harbor, in my opinion.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Bruce Cook

20422 30th St. SW

Lakebay, WA 98349

Gig Harbor Now | Posted Nov. 7, 2022

Sen. Emily Randall, the youngest elected senator in Olympia, has had a disastrous first term in office. The only question is which failures to start with: Massively raising our taxes (including gasoline, and voting 68 times for tax increases), decriminalizing controlled substances (hard drugs) (SB 5476), socializing health insurance (SB 5822), voting for antigun legislation to ban high capacity magazines and promote “red flag” laws (SB 5078), introducing Critical Race Theory under the guise of diversity training (SB 5227) and graphic sex education into elementary school curriculum (SB 5395), and failing to support our police with more funding.

In addition, she cast the deciding vote to pass the capital gains tax bill into law in 2021 before stepping off the Senate floor during a vote on the bill to restore police pursuit (SB 5919) during the final days of the 2022 session. As a result, the bill failed and law enforcement officers remain unable to do their jobs effectively and provide public safety in Washington.

Just say “no” to Emily Randall. We can’t afford four more years of her Seattle-style policies, and I endorse and recommend four-term legislator Rep. Jesse Young for state Senate in the 26th District.

Key Penninsula News | Posted Wednesday, July 27, 2022

The United States is a constitutional republic. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It is brilliantly written to constrain the power of the federal government from infringing on the inalienable and natural rights of the individual. The Constitution and more specifically the Bill of Rights were not written to grant these rights, but to prohibit the government from curtailing them.

From the provision of a democratically elected House of Representatives based on population and the Senate based on equal representation; to the electoral college that helps protect smaller states and rural areas from large population areas and cities during presidential elections; to the careful distribution of powers and authorities across the three branches of government; and even by the strict process required to amend it, the Constitution was clearly written for a republic.

The founders were extremely skeptical of the excesses that democracy brings. They had read and understood the pitfalls and chaos of pure democracy going all the way back to Athens, Greece. There are numerous examples throughout their writings and records of the Constitutional convention that confirm their skepticism and in fact, the way the Constitution is written supports the contention that they did not want us to ever become a democracy. They knew that throughout history, democracies, whether direct or representative, could not protect individuals and any group that comprises a minority against the unlimited power and whims of the majority. This is often referred to as the tyranny of the majority.

We are constantly told that this thing or that action is a “threat to our democracy.” The real threat is to our rights caused by ignorance of the Constitution.

Unfortunately, the prevailing thought is that the Supreme Court is the only arbiter of the Constitution. That couldn’t be further from the founders’ intent. If every politician in every branch of government understood the limits the Constitution places on their actions and voted or acted accordingly, our constitutional republic would be secure, as would our rights as citizens of the greatest experiment in self-government the world has ever known.