YOUR VIEWS

What joy

The Republicans in Washington are planning on gutting Medicaid dramatically and changing the way it’s administered: They want it to go to states in the form of block grants. What joy, the fiscally incompetent Republicans in Oklahoma City would have billions more taxpayer dollars to flush down the toilet, with the added bonus that our health care in Oklahoma (already among the worst states) would be in their shaky, sweaty hands as well.

Toby Harshbarger, Hallett

Commitment to wildlife

For 115 years, the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden has welcomed guests to discover and appreciate wildlife from Oklahoma and around the world. Zoo attendance and annual ZOOfriends memberships have reached all-time highs, while the breadth of our conservation programs and international acclaim for our expert animal care continue to grow.

In July alone, the zoo has celebrated a milestone birthday of a critically endangered Sumatran orangutan, the birth of three critically endangered Sumatran tigers, and an innovative partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to better protect horned lizards.Despite these successes, the list of endangered plants and animals grows due to poaching, habitat loss and man-made disruptions in natural ecosystems. With their disappearance, we lose a part of our culture and a sense of what it means to be human.

This month OETA-13 will premiere “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark,” a three-part documentary following National Geographic photographer and Oklahoma native Joel Sartore as he travels the world to photograph every endangered animal before they become extinct. This incredible series and its powerful message of hope is seamlessly aligned with that of the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Oklahomans who love wildlife should watch this series and be proud of Sartore for his unflagging efforts. Furthermore, all Oklahoma organizations that share our commitment to wildlife and conservation education should reach out to the zoo to explore partnerships to conserve the wildlife and wild places that make our state

great.

Dwight Lawson, Oklahoma City Lawson is executive director and CEO of the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Other factors

“Back in the game” (Scissor-Tales, July 15) suggested it was folly to believe President Obama’s policies didn’t cause Democrats to lose 1,042 state and federal positions since 2008. Obama suffered low ratings in his tenure, especially during the period in which the Affordable Care Act was legislated and implemented. However, he had a 65 percent approval rating as he left office and the ACA is now approved by 60 percent of Americans. Perhaps Republican successes relate to other factors. The Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United in January 2010 brought us the revolutionary concept that “corporations are people,” opening the floodgates for “dark money” to influence elections. In June 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula in the Voting Rights Act, which required jurisdictions with histories of discrimination to “pre-clear” new voting practices based on the presumption that it had “no logical relation to present day” because discrimination no longer exists in America! This ludicrous ruling invited numerous Republican-controlled states to implement a range of voter suppression tactics all targeting traditionally Democratic voters.

Gerrymandering in several Republican-controlled states has been waged effectively — and has often been found to be unconstitutional. Wisconsin’s redistricting, due for Supreme Court review in the fall, illustrates the effectiveness perfectly. In the 2016 elections, Wisconsin Democrats statewide received 51 percent of the votes, but won only 36 of the 99 statewide seats. What’s wrong with that picture?

Scott McLaughlin, Midwest City