📢 Cascadia Voices 05/23/26

The nation, of course, marks a milestone birthday on July 4 with the 250th anniversary of the Continental Congress’ formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, in a July 3, 1776, letter to his wife, Abigail, thought the day should be commemorated every year: “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

Disregarding spelling and capitalization quirks — and an earlier passage that regretted a delay in the declaration’s signing that somehow prevented the Colonies’ "mastering" of Quebec and “the Possession of Canada” — Americans have largely taken Adams’ advice for the last 249 years.

Yet along with festivities, that date and the centuries before and after also are owed some reflection regarding the American experiment, its failures and its triumphs. And Cascadia Daily News knows just the folks to ask for those observations.

CDN is planning a special section for July 3, 2026 in recognition of the nation’s 250th anniversary that will focus on the role of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and the work of the free press in our democracy. As part of the section, we’d like to include the thoughts of our readers in the form of letters to the editor that express how they plan to mark the semiquincentennial as well as their thoughts on where the nation stands in its quest toward Abraham Lincoln’s “more perfect union.” The usual rules apply: Be civil, have a point, make it clearly and, fittingly, in 250 words or fewer. Email: [email protected].

Ned Vasquez, chair of the Sierra Club Mt. Baker Group, and a Bellingham resident, is advising against a proposal by congressional Republicans to charge the drivers of electric vehicles a $130 federal fee ($35 for drivers of plug-in hybrids), on top of state fees for EVs. Such a tax, he says, will hit families looking to move past high gas prices. “Working-class and middle-class households are turning to clean vehicles to lower costs for their families,” he writes. “We should not penalize their choice to drive a car that frees them from the gas price roller coaster.”

Dr. Alan Lifson, a retired physician in the public health field and previous CDN contributor, writes about a “contagion posing a serious threat to the well-being of Whatcom County” and the rest of the state: namely, the activity by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who have made this county a leading target for arrests. More than a recitation of threats and harms, Lifson makes four recommendations for local officials and residents. “All of us must let our elected representatives at city, county, state and national levels know that although we support usual law enforcement, the lawless, reckless conduct of masked ICE agents have no place in our community,” Lifson writes.

Fast forward to today and we have mentally ill people overburdening our jail and not getting the care they need.

Lummi Nation just took a huge stride by opening its Secure Withdrawal Management and Stabilization Center (CDN, May 17, 2026) where those struggling with addiction will be both voluntarily and involuntarily committed. For those gasping at the inclusion of “involuntarily” a reminder: it is neither humane nor progressive to let people who are suffering from illnesses like schizophrenia slowly kill themselves smoking fentanyl in an alley while people cluck about "what a shame it is" as they walk by shopping.
On the criminal justice side the jail bed count is also crucial as programs like Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion only work if there is a jail bed to place somebody who doesn't comply with the requirements.

Providing services to kids so they don't fall through the cracks and become broken adults is the way to reduce the future need for jails beds. That said, the council showed real leadership as right now we need to incarcerate or put into treatment those who are acting as a danger to themselves and others.

Andrew Shelton
Bellingham

Read more letters to the editor here.

Submit a letter to the editor (250 words max) or guest commentary (500–800 words) online at cascadiadaily.com/submissions.

Although new speed limit signs will be phased in gradually, Bellingham is expected to lower its default speed limit to 20 mph, down from 25. The city council took action this week to address concerns regarding traffic safety, in particular for pedestrians and cyclists. Specific stretches of streets will be assigned speed limits at 25, 30, 35 and 40 mph.

“The New Yorker Radio Hour”: show and podcast offered two special episodes this week, hosted by historian and staff writer Jill Lepore, discussing the responsibility of historians to inform the debate and the recognition of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Lapore touched on some Americans’ ambivalence toward the bicentennial 50 years ago in the wake of Watergate and the Vietnam War. In the first episode, she talks with Jelani Cobb, dean of Columbia Journalism School, regarding the current competing narratives of U.S. history. In the second, Lepore collaborates with the audio-story-telling group Transom, conducting person-on-the-street interviews with Americans regarding their own reflections on the nation and its 250 years.

More from Lepore: In the most recent edition of The New Yorker, Lepore, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for History for “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution,” asks, “Was the Declaration of Independence Better Before the Edits?” The essay looks at Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the document, the changes made by John Adams and Ben Franklin, and then by the rest of the Continental Congress. Among the heavier edits: Delegates excised a Jefferson-penned paragraph that blamed King George III for the institution of human bondage. Writes Lepore: “Jefferson maintained that the deletion was made at the behest of delegates from South Carolina and Georgia; historians have suggested that it was necessary because the passage was so patently hypocritical as to be embarrassing.” But Lepore also notes another editor — four-score and seven years later — who proved to be “the Declaration’s most pitiless and most brilliant editor.”

“The Late Show with Steven Colbert”: aired its final CBS show this week and is gone except for its echo on YouTube. But even before the last week of episodes, it went out with a smash the week prior as the show’s original host, David Letterman, returned with a call-back to his long-running routine of throwing items off the roof of The Ed Sullivan Theatre. This time, along with watermelons and a cake, Colbert’s interview chairs were tossed to the pavement below, striking a CBS “eye” target. Letterman aimed a final poke in the eye of the Tiffany Network, which jettisoned Colbert and the show Letterman launched 33 years ago: “To the folks at CBS, in the words of the great Ed Murrow, ‘Good night and good luck,’ mother****ers.”