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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2017)
2 Wednesday, April 19, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O Editorial… A total community effort The many volunteers who came together to build Sisters High School’s new, state-of-the art greenhouse should be proud of themselves. They certainly earned the opportunity to bask in its warmth on a blustery early spring day, while enjoying some treats crafted by the SHS Culinary Arts program. Uncounted volunteer hours went into the resurrection of the greenhouse program after the original greenhouse — then located at Sisters Middle School — collapsed under the weight of a heavy snowfall. That won’t hap- pen to this one; it’s solidly built enough to withstand a hurricane. Local businesses and contractors donated time, materials and expertise to make the proj- ect happen. This is the kind of thing that Sisters does best. The gathering to cut the ribbon on the facility last week featured people of all ages, a variety of walks of life, and doubtless a wide range of social and political views on the world. There were retirees and young students, teachers and excavators and a stray photogra- pher or two. Whatever their differences in background, life experience, and outlook, they gathered on common ground: a belief that hands-on educa- tion matters; that a connection between farm and table matters; that overcoming obstacles to realize a vision matters. It’s easy to focus too much on the things that we don’t like, the things that go wrong, and the things that divide us. Last Friday, a fine cross-section of the Sisters community gathered to celebrate the things that bring us together, in what lead volunteer David Hiller described as “a total community effort.” Hats off to ’em. Jim Cornelius, Editor Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thtrsday Friday Sattrday Stnday Monday Chance Showers Chance Showers Mostly Sunny Partly Sunny Mostly Sunny Chance Showers 56/35 50/31 63/35 63/36 60/36 60/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. N Questioning the constitutionality of Syria bombing By Dick Sandvik Guest Columnist I was troubled by The Nugget’s editorial regard- ing President Trump’s executive decision to bomb Syria. Obviously, any humane person is funda- mentally opposed to the use of chemical (or biological) weapons, whether against troops or civilians. (Such a person should, IMHO, feel the same way about the use of barrel bombs, starvation or exile as means of war.) However, I am con- cerned about the constitu- tionality of Trump’s action — as well as executive actions of like nature by former presidents, includ- ing Obama. I’m not a con- stitutional law expert, so I did a bit of research into Article I, Section 8. I found this interesting article by Yale law professor Stephen Carter: http://www.startribune. com/declaration-of-war- is-the-relic-from-a-distant- past/418696513/ The professor didn’t say either way whether it is constitutional for presidents to launch a war without a Congressional declara- tion. Carter did say that the clause has fallen into disuse ever since the early days of the Republic. However, calling the War Powers Clause “a relic of the past” does not contribute to resolving the issue. Perhaps in the fore- seeable future the Supreme Court will be required to provide a definitive ruling. I don’t believe that a Constitutional “originalist” or “strict constructionist” should be pleased with the idea that Article I, Section 8 is a “relic of the past.” That term could be applied to many clauses in the Constitution! One can rea- sonably conclude from the plain language of Article 1, Section 8 that a president cannot take military action against a foreign coun- try without a Declaration of War from Congress. And note that Trump, well before he became a can- didate for the presidency, said that President Obama should not undertake an act of war against Syria with- out Congressional approval. Of course, over the past many decades, Congress has been quite cowardly vis a vis the War Powers clause. They certainly did not give serious consider- ation to Obama’s request for a declaration or at least a new “Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)” with regard to Syria. That’s why I cannot agree with your conclu- sion that Trump “did the right thing” in bombing the Syrian air base. Absent Congressional consent, Trump or any future presi- dent could decide that any reason provided justifica- tion for him or her to “do the right thing.” What if Trump decides to make a preemptive strike against North Korea? Or to take further aggressive military action against the Syrian regime? Either decision is fraught with potential mas- sive negative consequences for our country. Decisions of such magnitude should be made only with the consent of the peoples’ representatives. And that takes me to my second quarrel with your editorial. You say that it is “pointless to address the rank hypocrisy...” of the Republicans on the issue of bombing Syria. I believe it is never pointless to address hypocrisy on the part of our elected officials. There is entirely too much hypoc- risy in our government, at all levels, and that degrades the credibility of those officials. As I stated at the outset, the use of chemical weap- ons — or biologics, bar- rel bombs, starvation, and exile — as tools of war is inhumane and should be sanctioned strongly and swiftly. But if our country is to do the sanctioning, it should be through a consen- sus between the Executive Branch and Congress. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.