4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ FEBRUARY 15, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer-
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
LETTERS
F RUITFUL START
I want to thank you Siuslaw News and the
City Lights Cinemas for the wonderful experi-
ence of “Ace In The Hole” and the “Fake
News” discussion this past Sunday afternoon
(Feb. 12).
‘I was sorry I could not stay for the discus-
sion afterward, and hope it was fruitful, but the
remarks before the show were excellent and
having a full house was rewarding — knowing
so many people care.
Thanks again,
Carol Strenkoski
Florence
A NGER IS THE
GREAT ORGANIZER
First, I will describe an experience that
formed my attitude regarding anger and organ-
izing.
In the 1980s, my daughter, who has an intel-
lectual disability, was thwarted in her desire to
become independent. In school the resistance
came when she asked to be included in classes
with her friends, rather than being placed in seg-
regated classrooms.
After graduation, resistance came from the
adult services when she asked to be supported
in a community job, rather than doing piece
work in a segregated sheltered workshop.
My outrage and anger grew.
Later, I heard a speaker call for consumers of
services to get on the boards of service agencies
that made decisions about their lives. We start-
ed with a direct action by many angry people
with disabilities who came together at a board
meeting to demand they have a seat on the
board.
The demands spread to other communities in
our state, into the courts, and finally the change
was accomplished in the state legislature. It
took two years to make it happen.
Today, I see a parallel to what I experienced
with my daughter in the 80s. We find ourselves
angry over the actions of our new President and
the lack of action by our Republican and some
Democratic members of Congress to check him.
This anger drove millions of people to march
here in Florence and throughout the country and
the world. It is anger that brought these people
together. Now we are at the stage of channeling
this anger into a meaningful resistance.
To me, the best advice is offered by
Indivisible, a group formed by ex-congression-
al staffers. Based on its experiences, it devel-
oped guiding principles and organizing tactics.
It has recommend forming local groups that will
engage directly with members of Congress at
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
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their offices, town meetings and political
events.
These tactics are being used by angry citizens
all across the country.
It may take a few years, but through our sus-
tained anger we will take back America.
Michael Allen
Florence
E RR ON THE SIDE OF
PROTECTION
Mr. Mayor and members of the Florence City
Council, immigration enforcement in the
United States is a critical issue regarding
national sovereignty, particularly regarding our
language, culture and borders.
The President has rightly said a country with-
out borders is no longer a country. Recently, a
signed executive order was made known to the
nation empowering local authorities to protect
the public by helping enforce legal versus ille-
gal immigration.
Understandably, our Mayor and other city
officials posited the idea that according to
Oregon State statute, the President’s order
would be countermanded by the state and there-
fore become null and void.
At this time in Oregon and American history,
would it not be wise in the protection of our
State and local citizenry to err on the side of
protection and defense rather than process and
procedure?
Instead of making a definitive statement by
quoting what many feel is an ineffective and
archaic law, why not lobby our local legislators
and the state Attorney General to help change
the law in the name of protecting the public?
We do not need to recount the number of
undocumented aliens in this country that have
done harm to American citizens in order to
know it’s better to be pro-active on this issue.
Action is what is needed here in Florence and
I hope that it will be action that the good citi-
zenry of Florence receive.
God bless Florence and yes, God bless
America.
Joel Marks
Florence
S INS OF OMISSION
“The “Fake News” discussion held Sunday at
City Lights Cinemas hosted by Jared Anderson
I N RESPONSE
I would like to take this opportunity to make
some observations in regard to the recent letter
by Mr. Ray (Feb. 11) in the Letters to the Editor
section.
Regarding jobs: Times have changed. If peo-
ple want their children “to be able to support
their families” then we need to start when they
are in middle school to assess their talents,
skills and interests.
See that they pick correct classes in high
school, vocational school or college that allows
them lucrative and satisfying careers. Jobs are
no longer as “pletinful” as they once were.
Regarding terrorism: Why would one suc-
cumb to the constant publicized fear that people
from the seven countries on President Trump’s
list will do us harm when not a single person
from any of those countries has performed an
act of terrorism on our shores?
How about Saudi Arabia, where the 911 ter-
rorists came from? Why is that country not on
the list? How about the gun terrorism that
plagues our domiciles, schools, places of wor-
ship and businesses?
Shouldn’t we be more frightened of unregu-
lated firearms in the hands of felons and the
mentally unstable which kill thousands of inno-
cent citizens each year?
Regarding Air Force One, Two and Three:
The Air Force and Secret Service control the
President’s transportation; He does not commis-
sion an airplane for his family dog.
Also, Air Force Three is a military transport
jet and not a comfortable jet airliner, certainly
not the first choice of any First Lady. But I think
we should think about the fact that the cost of
keeping Melania Trump in her luxury New York
Tower, should she decide not to move to
Washington, will be costing tax payers more
than the annual budget for the National
Endowment of the Arts — a program President
Trump has said he wants to do away with.
Regarding protesting: Protesting, marching
and resisting the current political situation is not
called “insurrection.” It is a Constitutional right
of the American people as written in the First
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Regarding the National Debt: President
Obama did not raise the debt by himself, the
Republican Congress had to approve it. Also,
remember what the economic situation under
the Republican President Bush was like in
2009. We were literally on the brink of another
Great Depression, where people were loosing
their jobs and homes at alarming rates.
President Obama stemmed this tide and when
he left office our unemployment rate was 4.8
percent.
Mary DeCeault
Florence
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John Bartlett
Jenna Bartlett
Ned Hickson
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
and Ned Hickson was a tremendous beginning
to an important ongoing conversation.
Electricity filled the air. 4 hours seemed like
40 minutes.
Now I think we need “part two” in order to
answer the more gnarly, and possibly, the more
critical aspects of news.
And that is: What is not reported (which falls
into the category of a “sin of omission”) and
what is only partially reported (leaving out the
catalyst that changes the meaning and then falls
into the categories of both “sin of omission and
sin of word.”)
I am impressed with how the Catholic
Church covered the bases of what constitutes a
wrong doing: It can be what you do, or not do,
and in what you think, say, or do.
Great playwrights knew this, so ought not the
press?
What we did not come up at the meeting, or
was lost in the noise, is that much of the large
press is owned by corporations that can keep
certain aspects of the news quiet.
Names need to be named because our minds,
our bodies and our planet are being poisoned by
malnutrition, devious titration or flagrant
destruction of all three of these valued life
forms.
And this is all being done for profit and with
our money.
If we know who is doing it, they and their
products can be boycotted. The fingerprints of
corporate greed is on many of the health issues
being faced by our nation.
This is not a red or blue issue; it is a people
issue. It would be good to have further conver-
sations about how the press has been lured into
this net — and what can be done about it.
Nan Harvey
Florence
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us