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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2015)
2 Wednesday, August 19, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N John Kass American Voices Editorial… Time to take a step back on paved trail issue For about three years now, folks in Sisters Country have been riled up in a controversy over a proposed paved trail from Sisters to Black Butte Ranch. It’s time to take a step back and put the issue on the back burner for a while. Proponents have rallied support for the project and outlined all the community ben- efits they believe will flow from adding such an amenity. Opponents have made their objec- tions known in detail and offered up proposed alternatives. There is little new to say on the subject. And, in any case, nothing is going to hap- pen any time soon. Sisters District Ranger Kristie Miller brought a great deal of clarity to the issue in her discussions with the Sisters City Council at their workshop last week. If there is a proposal made — whether it’s the same as before or modified to accommodate objec- tions — and if the Forest Service chooses to consider it, the paved path project will be run through the ringer in another Forest Service Environmental Assessment. All interested par- ties will have ample opportunity to weigh in on pros and cons. And that isn’t going to happen in 2015. It may or may not happen in 2016, depending on whether the Forest Service funds an EA. And if they do fund it, the EA will take a year or more to complete. So here is a very long moment to let the rancor die down and for neighbors to mend fences. There will be ample opportunity for folks to take up their cudgels again when there is a proposal and a process in play. And, this being Sisters, there are sure to be other issues, other controversies and con- tretemps to keep folks busy while the Forest Service decides whether or not to fund an EA and put this one back on the front burner. Jim Cornelius, Editor Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday thursday friday saturday sunday Monday Patchy smoke Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny 90/50 83/43 73/35 80/39 84/47 83/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: Lisa Buckley 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, $40; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2014 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. Hillary Clinton is in the early stages of political sepsis. Madam Inevitable cut herself with some bad emails. And rather than wash the wound thoroughly with soap that stings, maybe apply a tincture of iodine, she went into deep denial and jammed those fingers in her pockets. She kept pretending it was nothing, really, and now they’re puffy and throb- bing and downright uncom- fortable, especially for any Democrat who thinks a few months down the road. Of course the Republicans are enjoying this, even as most of them endure Trump, a man so in love with his own voice that he believes his brain farts are policy. The other day Trump said he wants to take ISIS’ oil wealth. That’s the kind of thing Saddam Hussein wanted to do. It would give Vladimir Putin and every other boss the pretext to do the same. You see some- thing, you grab something and say “President Donald did it too.” Kuwaiti oil, or land, who knows, just take what you want and watch the world go away. For now, Hillary’s politi- cal health is a legitimate issue, centering on those tens of thousands of emails she kept on a private server at her home as she went about her country’s business as secretary of state. After denial and stalling, she finally turned her server over to the FBI. Her critics insist this is a criminal issue. But whether it is or isn’t, the damage is political because of one simple, nonpartisan question: Was her private server compromised by for- eign intelligence agencies? Using private servers helped shield her work prod- uct from the public and con- gressional committees try- ing to find out more about Benghazi. But her paranoia, and her arrogance, could also very well have put her coun- try at risk. Every day we learn about secure systems being hacked. Most of us can’t write or understand code, but that doesn’t stop us from reflexively grabbing our wal- lets when news breaks about hackers hitting a department store or a gas station chain. We understand that. We know such thieves are out there. They could be overseas, or sitting a table or two from your iced latte waiting to hack into your checking account. Or, they could be agents of foreign intelligence intent on the servers in the home of Madam Secretary. And a candidate who puts their own politics over secu- rity — especially if that can- didate is widely thought by voters to be untrustworthy — has a problem. Over the weekend in Iowa, she tried to blame the Republicans and everyone but herself. She also tried to turn her email scandal into a joke while talking about her new Snapchat account. “I love it. I love it,” she said. “Those messages disap- pear all by themselves.” Trying to turn national security into a punch line is a stupid thing to do, espe- cially when the FBI has your server. The political problem for the Democrats is that she might lose the election. But what if she were to win? We will have elected an imperial personality who felt entitled to use private email for government busi- ness — email that reportedly contained classified informa- tion, including discussions on secret drone programs and other matters. The knife turned a bit the other day as her succes- sor, Secretary of State John Kerry, was interviewed by CBS News about his govern- ment email. Kerry was asked, “Do you think China and/or the Russians are reading your email?” KERRY: The answer is it is very likely. It is not out- side the realm of possibil- ity and we know that they have attacked a number of American interests over the course of the last days. CBS: It’s very likely that your emails are being read? KERRY: It is a possibil- ity, there’s no way for me ... and I certainly write things with that awareness. Enjoy the rest of the sum- mer, Mrs. Clinton. But it’s too late to wash your hands of this. © 2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
