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Wednesday, November 2, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Editorial…
Henderson for County Commissioner Your vote is
hallowed ground
From the national level down to the local
level, the public’s faith in its government insti-
tutions is severely abraded. Perhaps the most
important duty of a public official these days is
to act in a manner that shores up that wavering
faith.
For that reason, voters should elect Phil
Henderson Deschutes County Commissioner.
Henderson’s background and experience
offer an opportunity for the commissioners to
connect more fully with the private sector, and
his commitment to extensive and consistent
public outreach bodes well for ensuring that all
voices are truly heard, not just those who have
an immediate interest in a particular issue.
Henderson has committed to a regular open
house/open meeting/coffees in the various
communities and areas of Deschutes County
on a regular basis, and that is an important step
in connecting the citizens with their county
government.
Incumbent Commissioner Alan Unger has
done some valuable work for Sisters. The
forest health initiative in which he is active has
had benefits that are visible on the ground here.
But in a couple of instances in Sisters Country,
his actions have let constituents down.
His offer of mediation on the controver-
sial issue of a paved trail quickly morphed
into advocacy for one side. In acquiescing to
the removal of a discussion of airport-related
issues from the commissioners’ agenda, Unger
missed the opportunity to fully understand an
issue that is of great concern to his constituents.
For the majority of Sisters Country resi-
dents, who live outside municipal boundar-
ies, the county commissioners are their local
government representatives. It is critical, espe-
cially now, that a commissioner act as the rep-
resentative of all his constituents, not just of
those who have his ear.
Phil Henderson is offering residents of
Sisters Country a “fresh look.” We should take
him up on it.
Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
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To the Editor:
I, for one, will be so glad when the Cyrus
family gets their hemp crop in and they can
turn off their fans and helicopters.
I’m exhausted.
Judy Bull
s
s
s
To the Editor:
Thanks to Craig Rullman for his thought-
ful and informative response to the recent
“Looking Outward” column “Just Look at the
Facts.”
In a country that has become so bitterly
divided politically, I think we are all sim-
ply waiting for honest and balanced political
candidates male or female to help bring this
country together in a more mutual and positive
direction.
We will get though this election regard-
less of the many distractions or the outcome,
and thanks to our freedoms will live to vote
another day.
Greg Vandehey
s
s
s
To the Editor:
It was quite revealing when Commissioner
Alan Unger said in last week’s Nugget that, “I
think we do need a trail between Sisters and
Black Butte Ranch.”
Really? I think that even folks that wanted
See LETTERS on page 20
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By John Baldwin
Guest Columnist
In just over one week, the
legal residents of this nation
will send a message to their
governing members and to
the world as to their col-
lective level of satisfaction
with the status quo.
If uninfringed, that mes-
sage will likely spell the
beginning of the end for
limitless congressional
terms, complicated personal
taxation, and illegal immi-
gration. If allowed to run
its true course, that message
will return the judicial and
congressional branches of
the United States toward a
pro-America, pro-Constitu-
tional heading.
Such should have always
been the case.
And such is what the
nation needs, for as Ronald
Reagan famously said, “...A
nation without borders is no
nation.” I urge each of you,
Republican, Independent,
or Democrat to realize the
rare power that you hold in
your hand, to recognize the
priceless gift placed long
ago in your possession of
the fundamental right to cast
a vote, placed there by thou-
sands who fought for you,
for your freedom to both
live and to vote. Many who
thus fought, fought and died
that you might live free.
It’s fair to say that they
would expect the beneficia-
ries of their sacrifice — each
and every one of us — to
greatly esteem our present
liberty, and to contemplate
with respect and logic the
outcome of the vote we
cast. We do them no service
by thinking only in present
perspectives as we vote this
week. We ought consider
the America in which we,
by virtue of our vote, will
have a direct role in mak-
ing and passing on to subse-
quent generations.
Now is the time to speak
out, and as a nation, to be
heard resoundingly!
A candidate calls to us,
one who’s love of power
and whose acceptance of
corruption over rule of
law in America is only too
well known. I implore you,
fellow American — look
ahead! By the strength
of your ability to reason,
see the corrupt reality in
Washington for the snake-
pit that it is; do not cast
your vote into that abyss.
Instead, recognize your own
liberty as beyond any price.
Recognize the hardship,
the moral courage, the sac-
rifice, and the discipline at
all levels that such a nation
as America required of her
builders as the foundation
on which we now stand.
As Americans,
every generation
has for that freedom
its debt to pay, the
price being eternal
vigilance over otr both
otr borders and otr
Constitttion. As stch,
otr liberty so rare in the
world, is not immtne to
enemies either foreign
or domestic.
Why would we now,
as that nation, we as that
party, or we as individual
citizens ever willingly vote
to dispossess ourselves of
such hallowed ground? Do
we somehow not see the
deceit playing out before
us? America is the sover-
eign property of only we
Americans. It is not the pos-
session of a foreign ideol-
ogy nor beholden to the out-
side world. Our culture is
not chattel, neither our free-
dom some mere commodity.
As Americans, every gen-
eration has for that freedom
its debt to pay, the price
being eternal vigilance over
both our borders and our
Constitution. As such, our
liberty so rare in the world,
is not immune to enemies
either foreign or domestic.
“When ...[in the end] the
freedom they wished for
was freedom from responsi-
bility ... then Athens ceased
to be free.” — Sir Edward
Gibbon, 1780
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.