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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2016)
2 Wednesday, December 14, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Rachel Marsden American Voices 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 no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: Merry Christmas! Just a reminder that the Christmas Food Share & Gifts sponsored by Sisters Kiwanis, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department, and Furry Friends Foundation will happen this Saturday, December 17, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sisters Fire Hall. Remember to have a letter of permission if you are picking up for someone else. If you are unable to pick up your certificates, please call me, Shirley Lalli, at 541-977-6643. From all of us to you, we hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Shirley Lalli Sisters Kiwanis s s s To the Editor: The long laudatory description in “The Bunkhouse Chronicle” of Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis (The Nugget, December 7, page 25), who has bragged about how he enjoyed killing people and who is Donald Trump’s selection as Secretary of Defense, ignores two important points. First, it is unconstitutional for a military official to hold the office of SecDef unless he has been retired for seven years. The law will have to be “waived” to allow him to serve. The rationale for this law is that putting a mili- tary official in that position undermines civil- ian control of the military. As we know, war is too important to be left to the generals. They are experts at blowing things up but have no idea what to do afterward. Second, appointing a general as SecDef is to set up a major conflict of interest. His primary task is NOT to advise the president on warfighting, but to oversee and manage the organization of the military and its huge bloated and wasteful budget. I say this as one who worked for DOD for almost 30 years. As a member of the privileged military caste who are the beneficiaries of this budget, a military official as SecDef will be the fox running the hen house. He will not be inclined to put the public’s interest above that of the military. See LETTERS on page 18 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Snow Chance snow Snow showers Partly sunny Partly sunny Partly sunny 15/16 30/13 13/3 14/9 17/11 31/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. ©2016 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. PARIS — Pop queen Madonna and U.S. President- elect Donald Trump both are high-energy international entrepreneurs, brilliant mar- keters and self-made anti- establishment provocateurs whose careers have endured over decades. In a world without gender bias and left- ist brainwashing about how women have to blindly sup- port other women lest they be guilty of gender treason, Madonna would be Trump’s ideal supporter. Instead, she’s denouncing the women who voted for him. “It feels like women betrayed us,” Madonna said in a recent interview with Billboard magazine. “The percentage of women who voted for Trump was insanely high.” No, women didn’t betray other women. Rather, a lot of strong, independent, self- made women (like Madonna herself) saw Trump as a strong, independent, self- made candidate. According to exit polls, 42 percent of women voted for Trump. In the run-up to the election, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that college-educated white women favored Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by 27 points. The Post referred to this demographic as “Hillary Clinton’s firewall.” But on Election Day, 45 percent of college-educated white women voted for Trump, giv- ing him an unexpected edge. The demographic that played such a key role in Trump’s victory is full of women who grew up lis- tening and dancing to Madonna’s albums while pursuing an education and a career. Apparently, many of these voters ranked gender consideration behind charac- ter traits. How does Madonna feel about that? “Women hate women. That’s what I think it is,” she told Billboard. “Women’s nature is not to support other women. It’s really sad.” As a conservative woman gender has never been a consideration for me when assessing someone politi- cally. I am, however, sensi- tive about someone’s candi- dacy being shoved down my throat on the basis of superfi- cial considerations. Disregarding a candi- date’s gender and focusing solely on his or her political platform should be as easy as disregarding a singer’s politi- cal whining and focusing solely on his or her art (just as I did this morning while listening to Madonna tunes during my morning workout). As a woman who came from humble beginnings and succeeded as a result of ambition, work ethic, talent, adaptability and intelligence, Madonna should respect the choices of similarly self- made women. Last year, Madonna posted a photograph of the late former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on her Instagram page along with a note: “Thank you Margaret Thatcher!” She also added a famous Thatcher quote: “If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you will achieve nothing.” Madonna had the right idea in promoting a quote about courage from a legend- ary female trailblazer. Still, the post was removed after some fans complained. Madonna has much more in common with the self-made Thatcher—who struggled against establish- ment classism and sexism to ascend to Britain’s high- est political office—than she does with Hillary Clinton, who rose to political promi- nence as a result of being married to a U.S. president. However, the notion of polit- ical sisterhood and women backing other women only seems to be acceptable if it’s in support of women on the left. Madonna certainly didn’t go to bat for the sisterhood in 2012, when her “MDNA” world tour included a giant video screen that showed French National Front leader Marine Le Pen with a swas- tika superimposed on her forehead. In France, Le Pen repre- sents a growing anti-estab- lishment movement that has increasingly come to transcend right-vs.-left con- siderations. Madonna has always been a trailblazer, a rebel who’s never followed the rules. She has far more in common with Le Pen and Trump than with establish- ment figures such as Clinton. Time to get with the new par- adigm, Madge. © 2016 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.