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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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.