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Wednesday, August 23, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LETTERS
Continued from page 2
pursuit of the truth when presented with Donald
Trump’s lies. The latest lie, Trump stated the coun-
ter protestors did not have permits to demonstrate,
but they did have permits.
Rullman states there is no institutional racism in
the United States, but we don’t have to look beyond
the White House to see it, where Donald Trump,
Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka
not only bring with them a history of racist rhetoric
and acts, but who are currently stoking and inculcat-
ing racism in government, and the populace, with
their opinions and policies.
If you claim to be an American, and that you
love the United States, then you must be against
those, and monuments to those, and the disgust-
ing “heritage” embodied by those, who tried to
destroy the United States, such as Robert E. Lee and
Stonewall Jackson, and you must be against those
who now don’t believe in one of the United States’
most admired principles, that all people are created
equal. Unfortunately, this principle is under grow-
ing attack, and Rullman has implicitly lended his
support by his column.
John Mapes
Craig Rullman responds:
Your letter, like so much of the current atmo-
sphere, is full of righteous “musts.” That’s unfortu-
nate, a missed opportunity really, and I would sub-
mit that you risk painting yourself into a very tight
moral corner when making such blanket demands
of, and accusations toward, your fellow intelligent
and free-thinking citizens.
I’m sorry that you insist on a belief that America
is institutionally racist, apparently based on your
vehement dislike of the current administration.
Many millions of your fellow citizens, from all walks
of life, would be rightly appalled to find themselves
so condemned. You do honest people a terrible
injustice with that approach, which can only serve
to be divisive.
Notably, you do not condemn the violent actors
in Charlottesville where, in a scene reminiscent of
Altona, in 1932, both brownshirts and communists,
moral equivalents by any objective standard, met in
the streets to do violence.
Naturally, you are entitled to believe that a
statue of Robert E. Lee, or any memorial at all—one
supposes—is subject to demolition during spasms of
atonement.
There are, as I’m sure you know, motions cur-
rently afoot to defund the Jefferson Memorial for
the same reasons. One can be forgiven for asking,
then: if I refuse to disavow Thomas Jefferson, will
I one day be lined up against a wall by the latest
arbiters of truth? Must I be?
The world has seen that sort of thinking before.
You are factually wrong in your assertion that
I “dismiss” the media. That isn’t nuanced enough.
Rather, it’s that many of us recognize a growing
trend toward hyperbolic news, which often devolves
even further into hypothetical news, which isn’t
really news at all.
A discerning adult must question the cover-
age bias of the information provider, and I cer-
tainly hope my column encourages readers to
do so. Each day, it appears, there is less and less
journalism and more and more political ideol-
ogy masquerading as balanced reporting. That’s
true across the spectrum. Unlike you, I’m often
left unconvinced that our monolithic news orga-
nizations are, in fact, pursuing the truth over an
agenda. I’m glad you don’t struggle with those
notions.
In fact, I like the media so much, I wonder if you
would join me in condemning the supposedly peace-
ful counter-protestors who brutally beat two jour-
nalists in Charlottesville after they refused to stop
filming Antifa antics?
In the meantime, while you savage your neigh-
bors with vile inference—whose only fault is testing
some of your positions—I’ll stick with Alveda King,
who said of Charlottesville: “I believe that if we
pray, and we act like reasonable, thinking people,
one blood, different skin colors, one human blood
in America, we will get to the bottom of some of
this. My uncle Martin Luther King said, ‘I decided
to stick with love. Hate is too difficult a burden to
bear.’ I agree with that.”
Amen.
s
s
s
To the Editor:
As I sit here anticipating the start of a new school
year, I wanted to take a moment to thank the school
district staff for the work that they have and will put
in for us to be ready for our students on August 28.
To prepare for the bond work, some of our teach-
ers have had to pack up their entire classrooms, oth-
ers have had limited to no access to their building
and classroom. Yet, they will be ready for our stu-
dents on August 28. On Sunday, as I was checking
on the buildings, I ran into teachers trying to get
a start on the year. It is not unusual to have staff
in “prepping” during the summer, but the lack of
access to the facilities will make this next week a
sprint for many of our teachers.
I have seen this commitment from all of our
staff. From classified staff that stepped in to help
where they could, to our custodial and maintenance
staff working with, around, and behind the contrac-
tors with all of the bond work happening this sum-
mer. Many staff have been dislocated from their
work space and have shown great flexibility in the
process.
Administrators and department coordinators
are working tirelessly to help support community
events and partnerships, while keeping the work on
our facilities moving forward.
Although the challenges may be different, based
on their duties, I am very proud of the work that all
of our staff has put in to be ready for the start of
school. Even though some flooring may not be fin-
ished or every project complete, because of what I
have seen this summer, I know we will be ready for
our students. I would once again like to say “thank
you” to our staff for their hard work.
Curt Scholl
Superintendent, Sisters School District
“I was just going in
for 10 minutes.”
But then the check-out line was so long.
Even with the windows partly
down, the heat can rise from
80º outside to 102º inside
the car in a short time.*
Parked cars are deathtraps for dogs: On a 78-degree day,
the temperature inside a parked car can soar to between
100 and 120 degrees in just minutes, and on a 90-degree
day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 160
degrees in less than 10 minutes. Animals can sustain brain
damage or even die from heatstroke in just 15 minutes.*
FURRY FRIEND S
501 ( c )( 3 )
FOUNDATION
www.furryfriendsfoundation.org
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leave ked cars!
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*www.peta.org