2
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I
N I
O
N
Robert C.
Koehler
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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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:
There is an application to commercially
grow marijuana on Goodrich Road, just
east of Sisters. (Deschutes County file #:
247-17-000216-LR/247-17-000217-AD).
Marijuana, like gold, is very valuable in small
quantities. Many marijuana producers also
keep a lot of cash on hand, due to the fact
that it’s difficult to get a bank account for a
marijuana business. These two factors make
marijuana facilities the target of violent crime.
Robert Casillas, a marijuana businessman
who was robbed, stated that, “We are a high
value target,” in a KSNV interview. James
Bowman, a legal marijuana grower in Oregon,
was nearly killed after being tortured by rob-
bers at his rural pot farm. Another grower
in Mendocino was slain by several of his
workers.
Do we, as residents of Sisters Country,
want to see an increase in the risk of violent
crime in our exceptionally safe natural envi-
ronment? Sisters is special. Let’s keep it that
way. Our county should consider restricting
marijuana cultivation to industrial areas that
are located on regular police patrol beats.
Please let your thoughts be known on this
issue. Attend the county hearing for this appli-
cation; it’s at 10 a.m. on Monday, October
16, at 1300 NW Wall St. in Bend. Please also
visit www.keepgoodrichsafe.com for more
information.
Adam Jones
s
s
s
To the Editor:
There is no doubt that Sisters, along with
the other two “tri-cities” and outlying towns,
will very quickly continue to grow in popu-
lation in Central Oregon. We have water, lots
of land, less traffic congestion (for now),
good medical, good schools and few natural
disasters (one has time to get away from a
forest fire). Therefore, I would like to make
a 15-year planning proposal of infrastructure
work for our city and those nearby:
1. We plan with Bend and Redmond to
eventually have an elevated high-speed rail
set up between our three cities with separate
walking, riding, bike paths and trials below.
Huge project. Lots of vying players would be
See LETTERS on page 18
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
61/29
66/31
70/34
63/32
63/29
62/31
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 Easterling
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. ©2017 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.
Kneel, touch the earth.
“Oh say can you see ...”
The anthem starts. I can
feel the courage ... of Colin
Kaepernick, the (then) San
Francisco 49ers quarterback
who refused to stand for the
national war hymn, not when
one of the wars was directed
at Americans of color.
Occupying the public spot-
light that he did, Kaepernick
risked — and received —
widespread condemnation.
Rabid fans burned replicas
of his jersey. I’m sure as he
knelt that first time, as his
knee touched the earth, he
had a sense of what he was
setting off.
This is patriotism.
A year later, his action
still resonates. The president
got involved (of course),
ranting and tweeting that
kneeling NFL players should
be fired, thus, as Adam
Erickson points out, joining
his list of scapegoats:
“Donald Trump,”
he writes at the Raven
Foundation website,
“attempts to push this
mythical narrative on
almost every minority:
Muslims, Mexicans, African
Americans, journalists,
immigrants, the transgender
community, and now we can
include professional athletes
in the long list of Trump’s
scapegoats. The mythical
narrative (i.e., the lie) he
espouses is that these minor-
ities pose a significant threat
to American values.”
Patriotism is not a spec-
tator ritual. Patriotism
means participating in what
Erickson calls the “struggle
for the soul of the United
States.”
The pseudo-patriotism
that assumes the American
soul is securely enshrined in
law and ritual, that we pulled
it from the clutches of Great
Britain 240 years ago and
now we just need to wall off
the bad people beyond our
borders — and that noth-
ing much is asked of citi-
zens except obedience and
applause — is part of what I
would call “democracy lite.”
Fifteen years ago, when
this country was on the
brink of invading Iraq, I
wrote: “Looks almost like
the real thing, this pro-
cessed governance product
for the new millennium —
‘democracy lite,’ you might
call it. Comes with elected
representatives, a mass
media, bunting, hoopla and
the same soaring ideals as
the Lincolnesque version.
“Caution: Democracy
lite has nothing to do with
the nation’s actual decision-
making process; that occurs
separately.”
Trump, you might say, is
the logical consequence of a
passive, spectator citizenry:
a “leader” who tweets the
unconscious impulses —
the fears and hatreds — of
his supporters and delivers
one comforting scapegoat
after another for the public
to revile. Actual decision-
making still occurs sepa-
rately, but the president has
mixed a dark unconscious-
ness into the process. Before
the arrival of President
Trump, the United States
was an aggressive, highly
militarized global empire,
in possession of nearly
7,000 nuclear weapons.
Now it still is, but much of
the comportment and pro-
tocols of empire have been
abandoned.
And then came the most
outrageous tweet yet: “Just
heard Foreign Minister of
North Korea speak at U.N. If
he echoes thoughts of Little
Rocket Man, they won’t be
around much longer!”
N o r t h K o r e a n f o r-
eign minister Ri Yong-ho
responded; “Given the fact
that this came from some-
one who holds the seat of
the U.S. presidency, this is
clearly a declaration of war.”
The game unravels. What
country is this? The soul of
the nation is MIA.
And U.N. spokesman
Stephane Dujarric said:
“Fiery talk can lead to fatal
misunderstandings. The only
solution for this is a political
solution.”
But we don’t sing
anthems about “political
solutions,” which are always
flawed and imperfect. I fear
that the shallow impulsive-
ness of Donald Trump aligns
too easily with militarism
and empire: with armed
arrogance. On a dangerously
complex planet, force gives
pseudo-patriots the illusion
of simple solutions.
Struggling for the soul of
the country means unwrap-
ping the flag from this
illusion.
© 2017 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.