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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
2 Wednesday, October 25, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Jonah Goldberg 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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: I would like to thank Tiffany Lee Brown, a.k.a. “T” for the wonderful response to Jennifer Hills’ letter referencing Ms. Hills’ possible need to buy a gun because of the “In our America…” signs in the yards of many Sisters residents. I was simply shocked when I read that a neighbor felt so frightened by the sentiments expressed in the sign that she contemplated arming herself. Although I do not have a sign in my yard, I know many who do and these excellent people are one of the reasons we have found Sisters such a terrific place to live. Perhaps Ms. Hills should knock on the doors of the people who have these signs and meet them before she assumes the worst. After all, they are her neighbors and, as the sign cer- tainly implies, they mean her no harm. Stella Dean s s s To the Editor: Bravo. Bravo plus thanks to Tiffany Lee Brown (“We are not enemies,” The Nugget, October 18, page 2). Perfectly put, and speaks for me. Indeed, in the recent California fires (as well as all the hurricane events) there are countless stories of help from both neighbors and strangers. And no hint that any of them cared a whit about the ideology or politics or personal beliefs or personal behaviors of the people they rescued. Let alone what signs they had on their lawns or what stickers they had on their vehicles. I shudder to imagine what Ms. Hill”s America is, if it’s not described by that sign. R J Jones See LETTERS on page 22 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Mostly Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Mostly Sunny Sunny 69/38 61/34 61/35 64/37 59/35 58/34 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. In high school civics I was taught that, in America, the president has many roles, often divided in other countries. He’s commander in chief, head of state, chief administrator and executive, the head of his party, chief diplomat, legislative leader and, according to some lists, “the guardian of the economy.” I think we need to add another job description: He’s the talent. In Hollywood — and increasingly journalism, business and government — “the talent” is the per- son who must be catered to above all others. With few notable exceptions, you can get another execu- tive producer or director, but you can’t get another Barbra Streisand or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hollywood is full of stories of the talent mak- ing ridiculous demands and issuing absurd fatwas to protect their egos. Streisand instructed — through aides, of course — that the help at a London hotel not look her in the eye. Sean Penn had a serf swim the polluted and dangerous waters of the East River to get him a ciga- rette. Mike Myers halted production of “Wayne’s World” because he didn’t have margarine for his bagel. Wr i t i n g a b o u t t h e unfolding scandals around Harvey Weinstein — a rare example of off-screen tal- ent — Washington Post movie critic Ann Hornaday described the time-honored Hollywood reflex to “circle the talent.” “When times get tough — when a reporter or new- bie or ‘civilian’ dares to challenge the behavior of a Hollywood eminence — the impulse is to close ranks around who has more power, money, fame and, perhaps most crucially, tal- ent,” Hornaday wrote. “Did a star lash out at a clumsy boom operator on a film set? Circle the talent, fire the crew member. Does a director have a drug prob- lem that’s endangering an entire production? Circle the talent and quash the exposé. Is a movie mogul serially abusing young women and enlisting his employees as accomplices? Circle the tal- ent and lie, ignore, attack, move on. They’re worth it, goes the rationalization. No one else can do what they do.” Much has already been said about how our ratings- obsessed president is a product of reality television. When he picked his Cabinet, he reportedly saw it as both a staffing and a casting chal- lenge. “That’s the language he speaks,” an inside source told the Washington Post. “He’s very aesthetic. You can come with somebody who is very much qualified for the job, but if they don’t look the part, they’re not going anywhere.” Tr u m p ’s w e l l - d o c u - mented tendency to dis- like it when members of his administration get more attention — i.e., get more screen time or appear on the cover of Time magazine — is classic talent behavior, as is his need to have more ice cream than his guests. My friend Rob Long, a veteran Hollywood TV producer, saw it all coming back in January. “President Trump is the actor starring in your series who is going to make your life miserable for the next four years,” Long wrote in Variety. “President Trump is what you get when you put the talent in charge.” Sen. Bob Corker’s jab last week that the White House is an “adult day-care center” prompted Chief of Staff John Kelly to take over the press briefing to deny the story. “I was not brought to this job to con- trol anything but the flow of information to our presi- dent so that he can make the best decisions,” Kelly told reporters. “So, again, I was not sent in to — or brought in to — control him.” Maybe that’s true, but it sure sounds like what someone circling the talent would say. As does much of what passes for conserva- tive commentary about the talent-in-chief these days. © 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.
