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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.
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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
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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.