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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
Wednesday, February 28, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 2 O P I N I O N Jonah Goldberg Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writerʼs 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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 have recently been the beneficiary of an outstanding program for the removal of barbed wire where the barbed-wire fencing is no longer in use. The program is a partnership between Wild Wings Raptor Rehabilitation of Sisters and the Deschutes County Juvenile Department. I was aware of the risks to deer, especially fawns, but didn’t realize how many raptors are injured by the wire. A neighbor brought the removal program to my attention. I made contact with the pro- gram and the next weekend a crew of young people with two adult supervisors arrived at my farm and went to work. The crew was well-organized, well-supervised and hard- working. On the second day they were here they discovered a great horned owl caught in the barbed wire. A supervisor called Gary Landers of Wild Wings, who came and freed the owl and took her to the rehabilitation cen- ter, where she is now doing well. For the youngsters it was a graphic illus- tration of the value of their community ser- vice. I believe the participants went home at the end of the weekend proud of what they had accomplished. This program is free. If you have, or know someone who has, barbed-wire fencing that is not in use you can call either Kellie Landers of Wild Wings, 541-213-4411; or Jim Smith, Deschutes County Juvenile Department, See LETTERS on page 15 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Rain/Snot Likely Snot Chance Snot Chance Snot Slt. Chance Snot Mostly Sunny 41/29 38/20 35/18 37/18 38/21 40/22 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC 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. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Graphic Design: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partners: Patti Jo Beal & Vicki Curlett Accounting: Erin Bordonaro Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Owner: J. Louis Mullen 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. ©2018 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. 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 the wake of the hor- rific slaughter in Parkland, Florida, a cadre of ener- gized and understandably traumatized teenagers has flooded Washington and the airwaves to say remark- ably passionate, occasion- ally extreme things about guns and the need for gun control. Because these teens are politically effective, a bunch of goons, buffoons and trolls have floated conspiracy the- ories aimed at discrediting them. I won’t be more spe- cific than that because it’s all reprehensible bilge. At the same time, quite a few advocates of gun con- trol, including many who claim the mantle of “objec- tive” journalism, have taken the view that these kids can- not be criticized or gainsaid in any way. Apparently, it’s fine to push kids suffering from post-traumatic stress — or the still-grieving par- ents of murdered children — in front of cameras in order to drive public policy, but it’s an affront to decency to disagree with what they say or question the practice of using victims this way. (No, it’s not morally equivalent to some of the horrendous things the swamp-dwellers have said about these kids, but that is a low bar.) New York Times colum- nist Maureen Dowd spoke for so much of the liberal establishment when she lionized Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in the Iraq war. “The moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute,” Dowd insisted. NBC News turned Sheehan into a national folk hero. It didn’t matter that she hardly spoke for all parents of the fallen and was politically radical. She was too useful as a cudgel against George W. Bush. Sheehan’s utility, like her “absolute moral authority,” had a sell-buy date, though. When she became a thorn in the side of Barack Obama, the media downgraded her to a crank and gadfly. And that’s what I find so tawdry and mercenary about all of this. I can scarcely imagine that the same peo- ple touting the unimpeach- able wisdom of children would have the same posi- tion if the children of terror attack victims called for, say, a ban on Muslims enter- ing the country. Of course, the response from many people to this counterfactual would be, “But that’s a bad idea,” or, “That would be unconstitutional.” And that’s my point exactly. In an enlightenment- based democracy, the valid- ity of an argument is sup- posed to stand independent of the person — or people — making it. Two plus two equals four whether a child says so or a demagogue denies it. Of course, in real life it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes, credibil- ity or moral authority car- ries more weight than argu- ments. And perhaps more often, passion and emotion sways. For instance, the NRA, not content with its public-policy and consti- tutional victories over the last decade, has taken to fomenting rage and resent- ment against “elites” and the media with all the pre- cision of an unmanned fire hose. As best as I can glean from some of the ads, the point seems to be that you should keep paying your dues because the NRA is the only thing that will keep gun owners from being trig- gered (so to speak) by the New York Times. The introduction of child combatants in this political war seems only fitting in the never-ending cycles of exaggeration. So now we can hear children shout, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us!” Or, “If you’re against us, you’re in favor of murdering children!” Of course I feel sorry for the victims, and I sup- port their right to parrot the extreme rhetoric of their elders. I don’t feel sorry for the NRA. When you turn the volume to 10 on everything, you shouldn’t be surprised when your opponents invent an even louder 11. But I am disgusted by the entire spec- tacle, and I feel sorry for a country that thinks any of this remotely normal. © 2018 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.
