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Wednesday, August 29, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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No political pep rally
By Chris Morin
Guest Columnist
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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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:
Regarding Letter #2 in the August 22 issue:
By the time I’d finished the second paragraph I
knew I was reading a letter from Susan Prince.
Her words, pregnant with meaning, are always
true, researched, and thought through. Here she
even provides a solution!
Sisters might have the world’s biggest out-
door quilt show and the greatest little rodeo,
but it simply will not do for the protectors of
our forests to move too slow.
Anita Kirkaldy
s s s
To the Editor:
I agree with Susan Prince’s letter last week
about putting more restrictions on open fires in
forest lands, even in campgrounds.
I, too, have witnessed giant bonfires at
Three Creek Campground, the top of the
flames licking at the tall tree branches and
firebrands blowing off the fire. Really scary.
There is no reason for these, not even when the
weather conditions indicate low fire danger.
She points out that humans are at the root
of many of the big wildfires. The statistics that
I am aware of show that at least 85 percent of
the wildfires in California and 75 percent of
the wildfires in Oregon are caused by humans,
usually campfires.
Because of the devastation of the wildfires
of the last few years, the unhealthy smoke that
we all have to breath for months and the fact
that they are more prevalent, getting larger and
more intense every year, the Forest Service
MUST adopt new regulations.
No open campfires should be allowed at
any time of the year in the National Forest or
BLM lands unless specifically approved by
the authorities. Fires should only be allowed
in designated containers in campgrounds and
should be closely monitored by the camp host.
Fireworks should be banned year-round, too.
Since most people and politicians are not
See LETTERS on page 18
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Jim Cornelius wrote
about “political correctness”
in an opinion piece last
week. And within that, he
discussed taking a course
in college regarding Native
American History while at
UC-Santa Cruz. Given that
my wife and I own the only
brick-and-mortar Native
American Art Gallery in
Oregon, I feel compelled to
offer a follow-up letter to
Jim’s piece.
Jim stated that he did not
agree with the ideological
thrust, presented within
this particular history class,
that Native Americans
were “victims,” and white
settlers were “oppressors.”
Back then, he vocalized
his disagreement and
was strongly scorned by
members of the student body
for disagreeing as he did.
Jim used this as an example
when “political correctness”
was applied against him.
I agree with him on one
matter, the larger issue he
raises, while disagreeing
with his position on the
matter he used as an
example.
The matter of the
conquest of the Western
Hemisphere, over a period
of 400 years beginning in
1492, and the interactions
with and the treatment of
the Indigenous Peoples is
poorly stated if referred to
as oppressors and victims.
Having lived beside and
worked among various
Native American peoples
for 30 years, my wife 50
years, and being two courses
short of an undergraduate
major in Native American
Studies from the University
of Alaska, I feel fairly
qualified to say that these
two terms grossly understate
what occurred to Native
Americans during this period
of time and contact with
Western World peoples.
That debate, however, if
it even needs to occur, can
be done in private. To me,
it is two individuals seeing
things differently, no more.
Neither Jim’s view nor my
view is going to alter what
occurred nor will our views
affect what is today.
J i m ’s
discussion
about the term “political
correctness,” however,
is something I do fully
embrace and agree with.
This term, as others —
FAKE NEWS, Elitist,
Redneck — offers a shallow
and lazy approach to
discourse. That discourse
has at its foundation the high
school pep rally mentality:
My team (or position)
is great, your team (or
position) sucks.
This immature approach
to rhetoric readily succeeds
with the use of labels.
Positions and “reasoning”
becomes concerned not
with truly developing
and considering other
perspectives but with
justifying the application
of a label(s). Strangely,
each side can then take the
same label, i.e. political
correctness, and hurl it at the
“other side,” in an attempt to
justify a position. The actual,
intended issue in a discourse
can be subsumed as the
debate becomes concerned
with defending labels or
attacking them.
Although a lifelong
Democrat, rather than
defend “our guy,” Bill
Clinton, during the 1998-99
impeachment proceedings,
I quite vocally advocated
for him to be found guilty
by the Senate and removed
from office. I found
Obama so overwhelmingly
dissatisfying that I have
not voted since ’08. My
dear older brother John,
a conservative of equal
conviction, found George
W. Bush to be a huge
disappointment and Trump
to be absolutely “wretched.”
We’re not pep-rally guys,
probably an important
reason why our relationship
has remained so strong
through the years, despite
taking different paths in life.
Self-examination and
self-criticism, along with
discourse that involves full
consideration of others’
ideas and how opposing
perspectives and beliefs to
our own came to be, are
things that the Founding
Fathers also hoped our
society would embrace. The
First Amendment stands as
the shining example of that
intent.
Jim played guitar and
sang at our gallery during
the July 4th Friday Art
Stroll. Near the end of his
performance, I asked and
he promised, that the next
time he plays he’ll include
“I Shall Be Released.”
Some things just aren’t
coincidences.
Chris Morin is co-owner
of Raven Makes Gallery in
Sisters.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.