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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2019)
2 Wednesday, July 10, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O Jonah Goldberg ---------- Welcome Quilters! ---------- Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer¾s 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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: On Thursday, June 27, Indivisible Sisters held an event to watch the second night of the Democrats9 primary debates for 2020 presi- dential election with other locals. The debates were televised two consecutive evenings, each featuring 10 candidates. We served pop- corn and cookies which were store bought and homemade. We mingled 5:30 to 6 p.m. and sat to watch. Commercials and commentator analysis were muted so we could chat and/or stand and stretch. Although the Internet connection would at times sputter, it was interesting to watch with a large group for the various reactions, shared laughs, groans, and concerned glances. The time went fast. 2020 election and legislator references were provided to encourage citi- zens to make calls over the next days to their representatives on various topics. The second round of Democrats9 primary debates are July 30 and July 31 on MSNBC. Please, join us Tuesday night, July 30, at the Sisters Library starting at 5:30 p.m.; debate starts at 6 p.m. and ends at 8 p.m. We welcome citizens from all political par- ties to join us. Susan Cobb ó ó ó To the Editor: Surviving summer traffic in Sisters (or: this is one of my least-favorite things)& I drive into or through Sisters at least twice a day; west in the morning and east in the after- noon. Traffic in the afternoon during tourist season really sucks, but it is what it is. Unless and until ODOT comes up with a teleportation See LETTERS on page 31 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday PM Showers Partly Cloudy Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy 70/59 73/57 78/58 78/58 76/56 75/56 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. N Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Graphic Design: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partners: Vicki Curlett & Patti Jo Beal Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May 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. ©2019 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. Nike is doing it wrong. I don9t mean the shoe- making, though that thing with Zion Williamson was pretty bad, I have to say. No, Nike is doing it wrong because it managed to do something that all the neo-Nazis, Klansmen, alt- righters and other denizens of the lowest coprophagic phylum of our political life could never do: It turned the Betsy Ross flag into a racist symbol. By now you9ve probably heard that Nike decided to take the advice of Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who ignited so much controversy by refus- ing to stand for the national anthem. Nike was all set to release a line of sneak- ers for the Fourth of July featuring the original Betsy Ross American flag with 13 stars in a circle. According to reports, Kaepernick took offense because a handful of extremist groups like to brandish the original American flag to make some sort of point about something no one should care about. The thing is, most Americans 4 and when I say most, I mean, like, nearly all of them 4 had no idea white supremacists were doing this. In count- less news stories, report- ers contacted experts who either didn9t know about it or were only vaguely aware that this is one of the things these groups like to wear as capes during dress-up time. The Anti-Defamation L e a g u e 9s C e n t e r o n Extremism has a database with more than 150 <hate symbols.= The Betsy Ross flag isn9t among them. <The Betsy Ross flag is a common historical flag,= Mark Pitcavage of the ADL told CNBC. While it9s been used by white supremacists <from time to time,= he has <never once thought about= adding the Betsy Ross flag to the list. Nonetheless, it9s true that if you search through enough old photos of Klan rallies and neo-Nazi pag- eants, you can spot a Betsy Ross flag from time to time. Do you know what else you can probably spot if you look long and hard enough? Nike sneakers. Does that make Nikes sym- bols of white supremacy? Of course not. But what if these groups started wear- ing T-shirts with the Nike <swoosh= on them? Frankly, I think it would be a brilliant move by these hate groups to do just that. Nike would freak out, giv- ing these attention-seekers a bonanza in free publicity. Innocuous or even noble symbols can be appropri- ated for evil purposes. But here9s the thing: When evil people acquire symbols for their own ends, the only guarantee of success is when everyone else vali- dates the acquisition. If Nike had gone ahead with the special-edition sneakers, it would have been, in marketing terms, the equivalent of Godzilla versus Bambi. A few neo- Nazis and a few more social justice warriors would have complained, and every- one else would have gone about their day totally unconcerned. Instead, Nike followed the advice of a man whose business model is to stir grievance and controversy for its own sake. Suddenly, millions of people who once thought the Betsy Ross flag was just an admirable bit of Americana now associate it with hate groups. Worse, other entirely decent and patriotic Americans will now likely start brandish- ing the flag to offend peo- ple who, until recently, had no idea some hate groups adopted the flag in the first place. The ranks of the perpetu- ally offended will misread this trolling-to-own-the- libs effort as an endorse- ment of hate speech, and the culture war will have yet another idiotic fight on its hands, and a symbol of the country9s founding that should be a uniting image for all Americans will now be reduced to a weapon in that war. Thanks a lot, Nike. © 2019 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.