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Wednesday, July 10, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Jonah
Goldberg
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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.
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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
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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
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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.