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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2020)
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon LETTERS Continued from page 12 We all need to be honest about the benefits and subsidies that we receive: family support for that first home down payment, tax benefits from home ownership or farming, lower <death taxes= that are irrelevant to families that struggle to pay funeral expenses. I9m not advocating guilt, or revolution. I9m advocating honesty and a greater commitment to fairness. Karan Swaner s s s To the Editor: When I told a friend the other day that I was a Libertarian, he questioned that by saying that Libertarians are nothing more or less than Republicans in disguise. His interpretation is shared by most Republicans and Democrats alike, but is an ill-conceived analysis of a political belief or party. First, as a Libertarian I equate partisanship not as Democrat vs. Republican but as having differ- ing views within one9s own party. Take abortion for an example: I believe in a woman9s right to choose, it9s absolutely none of my business what she chooses to do with her body; I just don9t want to pay for it. I believe in the 2nd amendment but I firmly believe a line must be drawn between common sense and ridiculousness, e.g., an AK 47 is not a musket. I believe some drugs like mari- juana should be decriminalized but not made legal. I believe racism can only be resolved from one9s own heart and mind; removing monuments and changing names at airports is nothing more than a band-aid added to an ongoing problem. The leading parties9 platforms mandate it9s all or nothing with the aforementioned issues, leaving compromise and common sense totally out of the equation when debating these issues. My friends call me wishy-washy because I9m critical of President Trump; what9s not to be critical about? Those same friends, for years, have called me an idiot for questioning the 2nd amendment. I9m neither a sheep nor a fish; I can9t swallow all this BS, hook, line, and sinker. I am a Libertarian because I have liberated myself from the partisanship that exists within both political parties. My point is; don9t some intelligent and independently thinking Democrats feel somewhat the same? Can9t there be libertar- ian Democrats as well as libertarian Republicans? Why let ignorant partisanship mandate the defini- tion of right and wrong when it comes to COVID- 19, police brutality, racial injustice, abortion, gun control, etc.? The moderates of both parties have become the silent majority and this is certainly not the time for silence. Terry Coultas s s s To the Editor: A July 15 contributor affected me deeply when he praised this country9s freedom and equal oppor- tunity in response, I assume, to our current racial issues. It made me question just when African Americans supposedly became equal in this country. We all know the basic discrimination America was built on. When this country was founded, only white landowning men were generally allowed to vote. In 1870, the 15th amendment gave black men the right to vote, but only on paper. States figured out ways to deny it with poll taxes or literacy tests that remained until 1966. We know about segrega- tion, bus seating, separate water fountains, housing discrimination, redlining. But I never knew about, <blue discharges,= neither honorable nor dishon- orable, given out to simply deny GI benefits after World War II, to black and homosexual veterans. Nelson Henry was a veteran with a blue dis- charge who at 95 tried to get his honorable discharge 17 papers. These veterans served their country honor- ably; they received a blue discharge because they were black. This piece of paper affected Mr. Henry for the rest of his life. The Legal Aid Network states: <It excluded Mr. Henry from many jobs. It cut off his GI benefits. And it resulted in him driving a cab for 13 years instead of enrolling in dental school, where he had already been granted a conditional acceptance before he had enlisted.= 47,000 soldiers9 received blue discharges. African Americans like Mr. Henry, got about 10,000 of them4or 22.2 percent4 black soldiers made up only about 6.5 percent of the Army. The program was structured specifically to deny recipi- ents a way to change their status. I am ashamed this happened. My father used the GI Bill to get a college degree and a home. Mr. Henry never had the opportunities or equality my father had from the GI Bill. Nancy Buffinton-Kelm s s s To the Editor: In response to a Letter to the Editor last week, it was offensive to read someone suggest that these protests are about people not <wanting to pull their own weight.= Anyone who is paying attention has learned that our history has conveniently left out the brutality and limitations set against Black citizens. The info is out there and the history is being corrected. My former husband9s family lost his brother, a truck driver for Standard Oil, when he was shot and killed on I-5 just south of Myrtle Point, Oregon, in 1971. He was warned, but refused to be intimidated by those who didn9t want him to stop at a café there for what he called <the best pie in Oregon.= He was a hard working father of five children in Portland. His <guilt= was being Black. To the writer, your white privilege is showing. Bonnie Malone ! EW LL N Oregon Artisan Showcase A A R T I S T S , M A K E R S , C R E AT O R S , D E S I G N E R S , C R A F T E R S Look for it in th e August 5 issue of The Nugget! The Nugget Newspaper is excited to introduce handcrafted products to Sisters! Wine • Woodfi red Pizza Handmade Chocolate • Custom Guitars Smoked Meats & Seafood Stained Glass Art • Home Décor Sauces • Organic Foods