2
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I
N I
O
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address, and
phone number. Letters 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 Unpublished items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 10 a.m. Monday.
Coping with COVID
Editor9s Note: The Nugget will pause letters
to the editor on COVID-19-related subjects
for a couple of weeks, after this edition. The
community needs a cooling-off period. Letters
we have been receiving in recent weeks are
becoming increasingly personal and hostile,
and generate more heat than light.
The subject has been thoroughly addressed
from a variety of points of view, and it seems
unlikely at this point that the discourse will
provide new information or perspectives for
readers.
See LETTERS on page 15
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Saturday
Friday
Thursday
October 13 • Partly Cloudy October 14 • Partly Cloudy October 15 • Partly Cloudy October 16 • Partly Cloudy
69/39
65/36
56/31
48/31
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
October 17 • Partly Cloudy
October 18 • Partly Cloudy
October 19 • Partly Cloudy
58/32
61/34
62/37
The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759
Tel: 541-549-9941 | Email: 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
Creative Director: Jess Draper
Community Marketing
Partner: Vicki Curlett
Classifieds & Circulation: Beth Jacobsen
Proofreader: Kit Tosello
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, $60; six months (or less), $35. First-class postage: one year, $105; six months, $75.
Published Weekly. ©2021 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is pro-
hibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget
Newspaper, LLC. 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 unconditionally 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.
It’s pumpkin time!
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Got a great photo of life in Sisters Country?
Send your high-resolution photo to editor@nuggetnews.com.
N
If at first you
don’t secede...
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
A couple of weeks ago,
The Nugget published a
very sad letter from a man
mourning the death of his
oldest friend, a loss made
more painful because
the friends had become
estranged.
Over politics.
It9s hard to understand
blowing up a relationship like
that. My nature is to bring
people together. Lately, that9s
been harder and harder to do,
and I9ll tell you, I grow weary
of the effort. So many people
have lost all perspective. I
doubt whether conciliation is
even possible anymore.
The University of Virginia
(UVA) Center for Politics
published polling data* that
points to a stark conclusion: A
whole lot of Americans want
a divorce from one another.
The most startling finding
is that <roughly 4 in 10 (41
percent) of Biden and half
(52 percent) of Trump voters
at least somewhat agree that
it9s time to split the country,
favoring blue/red states
seceding from the union.=
Americans increasingly
see political differences as
irreconcilable, reflected
in the 75 percent of Biden
voters and 78 percent of
Trump voters who see those
who ardently support the
opposing party as a <clear
and present danger to the
American way of life.= (43
percent of Biden voters and
47 percent of Trump voters
believe this <strongly.=)
That9s the language of
civil war. Of course, a lot
of it is just talk. But civil
wars don9t start with one
big explosion; there9s a
long powder train laid down
by hostile rhetoric and the
demonizing of the political
and cultural <other.= If we do
slide into some kind of civil
war, it9s liable to look a lot
more like the chaotic English
Civil Wars of 1642-1651
than our own North/South
struggle of the 1860s.
In the English conflict,
political tension 4 largely
over taxation 4 between
Parliamentarians and an
autocratic King Charles II
was overlaid with profound
religious contention between
Puritans and High Church
Anglicans. Conspiracy
theories abounded, primarily
around Puritan fears of a
secret plot for a Catholic
takeover of Protestant
England. Political adversaries
became enemies, and enemies
were called heretics. There
could be no compromise.
Agitators worked hard
to make it impossible to
reconcile. Swords were
drawn, cannon unlimbered,
and the realm was plunged
into an abyss. Families
and communities were
ripped apart by conflicting
allegiances. As so often
happens in revolutionary
situations, the Puritans who
cut off the head of the high-
handed and foolish King
Charles II in 1649 replaced
his rule with a harsher, more
dictatorial regime than he
ever dreamed of.
Change the stage dressing
to make things contemporary,
and they are us. UVA Center
for Politics poll finds that
<more than two-thirds
support 4 and one-third
strongly 4 emboldening and
empowering strong leaders
and taking the law into their
own hands when it comes to
dealing with people or groups
they view as dangerous.= Do
we really want a Cromwell
4 a <Lord Protector=?
Talk about an existential
threat to the American way
of life.
This is on us. All of us.
The greatest peril we face
comes from darkness we
carry within: Self-righteous
certainty that we hold
the truth and those who
dissent are either stupid
or malevolent. The lure
of conspiracy theory that
<explains= all things that
cause us fear and anxiety.
The impulse to empower a
self-appointed Witchfinder
General to sniff out heresy.
The petty satisfaction that
comes with seeing some
sinner clapped in the stocks
in the town square&
We can choose a different
path. We can unplug from
the social media and cable
TV that both feeds and feeds
on those dark impulses. We
can talk to each other 4
about anything except the
plague and politics. Talk
about that magical hike
or that wonderful musical
experience. Share that
spectacular meal or that
fantastic piece of art at the
gallery in town&
We can reach out to
that old friend or family
member from whom we9ve
become estranged 4 not to
convince them of anything,
not to prove them wrong,
but simply to tell them that
they matter to us, that our
differences ultimately don9t
mean so much.
And I will strive to keep
my faith, to believe that it9s
possible to bridge divides. It9s
better than dying estranged.
*https://bit.ly/UVAPoll
Views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.