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About The North Coast times-eagle. (Wheeler, Oregon) 1971-2007 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2001)
PAGE 3 NORTH COAST TIMES E A G L E, JULY 2001 DAVID AMBROSE V *r •V rz Ip r?WL JF7ST k: wz. % V« OLOE ELECTORAI COLLEGE • *-» •.‘»••«ix'* - • (He is an Astoria resident and KM UN celebrity ) Like every other election, the 2000 election did not really express the will of the voters because the methods of the advertising industry as they are used to sway people to buy consumer items come into play in elections to convince voters that these are the candidates we should vote for It all has to do with money. Although some of the public is discerning, there is a large segment that is swayed by advertising and elects people who do not really represent their interests. Did the person I think should have been elected Presi dent get elected? No I didn't vote for a major party candidate Until the two-party system is changed so that minor party candidates and issues are taken seriously, we will be plagued by the big money method of choosing candidates I think the Presidency has been weakened considerably by the caliber of our current President — and more of the direction of the country will be in the hands of the legislature the next four years because Bush is inadequate as President. He doesn't understand his opposition, he's listening only his cronies around him, he's learning on the job, and whatever positions he takes are being usurped by the legislature. So I think it's safe to say that Bush's only legacy will be his ill- advised tax cut. He is being a total ostrich about global warming. The problem is that an ostrich has a lot of anterior plumage to protect it even though its head is in the sand MIKE STARK & KAREN MOCKLER z B uchanan • s, II ti É • j ; ! e] XHHO3 3W3Mdng \xX\<\Yx>KsXX/ XJ u /S22SV79 HUM >tona ‘>/0070 ‘B/d ON/AVd ilHO/d MATTWUERKER between rich and poor, are appalling. We have a high rate of hunger and the lowest support for the arts in the nation, which is an issue that is important to me Bush in the White House is business as usual. Many good things are threatened. Women's rights in particular are in jeopardy. Bush is thinking of appointing an anti-choice judge, Carol yi^Kuty Jo the 9 th Circuit Court, which covers the nine western states including Oregon. She wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and all other choice issues. And environmental issues are threatened. We could talk a long time about these issues. I am optimistic. I think people can still make a difference. What I have done is get involved in the North Coast Women's Political Caucus. We try to find women candidates for political office who support women's issues. What we hope to do is raise awareness among women (and also men) of what is happening for women in politics in our area and statewide. We can say women got the right to vote on August 26, 1920 — the 19th Amendment. At this point, 81 years later, only 13.5% women are in Congress, the House of Representatives; only 13% are in the Senate. In Oregon, only 27% women are in statewide elective offices, and only 22% women are state legis lators nationwide. We on the North Coast Women's Political Caucus are supporting Beverly Stein for Governor of Oregon. She is a candidate whose position I can personally agree with on every issue — on women's issues, health care and the environment It is very rare when you can support a candidate on every issue. She has formed a strong grassroots organization that has been involved in every county in Oregon. And if I have to make one statement over and over again, my own mantra — it is: Beverly Stein is electable! Beverly Stein is elect able! Beverly Stein is elect able! When people say enough times that someone is not electable it becomes an issue that creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. People are electable because they get the votes. Beverly Stein is electable! CALEN UHLIG (He is 22 years old, a 24-hour musician and manager of a music store in downtown Astoria.) It goes without saying it makes a complete farce of the system with that guy (George Bush) in the White House. Real leadership is absent. Leadership seems only to be the almighty dollar. We've got an indomitable position in the world but I don't think it's going to last much longer. It's like Rome - It's peaking out. I think much of the world is sickened by us and will get sick of us One out of five people on the planet is Chinese. If you think about it, the Chinese and the Japanese are much more homogenized and determined than we are to impose their wll on the world All we are about are accommodation and convenience. (They are both writers and reporters, both winners of journalism awards while working at the Daily Astorian; Mike was most recently news director of KMUN radio. They were briefly back in Astoria while on a continuing odyssey of the American West, and have so far traveled through the states of Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Nevada.) MIKE: I think the 2000 election really peeled back the whole democratic process and revealed how potentially fallible it is and how divided the country is. The consequences can go twa ways — serious question ing of how we elect our leaders; and it could also hopefully get people to vote in higher numbers and become more involved and take greater interest in the process. KAREN: At the same time I wander if people might become more cynical and convinced this is not a represent ational democracy — instead it has become more entrenched in partisan politics. The people talk about their political parties like they are football teams. SUSAN MARIE NELSON (She is a retired teacher after 30 years in public schools She is an artist and also a travel agent) What I don't like about the new President is he wants to abandon public schools and support private schools. I think that will be the downfall of this country. The rich will get richer and send their children to private schools; the poor will get poorer and public schools will be filled with only poor people. The President wants to make a two class society, and the rich will get vouchers to put their children in private schools while the people with little money will end up in public schools that are being allowed to deteriorate because most of the money for education will go to private schools I hope the public will not let this happen. I think people shouid have more say about education than they really do. My husband John* and I voted for Ralph Nader rather than the so-called Republicrats. (‘John Nelson was interviewed in the Marpril 2001 issue of the NOTE.) ELIZABETH MENETREY (She is the program director of KMUN-FM and the mother of 4 year old Alia, aka Radio Girl'.) The morning after I thought George Bush was elected President I did a radio show and I played Bob Dylan's Not Dark Yet, in which he sings "It's not dark yet but it's getting there." (That was when we were all up in the air: we kept hearing "He's won!" "He hasn't won!") The song summed up my entire mood and the mood of several callers to KMUN who said they felt the same way I really let all my emotions out on that program, feeling genuine grief I've never felt Bush to be legitimate. In a way it's been like a nightmare you can't wake up from, although the Jefford's incident cheered me immensely. TONY S TAVERN 1313 MARINE DR., ASTORIA (503) 325-5069 ASTORIA RAILROAD PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION OPEN HOUSE, BARBECUE & MUSICAL BENEFIT 12 NOON, SUNDAY JULY 15 RESTORATION SHOP & THE PORTWAY TAVERN 446 W. MARINE DR. 422 W. MARINE DR. “Quiet Beauty" KEIKO NAKADATE SHIP COLOMBIA 17^2 COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM PAINTINGS INSPIRED BY THE BEAUTY OF NATURE 1792 MARINE DR., ASTORIA. ORE. (503) 325-2323 June I’* - July 31“, 2001 -. 325-9722*1052 COMMERCIAL* ASTORIA 97103 Pacific Rim Callery »No I. 12“ St. Dock, Astoria • 325-5450
