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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2003)
TO THE EDITOR BY CAROL HORNE Did You Know? Bush collusions undermine democracy. H ow can we be so blind? For the past 50 years, it seems the Bush family has been planning for this moment in history. They have created fortunes for themselves and others and now it’s time for their grand finale. The Bush family’s association with the oil business in Texas goes back to 1917. Since 1952, they have been gathering together friends among the richest, most powerful oil producers in the U.S. Most of them and their lawyers now hold top positions in the Bush Jr. administration. Did you know that in 1988, now Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was trying to make an oil deal with Saddam Hussein? The deal fell through because Saddam felt he was being overcharged. Did you know that in 1991 a group of power brokers got together and designed a plan to control the Persian Gulf region? In 1997, they drafted the Statement of Principles for “The New American Century.” You can read it for yourself, in their own words, at www.newamericancentury.org. Check out the list of signatories. You’ll rec- ognize most of the names: Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush, to name just a few. Is it possible that the reason Dick Cheney doesn’t want to release the transcripts of his Energy meetings is because they were talking about Iraq and Iran and the plan to control the region? It seems plausible to me. As a matter of fact, it seems incredible that the topic didn’t come up. Do you know about the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based equity fund that spe- cializes in energy and defense companies? Do you know that this fund is headed by Frank Carlucci, former director of the CIA, and sitting on its board of directors is George Bush Sr. and James Baker III (secretary of state under George Sr. and the man who fought tirelessly to secure the state of Florida for George Jr. in the 2000 elec- tion)? Did you know that within a month of 9/11, Frank Carlucci was in meetings with Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz? Did you know that a recently released transcript of a National Security briefing held at the Bush ranch mid-August 2001, shows that the president was advised that terrorists might hijack planes and fly them into buildings? Yet, President Bush said, after the 9/11 attacks, that they never dreamed such a thing could happen. O ur democracy is being destroyed. Our national religion is capitalism. Oil has become our god. Congress is bought and most of our press is in the pockets of five powerful conglomerates. This White House shrouds itself in more secrecy than any other White House in U.S. History. I have to ask myself why. We condemn the CIA and FBI for not connecting the dots and stopping the attacks of 9/11. Yet, here we are, not connecting the dots. We are not children. It is up to us to hound congress until they perform their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. If any of our representatives think our democracy could never crumble, then they are in the wrong job. Their responsibility is to be ever vigilant, always watching for those who would steal our rights for their own profit. It’s time to open our eyes and see the whole picture. It’s possible that what is being done will not be stopped and that 50 years from now our children will look back and wonder where their freedoms went. If this is the case, I want to be counted among the millions who fought against it. No one may re- member my name or exactly what I did in the fight, but they will know that I was brave and spoke out and did not go gently. Carol Horne of Eugene writes and directs educational videos on human health issues. Her current goal is to make her FBI file at least two inches thick. ADVERTISING National Sales Manager Mark Frisbee Senior Marketing Consultant Bill Shreve Display Marketing Consultant Rob Weiss Advertisng Traffic Coordinator Geneva Miller Classified Manager Jennifer D’Angelo Classified Marketing ConsultantJeffrey Stout 541.484.0519 • (fax) 541.484.4044 EDITORIAL Editor Ted Taylor Executive/Arts Editor Lois Wadsworth Associate Editor Aria Seligmann Contributing Editor Anita Johnson Staff Writers Alan Pittman, Bobbie Willis Calendar Editor Ben Fogelson Editorial Assistant Marina Taylo, Contributing Writers Brett Campbell, Rachel Foster, Kate Rogers Gessert, Jerry Harris, James Johnston, Sharleen Nelson, Mary O’Brien, Vanessa Salvia, Sally Sheklow, Lance Sparks, Martha Ulman West Interns Kelly O’Brien y ART DEPARTMENT Art Director/Production Manager Kevin Dougherty Graphic Artist/Webmaster James Bateman Graphic Artists Katie Beckman, Todd Cooper Contributing Photographers Kurt Jensen, Paul Neevel, Linda Smogor 6 JUNE 26, 2003 BUSINESS General Manager John Herron Circulation Manager Deena Miller Bookkeeper Paula Hoemann Customer Care Specialist Erin Lusk Distributors Travis Dominguez, Jim Harris, Sam Hauk, Sue Hunnel, Terri Molitor, Will Thornton, Pedalers Express Printing Signature Graphics HOW TO REACH US BY E-MAIL: (letters): editor@eugeneweekly.com (advertising): ads@eugeneweekly.com (classifieds): classy@eugeneweekly.com (personals): romance@eugeneweekly.com (calendar): cal@eugeneweekly.com (music/clubs/special shows): music@eugeneweekly.com (art/openings/galleries): visualarts@eugeneweekly.com (performance/theater): performance@eugeneweekly.com (literary arts/readings): books@eugeneweekly.com (movies/film screenings): movies@eugeneweekly.com (circulation): distribution@eugeneweekly.com of a MLK Boulevard is a kick in the face to African-American history, and shows a total disregard for King’s legacy. Close a street to traffic and rename it the Martin Luther King Jr. Pedestrian Mall. Pave over a parking lot and create the MLK Jr. Park. Rip apart a highway to grow the King Greenway. Close a parking garage to estab- lish a community center in it. Do some- thing that enhances, rather than destroys, our community to recognize this leader. Jef Stout Eugene DON’T READ THIS I know this will sound ironic, but I don’t believe there should be letters to the editor. For one thing, it takes too much space that could be used for other purposes such as, dare I say, news, or even the worst thing of all, advertising. I know it’s ignorant of me to send a letter to the editor saying how much I dislike the whole subject, but I believe it’s the only way for the editor to stop printing this babble. If this even gets printed, which it probably won’t, please do all you can to put an end to the mind-numbing editorials we are put through when we read the paper. Thank you. Brendan Smith Eugene NIGHTMARE RIVER Did you know that more than 1,000 of Oregon’s bodies of water fail to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s mini- mum standards for clean water? What about the fact that Oregon leads the nation in expired water discharge permits (60 per- cent of our permits are expired)? The Willamette River alone receives millions of tons of toxic chemicals every year and has become the dirtiest river west of the Mississippi. Residents and visitors alike should be able to swim, fish, and oth- erwise enjoy the river without having to worry about the potential consequences to their health associated with arsenic, mer- cury, dioxin, and the other chemicals cur- rently found in the Willamette. Not only would this benefit our quality of life, it would encourage tourism and recreational use of the river and stimulate local economies. The Willamette should be the pride of the state, not the environmental nightmare it is now. Gov. Kulongoski, while campaigning, pledged to clean the Willamette. Oregonians are depending on Kulongoski to restore our waterways, yet he’s done nothing to improve the state of our river since he’s taken office. Reducing toxic emissions to the river, increasing environ- mental enforcement, and making polluters pay are all issues Kulongoski addressed in his campaign. Now he needs to implement the measures he proposed and give us the clean Willamette we deserve. Mariel Alexandre Eugene REQUIRED READING Kitty Piercy’s column (“Building Trust,” 6/12) is unfortunately all too true. I was born in Eugene in 1945. I spent my professional career in Chicago, New York, and overseas, and I returned to Eugene in 1990. This column should be mandatory reading for everyone in Eugene, whether they are activists or bystanders. Kitty is one of the most perceptive observers of life and politics in our great state. All too many of the old-time families like mine ignore this kind of reality and simply step aside. Thank you, Kitty. Ron Darling Eugene TOO MUCH TEDIUM I was very disappointed to discover this past week (6/12) that Too Much Coffee Man has an immortal soul. His recent expi- ration on the surface of the Moon had given me a sense of respect for the artist’s appar- ent willingness to kill off a popular but one-dimensional character. I mean, who the fuck is Too Much Coffee Man? What do we know about him aside from the fact that he drinks “too much” coffee? And just what the hell does “too much” mean? TMCM is half an idea that goes on and on, week after uninspired week. And now, for the love of Pete, we find that he’s got an immortal soul — but a soul so utterly inca- pable of development that we can only look forward to a tedious journey back to that empty idiot of a character, holding yet an- other dumb-ass metaphorical conversation with that guy whose head is topped off by a shot of espresso. It makes me want to fuck- ing scream. I’ve got an idea for a comic alternative to replace TMCM, titled Mad As Hell Guy. There’s this guy, see, and he’s really mad all of the time. Mad as Hell. Tim Shaw Eugene TAKE IT BACK On June 2, the FCC let giant media companies get even bigger, despite over- whelming opposition from the American public. But June 2 ignited a movement to take that power back, and June 19 is the next big day in the fight, as legislation reversing several FCC rules will come before the Senate Commerce Committee. Please don’t sell your newspaper! The legislation up for a vote in Committee is S.1046. This bipartisan legislation rolls back the broadcast ownership cap limit. There is also a crucial amendment spon- sored by Senators Dorgan and Snowe that reinstates newspaper/broadcast cross-own- ership restrictions. Kirk Giudici Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: For the record, Eugene Weekly is still locally owned and independent. ABORTION AS FEMICIDE Planned Parenthood’s Gloria Feldt says of reproductive rights: “Without that right, we can’t do anything else.” What? We have no rights unless we have a license to kill unborn children? This is blatantly demeaning to women, saying we are born inferior to men. Now we need to have surgery to attain compara- ble status? Do we need to go all the way and add on penises, too? Abortion isn’t the guarantor of female rights, it is the most effective means of “femicide” ever. In just six Indian clinics studied, 8,000 amniocenteses showed females — 7,999 were aborted! Worldwide, notably China, it is common for pregnant women to abort based on the verdict of “girl.”
