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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2003)
TO THE EDITOR troversy. I hope that the feds build the access ramp, but cancel the rest of the building. I don’t see a need for this Homeland Security complex. The existing federal courthouse is adequate to prosecute federal violations, es- pecially if we restore our Bill of Rights by re- pealing the so-called PATRIOT Act. A second topic: the “anyone but Bush” mantra. While I support immediate impeach- ment of the entire Bush regime, the real issue is ending imperial policies, not merely re- placing the figureheads in the White House. Dean supports Bush’s obscene military spending increases. In contrast, Kucinich wants to cut the bloated military budget to fund human needs. Kucinich is the only can- didate talking about the Pentagon’s missing trillion dollars, something that Coward Dean does not discuss. Dean merely has tactical differences with Bush regarding the conduct of the US empire. See www.kucinichdean- compare.com for the details. Any Democratic candidate can only beat Bush if the phony electronic “touch screen” voting machines being installed from coast to coast are withdrawn and actual ballots (counted by hand) are used in 2004. Otherwise, there will be a repeat of the 2002 Georgia election, where the conservative Democrat governor and senator, both ex- pected to win (according to the polls) sud- denly had a massive drop in their support on election day. There is no way to verify the results of an election using touch screen ballots — and it is not a coincidence that these disputes all favor Republicans, since Republicans make these machines. Kucinich is the only Democratic presidential candidate to express concern about this new form of vote fraud. Mark Robinowitz Eugene (9/25) has the honor of being this week’s cry- baby. I can’t help but laugh when I see such foolishness. This person has the gall to equate football with our enemies’ perception of us. This “football drug fix” she speaks of, brings in gobs of money to the university. This money helps fund the arts and academics that the UO is known for. These new multi-million dollar buildings that are springing up around cam- pus, just where does she think the funding is coming from? Seems to me the only “drug” she needs to worry about is the one that is ob- viously distorting her perception of reality. Do us a favor Miss Linn, keep slapping those “Free Tibet” stickers on your bumper, at least you can make believe your making a differ- ence. Or, here is a novel idea, get off your butt, and champion a real cause! Mark Zacchino Eugene LETTER FROM A POODLE COLD COMFORT I loved the letter of Mitzi Linn (9/25) chastising EW for having an Oregon football insert, blaming football for contemporary in- ternational problems. First, she probably writes using a pen name (I do not find her in the telephone book), because only miniature poodles are called Mitzi. Mitzi, I am sorry your undies are in a knot over sports. Having served on the UO Alumni Association Board, I know well the benefit to student and academic programs of the UO sports programs. Simply put, Mitzi: Joey Harrington and Luke Ridnour translate into thousands of dollars in donations to stu- dent and academic programs, at a time of leg- islative non-support. I am pleased that no football fan wrote EW protesting EW’s appropriate expansive coverage of the Oregon Country Fair. Relax, sweetie. David Jensen Eugene/Vida I’ll vote for Kucinich in the primary and general elections, even if I have to write his name in. He seems to be the only one that rep- resents new ideas. Yes, this is a critical time, not a time for business as usual. Dean seems rather like another Gore, and I see nothing outstanding about the rest. They’re all look- ing to gain the advantage of more money. Everyone on the left seems to be saying Kucinich is good, yet, being short on money, has zero chance of winning. If this is so, what’s the point of paying any attention to elections? Maybe it’s time to make more ag- gressive responses to corruption. But here’s another low probability. The chances of my one vote actually af- fecting a presidential election are insignifi- cant (though not zero), especially with the electoral college and other corruptions, as was certainly true when I voted for Nader the last two times. But the votes are reported, at least for significant candidates. Minority votes still send a message of who and what we really want, which may someday affect what candidates the Demolicans support. If the Republicans dare to support Bush again, and by chance and corruption he stays in, I feel his excesses may wake us up to the corruption of capitalism, consumerism and corporatism and help to put an end to them, hopefully before they completely destroy the earth’s ecosystems. Anyway, maybe hell has freezers, and even a snowball does have a chance. Dan Robinson Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: For the record, Mitzi is a real person (one of several upstanding local citizens with that name); in addition, we know of at least one ankle-biter poodle named Dave. CRYING FOWL There are few certainties in life. We know the standard, death and taxes, are things upon which we can rely. But there is another, that I have found, a guarantee if you will. As soon as I had the pleasure of seeing the Oregon Ducks insert in EW, I knew, for a fact, that there would be people crying fowl (I could not resist the pun, forgive me) in you’re Letters section. Sure enough, Mitzi Linn STICK TO THE PLAN The Healthy Forest Restoration Act is an attempt by the Bush administration to roll back the environmental protections of the Northwest Forest Plan and the continued log- ging of old-growth forests on public land. The Northwest Forest Plan protects water quality, salmon habitat, rare and endangered species associated with ancient forests. The national forests are owned by the public — by you and me — a public who believes that old forests, salmon, wildlife and our water need protection. As the agencies managing public land, the Forest Service and the BLM actions should reflect public opinion. So I urge everybody to stop this proposal and defend the Northwest’s heritage by speaking out loud! Sylvia Bigontina Eugene OCTOBER 9, 2003 5
