Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2003)
TO THE EDITOR BIAS SHOWING EW’s left bias is showing again: There hasn’t been an issue go by in the past few months where white cops were not accused — either by your staff or your readers — of misconduct against minorities. Well, I’m sure if that’s really going on, it’s appropriate that EW is flagging these alleged incidents. Few things anger me as much as police miscon- duct and/or abuse of their authority. But I haven’t seen one word in EW about the far more serious allegations and indict- ments against two Hispanic (former) EPD members, although your arch nemesis, The Register-Guard, has provided significant and regular coverage. I’m sure the reason for the lack of cover- age is that you don’t want to raise any ques- tions about EPD’s “diversity” program — which you actually commended in last week’s issue. But here are two examples of where the program apparently failed badly. Misconduct by police of any race or eth- nicity is dangerous to our freedoms, should not be tolerated and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by a responsible press. Jerry Ritter Springfield EDITOR’S NOTE: We look to cover what the R-G and broadcast media are either ignoring or don’t know about. NO RESPECT So, for more than 65 years, Essie Washington-Williams never came forward “out of respect” for Sen. Strom Thurmond to say that she was his half-black daughter. How could this woman respect a man who statuto- rily raped her 16-year-old mother? He was a man who was a symbol of the racist mentality of the south that terrorized and killed black people. During the years of her silence, this bigot move up through the ranks of senate seniority, spewing his hatred while blacks were being lynched, bombed, and pistol- whipped for exercising their democratic rights. She could have stopped him in his tracks, and maybe the civil rights movement would have progressed much more rapidly. I have no respect for the plantation mentality of Miss Essie. Jerry Harris Eugene TRUE CRIMES Bring it on! Saddam Hussein will soon be tried as a war criminal but it’s a mere begin- ning. While we are on a roll, there are some other high-profile individuals who should also be tried for crimes against humanity, not to mention treason. Let’s start with George W. Bush, whose administration illegally waged war and occu- pied a country that did not attack the U.S., killing some 10,000 Iraqis and 300 American soldiers to date. This preemptive war was based on a litany of lies, such as the false claim of WMDs, the fabrication of the case of “imminent” threat to the U.S., in addition to the false claim in the State of the Union Address that Iraq was receiving enriched ura- nium from Niger. In the context of commit- ting a nation to war, these lies are acts of trea- son. Then there are the wrenching and an- guished cries from newly converted humani- tarians Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney gnashing their teeth over the abuse of Iraqi citizens under the reign of Saddam Hussein. It all seems a bit odd considering the fact that 4 DECEMBER 31, 2003 Rumsfeld and Cheney supported Iraq in its war with Iran, which killed one million peo- ple. They also lobbied relentlessly to take Iraq off the list of “terrorist states,” which helped elevate it to “favored” trading status just a few days after being told that Hussein had nerve-gassed hundreds of Kurdish civil- ians back in the 1980s. As a matter of fact, these same chemical compounds were pro- vided by U.S. companies and the U.S. Pentagon. Rumsfeld, Cheney and others should be tried for crimes against humanity, but then again, Saddam was “our” boy then, so who cares? There’s more: The recent “outing” of a CIA operative for petty and vindictive politi- cal reasons in George Bush Sr.’s words is an act of “treason.” Let’s get these trials going. Gerry Rempel Eugene FIGHTING MONSTERS There has been much lively debate over our national policy of quelling terrorism by invading other countries and eroding our own civil rights in the pursuit of the illusion of se- curity. The continuing attack upon our cher- ished civil liberties through the so-called PA- TRIOT Act and a multitude of other laws and dictates is precisely what the terrorists hoped for. Those liberties are what make America a beacon of human freedom, but they are en- dangered by the actions of the newest version of the Three Stooges: Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. Their chosen weapons of Ashcroft and Ridge are the thin edge of the wedge that divides democracy from tyranny. I would remind all those who would be patriots of Friedrich Nietzsche’s warning: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a mon- ster.” Pete Giberson Eugene FOR LOVE OR MONEY? I’ve responded several times to ads in the personals. It seems that a lot of the people who write in aren’t honest about what they want. I’m a male, 65, alone. I live on my re- tirement. I’m not rich in money but I have a lot of love or care for someone who’s not looking for a pot of gold. It seems to me all women want is to see how much you have and not who you are as a person. A lot of us may not be rich in money but rich in how we treat people. Why can’t they look at us for who we are and not what we have. When they see what I drive and where I live, that’s the end. I live in a nice manufactured trailer. I try to do the best I can on a disability income. When they hear the word “disability,” they think we’re crippled; I’m not. I do everything everyone else does. I’ve had two open-heart surgeries and walk with a cane. I love fishing, crabbing, beach walking and driving in the hills. Too bad ladies, I’m not rich. Leslie Swafford Junction City PET PEEVE I’m generally slow to anger, but after reading the letter by John Fluent (12/4) on the subject of putting a tax on pet food, it was all I could do not to go outside and scream! What bright light in a bureau somewhere thought this one up and when did I vote it in? Isn’t it bad enough that when I open my phone bill the taxes put on without my con- sent are more than the basic phone service?! Does the phrase “taxation without represen- tation” ring a bell? Saving feral cats and scroungy ill-bred dogs should not be a prior- ity in any community. I protest paying for the ignorance of humans (who will mate with anything that breathes) who do not act re- sponsibly by getting their pets fixed or in choosing not take on the job of having a pet in the first place. Maybe if our local animal shelters didn’t charge exorbitant prices for their animals, more people would adopt them and they wouldn’t have to be euthanized. There are children in our community who need food, clothing, and attention, and I think humans are much more important than ani- mals. Before I pay another unfair and un- wanted tax to support the saving of mangy animals that nobody really cares about, I will have my purebred, papered, neutered dog put down! Annie Kayner Eugene ON THE AIR I suggest to Erik Miller (12/11) that he avail himself of the four FM radio stations on the left side of the dial. All are local, noncom- mercial and intelligent: KRVM (91.9), run by local high school students, thanks its support- ers without commercials; KLCC (89.7), which runs NPR news on weekday mornings and KWAX (91.1), the university’s classical station, both list their sponsors tastefully. And, my favorite, KWVA (88.1), the UO’s “Willamette Valley Alternative,” on 24 hours a day, offers a wide spectrum of music. Most of the talk consists of public service an- nouncements, upcoming concert events, and DJs’ expressions about music. On weekdays from 7 to 8 am, KWVA airs “Democracy Now” with Amy Goodman, and weekday evenings from 6 to 7 pm, Free Speech Radio (Pacifica) airs news you won’t hear else- where, followed by “The Nation Magazine.” Then often our own local reporter, Amy Merwin, provides us with local news and in- terviews. There’s no excuse to tolerate commercial radio (or TV). Once weaned from the schlock of commercial radio/TV, you’ll wonder why you ever subjected yourself. Those times I am forced to listen to these broadcasts, I’m appalled by the junk people endure. Being barraged with rude talk and the push to spend money is insulting and abrasive. DJs talk over the first minute of a song, their humor is insulting, news is ultra-condensed and fascis- tic, the commercials loud and urgent, and often a promise of “three songs in a row” is offered. Wow! Please support local stations by tuning in. Sherry Franzen Eugene TRENDSETTER I didn’t watch ABC News (Corporate Media Propaganda) last night and for many nights before that because I have come to be- lieve that reporters and journalists have been replaced at ABC by Corporate Media Stooges. Lately, when I tuned into any com- mercial newscast, local or national, it was mostly to confirm that which was not re- ported. For that reason, as time has passed, I have been replacing corporate networks and sta- tions with national and local publicly owned news sources. This is because I want actual news, not entertainment. Now I listen to NPR, The Jefferson Exchange, Independent Media, BBC, CBC, etc. Because ABC has pulled their reporters for the Kucinich, Braun, and Sharpton campaigns, I have per- manently pulled ABC News from my TV. It is not that I have selected a presidential candi- date to vote for, it is that I am in the processes of selecting new sources of information — ABC did not make the cut. One would think that Diane Sawyer’s apology for telling the truth in an effort to protect a corporate merger would have caused me to stop watching what ABC calls news. But for the past 40 years, I have been a corporate media junkie. Now, corporate bias is so outrageously blatant that I am forced to make the change. Since I am of the age group that makes up the largest block of audience for news, it seems, perhaps, that I am an im- portant loss, and possibly the start of a trend. A. Max Opus Cottage Grove
