TO THE EDITOR
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hold the weight of all the pressing national
needs deserving of center stage. An anti-Bush
platform only serves to confirm the negative
nature of politics, and harden the assumptions
of powerlessness many feel to change what is.
An anti-Bush platform presumes the president
as the cause of all our problems rather than, as
is more likely, the result of them.
As we begin what will certainly prove a
bitterly divisive political new year, I caution
fellow Democrats to take great care not to de-
scend to the same low levels we are oppos-
ing. Demonstrate instead the strength of our
national spirit, which far surpasses that of any
one man to suppress it.
Todd Huffman, M.D.
Eugene
NOT VERY LIBERAL
Liberal readers of EW should be aware
that the mainstream media has been painting
Howard Dean to be a liberal, but he is not. His
positions are available at www.deanforamer-
ica.com Note that he is not against the death
penalty (“I believe the death penalty should
be available for extreme and heinous crimes,
such as terrorism or the killing of police offi-
cers or young children. But it must be carried
out with scrupulous fairness.”); nor is he for
substantially stricter gun control (“I don’t
think we need a lot of new federal laws. But
we do need to do a few things at the federal
level, like requiring Insta-Check on all retail
and gun show sales. We also must do a better
job of enforcing the laws on the books.”). He
has considered reducing benefits or extend-
ing the age of eligibility for Medicare and
Social Security under the guise of making
these programs fiscally sound. (“Assure that
Social Security and Medicare are adequately
funded to meet the needs of the next genera-
tion of retirees.” Obvious code words for
these benefit reductions.) He supports a
strong military. The list goes on and on.
Although it is true that he has an excellent
record on the environment, civil unions, and
women’s rights, liberals who think they sup-
port Dean should take note: Dean is no run-
of-the-mill liberal; rather, he is a social cen-
trist and fiscal conservative in the mold of a
“Rockefeller Republican” or Clinton.
McGovernites will have to look elsewhere.
James McClelland
Eugene
RED FLAGS
Money continues to be the driving force
in Eugene, even when misused; even when
grossly misused, as in the boondoggles of ex-
panding Autzen Stadium and replacing Mac
Court for a multi-million dollar figure that
continues to mushroom.
Alan Pittman (cover story, 12/24) was
dealing with a lesser amount — “just” $25
million for community sports and recreation.
I have no answers for the debate over how
much should go for each deserving area. But
when money goes to sports facilities, red
flags should go up.
A case in point is the spending of $1.7 mil-
lion for four new high school stadia. Money
probably was well spent — except it should not
have had to be spent. The decision to spend
came because the use of Autzen Stadium for
weekly prep games was to end since Autzen
was to replace artificial grass with the real stuff.
Fear was the living blades might lose some of
their luster if Autzen had more than six games a
year. So, goodbye high schools.
But wait, the Ducks still play on artificial
turf. They changed their minds about real
grass. Only the rush to build a separate tiny
stadium for each high school already was
under way. So money was unnecessarily
spent, and Autzen sits empty on what used to
be high school game nights.
We may go hungry in other areas. But,
heck, we still have games to play.
George Beres
Eugene
UNFAIR TAX
Please contact the Board of
Commissioners at 682-4203. This is the main
line to get individual emails or extensions.
They are considering a tax on pet food and re-
quiring vets to open private records to ensure
registration of pets to raise money for the im-
poverished LCARA.
A tax on food is always unfair to the poor
who cannot choose whether or not they
should indulge in nutrition. Veterinarians say
most of the very poor take excellent care of
their pets (sometimes their only companions
in life), already spending much more than the
wealthier sector proportionate to income.
Those who welcome a tax could choose to
send a donation to LCARA instead! Opening
(private) pet records to public officials would
only create yet another bureaucracy of audi-
tors whom would require a salary as well as
require more paperwork from vets, thus rais-
ing consumer costs. This would also increase
the chance that unregistered owners would
choose to not get rabies shots.
Compared to the many places I’ve lived,
we restrictively limit the number of dogs one
can legally own. Increasing that number
would encourage many people to register
who haven’t out of fear.
Perhaps some of the financial burden of
caring for unwanted pets should fall on the
people creating them.
I’ve ties to the rescue community and
there are actually a handful of irresponsible
backyard breeders who create a surprising
amount of shelter animals. Maybe selling an-
imals could be taxed with a credit system for
responsible breeding.
Sondra Arrache
Eugene
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CORRUPTED TALE
Being a strong admirer of J.R.R. Tolkien,
I was saddened by the recent recreation of
Lord of the Rings. The grandeur of Tolkien’s
original work lay its portrayal of true good-
ness and noble courage in the face of great
darkness. All of this is lost in the film, be-
cause the characters have been corrupted
from their original spirit.
For instance, for those who have seen the
films, none of the following events actually
happened in the books upon which the films
were based: Gandalf the “white” wizard beats
up another he disagrees with, later murders
him, and ignobly wears mud on his face.
Frodo the pure-hearted is tricked and rejects
his only true friend. Eowyn the brave and val-
orous wears her helm lopsided, making her
look foolish right at the moment of her tri-
umph. Sam the humble hobbit gets morbid
satisfaction from killing and delivers one of
the many one-liners in the film ala Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Elrond the noble elf king
shows his contempt for his daughter by scoff-
ing at her love for a human man. The film is
wholly infected with these subtle but pro-
found corruptions.
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JANUARY 8, 2004 5