TO THE EDITOR
HARASSING MUSLIMS
Recent news articles raise concerns about
the treatment of American Muslim communi-
ties. Since 9/11, Portland’s Muslim commu-
nity has been targeted for profiling and spe-
cial attention. Brandon Mayfield’s harass-
ment is only the most recent example. In
Idaho, a Muslim webmaster for fundamental-
ist Islamic websites is being prosecuted as a
terrorist for exercising his freedom of speech.
This past week we were warned of im-
pending terrorist action, serious enough to
warrant additional intrusion into Muslim
communities, but not serious enough to stop
Americans from spending money on summer
vacations and tourist opportunities.
We sing about ourselves as the land of the
brave and the home of the free. We lost sight
of that when we imprisoned Japanese-
Americans during World War II, and we may
be losing sight of it yet again. Christian ter-
rorists bombed the Oklahoma City Federal
Building, yet our government allows web-
sites to promote neo-Nazi propaganda and
preach right-wing rebellion, and allows fun-
damentalist Christians to terrorize abortion
providers. However, Muslims are being sup-
pressed for far fewer overt reasons. Are we
brave enough to allow freedom of expression
to those who have different religions and cul-
tures? Or only to those who fundamentally
agree with us?
Having failed to find WMD or prior links
to al-Qaeda in Iraq, our government is now
looking closer to home where it has greater
control of the evidence and publicity. The
American people are bigger than their gov-
ernment. I urge you to call your senator or
congressman to stop the harassment of our
Muslim friends and neighbors.
Michael Williams
Eugene
LOST LEGACY
I am writing in response to a short news
brief in your May 27 issue, “Logging Fuels
Fire, Doesn’t Prevent Them.” Since I moved
to Eugene three months ago, I’ve been regu-
larly astounded at the widespread conception
that logging is necessary to prevent wildfires.
In the brief, Duke University Forestry scholar
Norman Christensen correctly notes that the
debris exposed by logging causes fires to es-
calate and spread.
This summer, the Bush administration
plans to remove the Roadless Conservation
Rule, which protects the 1.9 million acres of
Oregon’s last remaining unspoiled National
Forests. He will be giving this power to the
governor, who will then have the opportunity
to lift the Roadless Area conservation rule, or
stand by it. The reason these ancient trees still
exist is the vigilant protections that we have
in place, yet now logging and road building
threaten them.
However, last week Gov. Kulongoski
stood up to the president’s shortsighted jabs
at Oregon’s heritage, saying he was against
logging in roadless areas. The Governor
needs the support of the public if he’s going
to stand his ground, and last week we finally
went one step in the right direction.
Many area residents are torn between sav-
ing these areas for future Oregonians, and
logging them in the hope that it will stop fires
and save timber jobs. In truth, it will do nei-
ther. The timber industry is already logging
16 million acres of our national forests. Why
do they need to go into the last 1.9 million
acres? How much more of Oregon’s legacy
will we lose to misconception?
Erin Betters
Eugene
BE GOOD JOLIE
On Wednesday, May 26 I learned that
Jolie Holland, former member of Be Good
Tanyas, was performing that night at Sam
Bond’s Garage. I was excited and decided to
go listen to and support this wonderful musi-
cian from the great Northwest.
Upon entering Sam Bond’s, my friends
and I were treated to an amazing opening act,
Gloria Deluxe. The band hails from Brooklyn
and is led by Cynthia Hopkins. Their per-
formance was the highlight that night, espe-
cially considering what happened when they
left the stage.
Jolie took the stage next and started play-
ing, then stopped and asked for the sound to
BY DAN CAROL
Capture The Flag
Let’s win one from the Gipper.
L
ast week was textbook politics — by the other side. A week of pa-
triotic imagery, revisionist history and deft electoral positioning, all
executed at taxpayers’ expense.
No moaning or grousing from me, however. As a political professional I was just flat
out impressed with how the Reagan crowd took their “moment” and really made it
count. Give Michael Deaver & Company their due — those folks know how to tug at heart-
strings.
And progressives? Well, we sure know how to whine and complain about the rules of
the game — as it is being played. Let me be blunt: I really, really don’t like that. As a
“coach” for the progressive movement, I was sorely disappointed by how our side han-
dled the whole show last week. No one was more sickened by the Reagan gush-a-thon
than me; trust me on that.
But whining about how the media swooned over Reagan only fueled … more swoon-
ing. It made us seem small and Gipper’s legacy bigger. Not good.
So people, gather under the chalk board and listen up Knute Rockne, Notre Dame
style: This cannot happen again. I am therefore treating last week as a useful training
exercise in what not to do when the Bush team produces Osama bin Laden this October
and the media goes nuts. When they do, your job is to simply be happy that there is one
less terrorist running loose, while following these handy guidelines for dealing with pa-
triotic moments — so that another global danger, George Bush, is removed from the
game come Nov. 2.
Easy enough? It can be. So let’s review the playbook and the game films from
Reagan week one more time:
First rule people, get a grip on the big picture: Before letting Republicans ring
your Pavlovian bell on any issue involving patriotism, take a deep breath first and think
a little, for goodness sake. With Reagan, it would have been wise to remember that the
last president who died was none other than Richard Nixon. Nixon the crook — not ex-
actly a tough act to follow, eh! So not only was Reagan a lucky guy as president (he hap-
pened to be on duty when the bi-partisan work of six previous presidents brought down
communism, he took office after Jimmy Carter and gas lines, he and Ollie North got off
4 JUNE 17, 2004
easy because hasty congressional investigators screwed up legal immu-
nity on the Iran-Contra investigation), the Gipper lucked into some kind of
cosmic, pent-up presidential hero worship for his final exit. What are ya
gonna do — a big presidential send-off was inevitable. No reason to block
and tackle something we can’t stop. No reason at all.
Let the Republicans overreach and get cocky: Does anyone remem-
ber the Houston Astrodome game from 1992 when the Republicans had
their convention and let Pat Buchanan and a bunch of their kooks say what
they really thought? They hung themselves with their own rope while we pulled
the old Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope. We could have tried that with Reagan last week, but
we didn’t. But you can bet there will be another chance in this campaign, with Osama
getting caught or something else the GOP tries to trumpet. I say: Let them crow. Let the
media machine crank out overloaded hype. Have a little faith. The average American will
figure this out and will get grossed out on their own — they will, I tell ya. Don’t forget
Newt Gingrich and the government shutdown of 1995. So let’s not get in the way of the
old Republican overreach. The only way we can screw it up is by whining rather than
saving energy when it counts.
Keep them out of the red zone of optimism: There’s only one thing dangerous
about last week. It’s that the Republicans made some penetration into the zone of Hope.
Give old Reagan his due — he aligned himself with American optimism, there’s no deny-
ing it. That’s Kennedy and FDR turf, our turf dammit, and the Gipper tried to take it back.
That Texas boy Bush has been selling fear after 9/11, and we need to keep him in that
squeeze. We’d better well not let him get into sweet spot. John Kerry is the guy we’ll
need to carry the ball on this hope thing, and the key game will be this summer at the
Democratic convention.
Capture the flag: But Kerry can’t do this alone; here’s where you come in, people. I
know a lot of you players are down on the team right now, and you’re not feeling so
proud of wearing the colors — red, white, or blue. But this is a patriotic country and it’s
part of the game and we need to fight for our flag when right wingers are trying to hi-
jack it for their purposes. So I expect to see a flag planted in the ground right next to
every single Kerry yard sign. Starting July 4 and straight through to Nov. 2. Don’t let
the team down on this one, or expect extra laps, I assure you! We can win this one, peo-
ple, in spite of the Gipper. Now get out there and do it!
Dan Carol is a Democratic political strategist and a founding partner of CTSG (www.ctsg.com), a progressive
consulting firm based in Eugene and Washington, D.C.