LET TERS
GUNS IN THE USA
The media and the press really suck. It’s
all brainwashing. Professional journalism
is dead. Why should the media and the
press be allowed to “hide” behind the
Constitution? Shouldn’t they be held
to some kind of standard — or lose the
protection of the Constitution?
Perhaps only reporting part of a story
should be considered a lie. And not reporting
a story should be considered negligence —
perhaps criminal negligence? Perhaps the
all local papers should be become public
utilities? Everyone would get a copy of the
paper and the cost would show up on utility
bills. With lots of public participation.
Frank Skipton
Springfi eld
As a Springsteen fan, I’m offended
by your Nov. 29 cover. This image must
somehow fi t with the wacky worldview
of EW staff, but it in no way fi ts with
Springsteen’s music or stated political
views. Couldn’t you have found someway
to use Ted Nugent on your cover instead?
Born in the U.S.A.,
Aaron Toneys
Eugene
EDITOR’S NOTE: Baby, we were born to pun!
OCCUPY’S FAILURE
I’m writing in response to “Another
Deadly Winter,” Gwendolyn Iris’s letter
in the Nov. 21 EW. She bemoans the fact
that the Occupiers were “tricked” into
complying with a shutdown order a year
ago, that the promises the city government
made to help the homeless have not been
made good. I have to ask: Did she honestly
expect anything to go differently?
Occupy Eugene caved. We surrendered.
We made a strong start, but then we
shuffl ed our feet, mumbled embarrassed
apologies, moved around a few times
to avoid inconveniencing anyone, and
fi nally scattered when the city authorities
starting tapping their feet impatiently. It
was a complete failure as a movement of
civil resistance. I stopped taking Occupy
seriously last November, and I helped
organize the initial Occupation at Park
Blocks. Why on Earth would the invested
offi cers of capital in this city take us
seriously when we had proven that we
would, under no circumstances, actually
stand up for anything? That the mere threat
of police action was enough to get us to
back down? I’m sure the City Council
made whatever promises they felt were
necessary to minimize blow-back to their
political careers, then when it was over,
heaved a sigh of relief and never gave it a
second thought.
If you want to force change through
civil disobedience, you kind of have to, you
know, disobey. Undermine the legitimacy
of civil authority and force them to expose
themselves as the violent agents of capital
that they are. The city of Eugene fi gured
out quickly that Occupy Eugene did not
have the spine for confrontation, and
killed us with false kindness and empty
promises. And we made it easy for them. If
BAN RECYCLING
200 Occupiers had joined Gwendolyn and
chained themselves to City Hall, it would
have garnered a lot more attention than a
“Happening People” spot in EW. If we had
done it again and again and again, fi lled
the jail with our bodies and the newspapers
with our stories, maybe it’s the city that
would have lost will and backed down.
I hope this serves as a lesson that you
cannot achieve revolutionary change by
complying with cease and desist orders.
Gwendolyn obviously knows this; I just
wish Occupy had backed her up when we
had the chance.
Steve McAllister
Communist Party, USA
Eugene
malls, on buses and sports stadiums, is a
recipe for disaster.
Curtis Taylor
Eugene
PEAK POPULATION
David Piccioni [Letters, 11/22]
asserts that climate change will “destroy
civilization” and that corporations “are
making our planet unlivable.” What will
destroy civilization is overpopulation and
those responsible for making our planet
unlivable are the people making babies
beyond replacement numbers.
Jerry Ritter
Springfi eld
THE CRIMINAL MEDIA
BULLETS WILL FLY
Allowing untrained, or under-trained
persons to carry loaded hidden handguns
in public puts Oregonians at risk of
being killed or injured, intentionally and
unintentionally [see cover story, 11/29]. It
also makes it harder for law enforcement
to identify the real perpetrators during a
shooting. Allowing more people to carry
concealed handguns in densely populated
areas like downtown Eugene, in crowded
This article [on Project Censored 11/21]
really rang a bell with me. To this day I have
an absolute hatred of the “press” and the
media for the under-reporting or no reporting
about blacks, Asians, Hispanics and all
other groups who contributed to this great
nation while I was growing up. By the time
I graduated from high school (1954) I was
completely brainwashed. I volunteered to be
drafted into the Army in October 1954 and
found out we are all pretty much the same.
If we want to be patriotic and support
the American economy, create jobs and all
that, shouldn’t we be banning second-hand
stores and recycling centers? Isn’t “Buy
it new, use it once and throw it away”
much better for the economy? Further,
shouldn’t we prohibit publicly available
instructions for using or repairing any kind
of equipment, other than what comes in the
box? Oh wait, I forgot, that’s pretty much
already done. Go looking for instructions
for most anything electronic or otherwise
high-tech and you’re much more likely
to fi nd an ad for buying it, as well as for
buying a competing product.
Could it be that “economy” isn’t quite
the right word here?
Dan Robinson
Eugene
OUR GUN CULTURE
Regarding “Born to Gun” [cover
story 11/29]: America’s gun culture
harbors the enemy within. It began when
manufacturing interests swayed the
outcome of governmental appointments,
ensuring that judicial interpretations were
biased in their favor. Hence, the subject of
the Second Amendment has been ignored.
The Second Amendment is one
paragraph with one sentence, with one
subject: “a well regulated militia.” Two
subordinate clauses briefl y describe the
subject’s necessity and its nature: “security
of a free state,” and “people’s right to keep
and bear arms.” The sentence ends with a
verb phrase. It describes an action not to
be imposed upon the subject: “shall not be
infringed.”
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December 6, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com