LET TERS
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
I enjoyed David Turner’s Along the
Long Tom River: Observations from the
Past and Present, and Blake Andrews’ in-
terview with David Turner (“Stories from
the Long Tom," Oct. 5).
As a child, each summer in the late
1940s and into the 1950s, I spent several
weeks staying with my grandparents in
Monroe and played and fished along the
Long Tom River, which is only two blocks
from my grandparents’ home. My grand-
dad, Fay Porter’s great-grandfather Wil-
liam Grayson Porter, crossed the Oregon
Trail in 1848 and settled a land claim not
far from the Long Tom.
If it weren’t for my dad’s work in a
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) revet-
ment project on the Long Tom River in the
1930s, he would never have met my mom,
Jean (Porter) Walsh, who sold him stamps
at the Monroe post office.
My father, Jack, and mother were mar-
ried on April 16, 1939, and ironically
I came along in 1943, all because of the
Long Tom River.
Mike E. Walsh
Eugene
BEAR LOVE
Brown (grizzly) bears in Wyoming
don’t “kill 14 people a year” (“The Great
Outdoors,” Corinne Boyer, Oct. 5).
Since Yellowstone became a park in 1872,
eight people have died from brown bears, one
to two a year on average are injured.
Since 1950, 63 have died in North
America, a third in the contiguous states.
Having camped extensively in Alaska, I
have encountered many brown bears. I am
not cavalier about the risks. Keeping a scru-
pulously clean camp, making your presence
known, not looking for trouble (getting too
close to take that all-important picture) and
knowing what to do if attacked, make the
risks of death far less than my dying at the
hands of one of my countrymen.
Michael S. Smith
Eugene
THE NEW “MATRIONISM”
I’m a dude, so football is the center of
my cognitive universe. Not.
Let’s examine the notion of patriotism.
The word and concept “patriotism” re-
fer to the male side of a country’s origin
and story … just like the word “his”tory.
The term “fatherland” (one of Hitler’s
favorites) has recently gained lots of trac-
tion here. Gladiator sports take precedence
over our president’s threat to incinerate 25
million people in Asia. Hugh Hefner is cur-
rently being lionized. Male priorities are a
bit whacko.
Many years ago I tried to start a
linguistic campaign to adopt usage of “ma-
triotism” and being “matriotic.” Be a ma-
triot: honor the Motherland.
Big Oil and all the other extraction
industries would rather retain popular per-
mission to continue raping her.
In this era of seeing the obvious damage
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4
October 12, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
done by our clueless species (climate
change, plastics pileups, etc.), why are we
bickering about a word and concept which
has helped lead to imminent destruction
for all?
Food for thought. Not forgetting that
the first food comes from the generosity of
maternal bosoms, and all the food afterward
from the deep generosity of Mother Earth.
Vip B. Short
Eugene
THE SINCLAIR TAKEOVER
Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting
conglomerate now dictates at least some
content on all local Eugene newscasts ex-
cept KEZI, destroying the credibility of
much of our local TV news.
Most noteworthy are comments by
Sinclair’s “chief political analyst” Boris
Epshteyn. This Russian-born international
investment banker was a “senior political
advisor” to the Trump campaign and then
worked in the Trump White House com-
munication office during the “biggest in-
auguration crowd ever” era. His feverishly
pro-Trump propaganda can be called fascist
fantasies for the feeble-minded because he
often misrepresents or makes up “facts”
while advocating absurd, far-right policies.
He is not an Oregonian, as illustrated
by his opinion pieces advocating taking
money away from Oregon for health care,
increasing the relative federal tax burden
of Oregonians to help states that vote Re-
publican (i.e., have poor economic devel-
opment) or defending the white suprema-
cist, neo-Nazi mob in Charlottesville.
His opinions frequently echo Russian
cyber attacks designed to disrupt and di-
vide America. Although all 17 U.S. intelli-
gence agencies concur that Russia meddled
in the U.S. 2016 election, Epshteyn would
not answer Bill Maher’s direct questions
on that issue. Epshteyn was called to tes-
tify before the House Intelligence Commit-
tee investigating Russian meddling in the
US 2016 election.
Ironically, his opinion pieces usually
air on KVAL just prior to the Late Show,
which sometimes starts with a cold open
that mocks Epshteyn-type propagandists.
Let’s hope local viewers and advertisers
will boycott Sinclair’s efforts to ruin local
news. KEZI at least usually tries to present
accurate information.
Lynn Kahle
Eugene
ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING
Robert Bolman’s scurrilous letter about
why Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump
(Oct. 5) is based on weak premises.
One is that Bernie Sanders would have
won against Trump. Sanders needed many
Clinton voters plus a substantial number of
Republican voters, or his presidential win
in the Electoral College was not likely.
A second premise is that Clinton was
extremely unpopular, distrusted, etc. Hill-
ary Clinton was a very popular, trusted