FRIDAY EXCHANGE
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2016
The Donald’s time
I
t seems that it is in vogue
to rage against The Donald
(I am, of course talking about
Donald Trump). From my point
of view, it is as if the major
television networks are upset
that they cannot create a per-
sona (like they did with Barack
Obama) that is to their lik-
ing and therefore, they choose
to attempt to discredit him at
every opportunity.
In this day and age of news
programs and not simply news
reporting, ratings mean more
to the news stations than accu-
rate reporting, or any form of an
unbiased stance that they could
take.
It is rather humorous that
what I consider to be gross vio-
lations of the law are swept
under the proverbial rug for
potential candidates like Hillary
Clinton, but when The Don-
ald and his supporters voice
their opinion, they are painted
as heretics. How interesting
the world has become since the
media have taken control of our
opinions, and basically told us
what we should think.
As for those citizens who
are threatening to leave the U.S.
if The Donald is elected; I say
good deal. These are probably
not the Americans you want to
have to appease when you are
attempting to turn the economy
of this country around.
It is interesting though, how
many citizens moved off shore
during the current administra-
tion; and nobody made mention
of that, even though it could be
considered a mass exodus of
sorts. Like they say: “It’s who
you know,” and who you have
shaping your image.
Perhaps it is time for a pres-
ident who cannot be bought by
anyone; who can, in fact, do
what he really thinks is right
and in the best interest of the
country, because he does not
need to profi t from this job.
That is what I think; I could
be wrong.
DAVID GRAVES
Astoria
Dump Trump
T
oday’s world really seems
like it is going to hell in a
hand-basket. Why is there so
much hate and anger spewed
out of the politician on the GOP
side? That hate and anger only
begets more hate and anger. It is
a vicious circle.
Isn’t life hard enough in
the world, without making
more people hate more peo-
ple? Really. His mind must
be warped by all his money
and privilege. He is so used to
getting his own way that it is
beyond him to believe he might
not be in charge of everything.
That he will lose to a woman, of
all things. He thinks so little of
the opposite sex that it is driv-
ing him crazier than he already
is.
The problem with all this
craziness is he is taking his fol-
lowers with him. They have
lost hope in their own lives, and
are turning to him to fi nd them-
selves because they are lost.
Only those who are lost would
follow this guy. I feel sorry for
them, as they cannot think for
themselves and need some-
one to tell them what to do.
How sad is that? These people
are following a reality star, for
God’s sake.
I’m sure God has nothing to
do with this, as he likes to pre-
sume. He is a complete fake.
There is nothing religious in
his plans for this country. He
will take us right into war and
destruction. The rich will get
richer, and the poor will get
poorer. The only thing to trick-
le-down is something we won’t
want to be under.
That is enough of my vent,
but it is hard to watch what is
going on and believe someone
so hateful is being allowed to
represent a political party. Does
money buy everything? Vote
Blue. I certainly will.
M. DIEBOLT
Seaside
Time for reform
A
lthough it’s been several
years since George W. did
his impression of the world’s
smallest man, it appears the
Republicans want the Ameri-
can people to accept an even
greater misfi t and misanthrope
as their next president.
We should be insulted and
outraged, but we must real-
ize the central mission of the
GOP has been to bring such a
degree of ineptitude to any pub-
lic offi ce they have held, that to
expect anything better would
be delusional. They have not
produced a convincing presi-
Flag at
half-staff
alf -staff. Our fl ag was at half -staff again. As a child
in a post World War II era, I recall seeing our fl ag fl y
proudly. There were a few identifi able events that the fl ag
would be at half -staff. The most notable was the 30 days
of mourning after the assassination of President Kennedy.
As I look about in today’s world, I see that the fl ag
is frequently, maybe more than not, at half -staff. It more
rarely fl ies proudly as before. And it seems the majority of
events are related to some form of gun violence.
As I continue to look up at our now half -staff fl ag I will
be forever reminded that this is now the price we will all
have to pay for the “right” to bear arms.
BUD PERSCHEK
Seaside
H
dential candidate since Dwight
Eisenhower over 50 years ago.
Now, you may ask, if that is
the case, didn’t they elect Nixon
and the two Bushes? And I will
say, “you’ve made my case for
me.” These presidencies starkly
illustrate how successful they
have been over the last 40 years
in their strategy to reduce confi -
dence in electoral politics in our
national life, and replace it with
corporati zation. By that, I mean
attempting to make all facets of
government subject to corpo-
rate control and funded by tax
dollars.
In other words, it becomes
government for profi t. We’re
told that corporations are more
effi cient than governments, so
why not let them do the work
of government departments and
agencies, and pass the savings
along to the corporations and
their stockholders?
If there ever was an argu-
ment for election reform we
have it now. If this candidacy is
the best they can do for a major
political party, then we are in
serious trouble. If this is the
best they have to offer, we have
to ask, “are they truly relevant
any more?”
It’s an insult, not only to the
American people, but to what
we have held dear for over 200
years — that the purpose of our
government is to further the
hopes and aspirations of all our
people through law and local
ordinance. If you accept this
shallow, cynical view of public
life, then it doesn’t matter what
your leader says or does, just so
the bucks keep rolling in, that
it’s OK when the streets go to
hell and the sewers back up, if
you’ve got money in the bank
and a house in the Barbados.
This is way too cynical for
me. I don’t want to have to look
away when I fi nd my ex-neigh-
bor pan-handling down on
Market Street or look at his
boarded up house and his yard
going to hell because he lost
his job when Wall Street went
belly-up, and couldn’t keep up
the payments. I want more for
myself, and I want more for my
neighbor, and I don’t see it hap-
pening if we elect a guy who
cares more about his hair than
he does for any of the rest of us.
It’s your choice America —
pray you make the right one.
JACK GUYOT
Astoria
Hair trouble
I
have been in the hair busi-
ness off and on for more
than 25 years, and still I meet
owners and beauticians with
interesting dispositions in this
business.
Being challenged, I thought
I would do a Google search.
When I looked up these words
uppity, snobby, conceited and
vain, I found actual salons
with names including these
words: The Uppity Salon, Van-
ity Salon, Conceited Salon,
Snobby Salon.
Which only proves a point.
Working in the hair business
can be challenging, contend-
ing with such . I have come to a
conclusion that the best way to
go is own your own shop, run
it alone, and call it The Humble
Hair Salon, which I could not
fi nd in a Google search.
I believe this is a competi-
tive business, and the custom-
ers are not generally where
problems arise. Employment
opportunities are slim, and you
should not be chosen by how
“cool” you are, but how well
you do the job. Now I am work-
ing in retail.
R. HARRIS
Warrenton
Let it go
I
n his Open Forum letter “Part
of the conversation” (The
Daily Astorian, June 21), Mark
Kujala does protest too much.
Having been on the board of
the Skipanon River Watershed
Council for the past eight years,
I am bewildered by Kujala’s ref-
erence to the “project” involving
the Eighth Street dam.
Members of the Kujala fam-
ily have sat on our board of
directors and know the facts.
The crumbling infrastructure of
this old and ineffectual dam has
led to a consensus that it should
be removed. The state and fed-
eral governments agree, and
have issued necessary permits.
It should be torn down because
it is an obstacle to fi sh passage,
dangerous for vehicular traffi c,
and, like any culvert system,
could become obstructed with
debris and fl ood the town.
Originally, the road on top
was intended only for main-
tenance and city vehicles, but
the family developer has been
using it for large trucks deliver-
ing fi ll, causing further deterio-
ration. The town of Warrenton
was offered the dam, but has
never wanted to take responsi-
bility for maintenance and pos-
sible accidents, and turned the
offer down. They were offered
a new free bridge, but haggled
over how wide it should be, and
then rejected the offer outright.
The Columbia River Estu-
ary Study Taskforce (CREST),
the Skipanon Watershed Coun-
cil, and the Skipanon Water
Control District are doing the
5A
right thing for the town and
the river. What do Kujala, his
family, and his cohort Nygaard
really want? The dam had its
tide gates removed, and is no
longer functioning for fl ood
control, if it ever did. It is being
decommissioned and is slowly
crumbling into the river. It is
time for it to go and for all of us
to move on.
MARGARET HINES
Warrenton
Leaking the truth
R
egrettably, the Astorian
editorial “Carbon choices
are climate choices” (The Daily
Astorian, June 20) focused on
carbon and carbon dioxide as
though these are the only global
warming problem. They most
profoundly are not.
Carbon dioxide is certainly
the major contributor to global
warming, but there are several
other responsible gases. Most
notable among them is meth-
ane, a gas that is 87 times more
effective at warming the earth
than carbon dioxide on a 20
year basis, which is relevant
because this is about the time
we have to act.
Methane is the major com-
ponent of natural gas. While
burning natural gas to produce
electricity releases less carbon
dioxide than burning coal or
oil, hence the misnomer “the
clean fossil fuel,” the problem
is natural gas leaks at a startling
rate — well above values that
used to be reported by industry
and the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency.
The leakage, particularly
from the fracking technology
employed to extract the gas
from shale, has been reported
far higher than necessary to
negate the combustion benefi t.
Thus, natural gas is probably
worse than coal as a cause of
global warming — but because
of methane, not because of car-
bon dioxide. Additionally, cur-
rent oil and coal extraction tech-
nologies also release methane.
Fortunately, the Oregon pro-
posal should target the prob-
lem: greenhouse gas emissions
as carbon dioxide equivalents.
Newspapers could help by edu-
cating the public accurately
about the problem, and pro-
posed solutions.
ALAN JOURNET
Jacksonville, Oregon
2016
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