THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2017
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
Lies are lies
L
ike many of you, I am dis-
appointed in the recent
presidential election and the
outcomes of late. I have never
seen such division and fear in
my life. In this era of social
media, one’s bias shines bright
— where friends are no lon-
ger friends and families live
in discord, and where one
finds it difficult not to pass
judgment on those in support
of this president and all he
represents.
When I was a child, I was
taught a lie was a lie, and
learned quickly the conse-
quences if I chose to lie. Our
president campaigned on false
truths, hyperbole and flat out
lies. What example is this to
our young generation?
I know a third-grader who
knows it is wrong to bully her
classmates, who stands up
against classroom bullies and
shows more dignity and grace
than the white man in the oval
office.
For several years, I have
supported a group that helps
Muslim gays and lesbians
who are being persecuted in
their native Iran to escape to
Turkey, and after a minimum
two-year vetting process,
move to the U.S. or Canada
for a chance at a new begin-
ning, leaving all they knew
and loved behind. I know few
Americans who would sacri-
fice as much.
I have fortunately been
able to forge some great
friendships with several who
reside in Portland, and have
shared holidays and good
times alike. This experience
has proven to me that we are
all more similar than not.
Peace, freedom, opportunity
and the right to be our true
self are the common threads
that bind us all.
The words of the president
have shown us his true charac-
ter, and those same words will
be his demise. I am heartened
that the majority of Americans
did not vote for this man, and
we will prevail. The words of
a wise man: “We must accept
finite disappointment, but
never lose infinite hope.” —
Martin Luther King.
God bless America.
PAUL FLUES II
Astoria
Reconciling
I
t was a dream. Well, a
nightmare. The Statue of
Liberty was exploding, blown
up by a bomb planted by a ter-
rorist group, a local, home-
ground terrorist group.
Were they protesting
against foreigners coming into
this country? Or against the
harm different cultures, reli-
gions, ethnic and racial
groups do to our national
integrity? Or was it against a
liberal political establishment
out of touch with this great
country?
Then again, maybe, like
those U.S. flag burners of
old, were they protesting
against the intolerance, prej-
udice and bigotry infecting
our nation and preventing
us from accepting the real-
ity of a diverse, 21st century
America?
Hard to tell. Either, or.
When we want something
to be true, our threshold for
believing is low, and self-pro-
tective rage can follow.
Its easy to forget that our
Constitution was the culmi-
nation of hard-fought com-
promises needed to recon-
cile greatly differing views
as to the kind of country we
wanted. Let’s not blow that all
up now.
JULIE SNYDER
Astoria
Christian values
A
s a retired Lutheran pas-
tor, my wife and I have
been grateful through the
years to be part of a church
that takes seriously the bib-
lical call to welcome the
stranger, and to treat the
sojourner as we would our
own citizens.
As Lutherans, many of
our ancestors faced the pain
of fleeing their homes and
the joy of being welcomed in
new communities across the
U.S. For almost 80 years, the
Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service (LIRS) has
been assisting resettlement in
the U.S. of over half a mil-
lion refugees of all religions
and cultures from all over the
world. This is also in keeping
Crossing the bar in your life
I
don’t know how many times,
returning from sea, the Columbia
River bar was raging just ahead. It
always caused my heart to beat a bit
faster. But once committed to cross-
ing, it’s no secret, you must keep
enough power on to avoid broaching
and possible disaster. You must keep
going.
It seems to me that most of us will
with the best of our nation’s
traditions.
The leaders of LIRS and
the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America have
just communicated with the
Trump administration asking
that it not stop the U.S. ref-
ugee admissions program or
stop resettlement from any
country for any period of
time. Besides not enhancing
our safety, it does not reflect
our values as Christians.
We urge each of us to
write or call our legislators
on behalf of desperate people
who are fleeing persecution
and threat to life.
JOHN and JACKIE
WECKER
Astoria
No cigar
I
’m amused that many citi-
zens are worried about the
term “alternative facts,” when
a previous administration had
trouble with what the defini-
tion of what is, is.
As far as me personally,
it’s close but no cigar.
MATT JANES
Astoria
Not so funny
J
ust saw the Clay Jones
political “cartoon” in the
Thursday, Jan. 26 edition of
The Daily Astorian. This was
disgusting.
I realize a lot of media is
liberal, but Mr. Trump is now
our leader, for better or worse.
So get over it. You media
types are acting like little kids,
stamping your feet. Man up (or
woman up).
DICK DARBY
Astoria
Food for the hungry?
R
egarding a letter in the
Jan. 20 Friday Exchange
section of The Daily Astorian,
“Winter hunger”: My wife and
I, being of an older age, saw
something that was quite dis-
turbing take place at the War-
renton Fred Meyer store the
other day.
We had pulled into the
parking lot next to the rear
entrance of the store in which
a garbage can was located
in front of our vehicle. We
noticed an obvious street-type
individual approaching the
area in front of us. He imme-
diately removed the lid from
the garbage can and started
rummaging through it for
what I thought would be recy-
clable cans and bottles.
To my surprise, he was
looking for something to eat.
He found a bottle of liquid
which he drank from; what he
was eating I don’t know. To
see this take place in a town
the size of Warrenton, in the
year 2017 was, to us, quite
disturbing, to say the least.
This brings up the ques-
tion: I would like fur-
ther knowledge concerning
whether the less fortunate in
this area are given any infor-
mation, by whatever means,
of where they can receive help
in regard to at least obtaining
a food source without resort-
ing to eating out of garbage
cans.
R. ROTH
Astoria
Astoria’s march
W
e expected 50, hoped
for 300, and never
dreamed that more than 1,300
people would take part in
the Astoria Women’s March
on Jan. 21.They came from
around the region — all ages,
genders, sizes, shapes, and
colors. We saw a commu-
nity, not merely categories
of people. Our march was
one of more than 700 around
the world, including 18 in
Oregon.
We were heartened to see
so many people with their
face many tough bar crossings as we
voyage through life. Sickness, lone-
liness, broken home, depression, loss
of loved ones — you name it. Too
often, the tendency is just to give up.
So what can we do? First of all, don’t
give up. Keep moving, there is hope.
In my sea-going days on large
ships, to make a safe bar crossing
we’d take on board a bar pilot. I don’t
homemade signs showing
what they believe in, such as
“Equal Justice,” “A Nation
of Laws,” “Women’s Rights
Are Human Rights,” “Speak
Up for Truth,” and many
more. We are honored to have
brought together all these peo-
ple for this landmark event.
Check out our Facebook page
for photos, comments, videos
and audio: goo.gl/huppEV
Astoria’s officials helped
with advice, problem solv-
ing and good cheer through-
out our planning. Police Chief
Brad Johnston and Deputy
Chief Eric Halverson told us
at our first meeting that their
job was to guarantee our First
Amendment rights to assem-
ble and to speak freely. They
did that, and more, to help
make this march safe, mean-
ingful and peaceful for every-
one. We also want to thank
Mayor Arline LaMear, City
Manager Brett Estes, Julie
Yuill, Brett’s executive secre-
tary, Astoria Parks and Astoria
Public Works.
It goes without saying that
Astoria’s businesses and res-
idents were extraordinarily
hospitable and patient. Our
volunteer safety monitors
from Washington and Oregon
watched over marchers and
traffic at downtown intersec-
tions. We’re grateful to many
others, including The Daily
Astorian, Hipfish and KMUN
Radio; musicians Dinah Urell,
Simon Levene, Linda Chris-
tianson and Kathleen Dud-
ley; Joe Garrison and the Blue
Scorcher Bakery and Café;
Astoria First United Methodist
Church; Tom Horning, Doug
Thompson, Nicole Adamczyk,
Jack Harris, Donna Hender-
son, Pat Johns and everyone
else who pitched in.
We hope everyone who
attended or supported a Wom-
en’s March anywhere will
stay informed and active in
your community. We applaud
all of you already involved in
civic-minded organizations.
Now, more than ever, we need
to support each other and the
good work of all. As President
Obama said on Jan. 10, “Our
democracy needs you. …
Show up. Dive in. Stay at it.”
LAURIE CAPLAN
MARGARET FRIMOTH
JEANNE BRAUN
HENDERSON
NANCY HOLMES
JOYCE HUNT
KIT KETCHAM
SHARON KLOEPFER
DEB VANASEE
PAT WOLLNER
Astoria Women’s March
Committee
know about you, but in my life’s voy-
age, I’ve faced many horrific bars. No
way would I have made it across on
my own.
So what did I do? I put the helm
of my humble craft into the capable
hands of the Mighty Pilot of the uni-
verse, and praise God, I’m still afloat.
JIM BERNARD
Warrenton
long-standing opinion of an
economy based upon tourism:
If crowding and congestion
are the problem, is more tour-
ism and its consequence the
solution?
GARY DURHEIM
Cannon Beach
Opt out of unions
T
here seem to be some
union nightmares nation-
wide. Although President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and
the president of the AFL-CIO
union, George Meany, had
agreed that public employees
should never be unionized, the
unscrupulous unions and the
Democrats managed to make
that happen, and the unions
became the major cash cow
for the Democrats.
Then, as the ridiculous
benefits began to grow, our
budgets became very diffi-
cult to balance. This finally
motivated Gov. Scott Walker
of Wisconsin to rid the state
of the union nightmare, and
they were able to balance
their budget again. Every
state should follow Walker’s
actions, and bring back a little
common sense in government.
Another ridiculous act by
the unions was forcing union-
ism on the caregivers, causing
some very irritated workers,
and rightfully so. Well thanks
to the Freedom Foundation,
most of those unhappy work-
ers in Washington have been
able to opt out of the unscru-
pulous union. Take note, you
caregivers here in Oregon, the
Freedom Foundation has now
made opting out of the union
possible here in Oregon.
Thank you, Freedom Foun-
dation, for your help to restore
some of our freedom.
JIM ELVIN
Salem
Port business
M
r. Stephen Fulton and
Mr. Bill Hunsinger: I
am a little tired of you con-
tinuing to behave in the most
juvenile way. You both make
headlines that are ridiculous.
Give us taxpayers a break.
Mr. Robert Mushen has
class. Take a lesson, Fulton
and Hunsinger. Then get on
with the Port of Astoria’s real
business.
You may be surprised how
many taxpayers are happy
with Jim Knight, the Port’s
executive director. Your
approval rating needs to be
improved.
DIANE FINUCANE
Astoria
Women’s rally
W
hile we women, men
and children were
elated by the success of the
Jan. 21 Women’s March on
Washington and around the
world, which drew millions of
people, we cannot rest on our
glory for long.
Yes, it was inspiring and
comforting to realize and actu-
ally see and hear the united
efforts we all brought with us
to stand up for what is right
and just. We rallied for equal
rights, justice, mercy, dignity,
acknowledgment, voice, wis-
dom, freedom of choice, and
for the future of our children
and grandchildren. We rallied
for hope in a hopeless world.
But now our work begins.
5A
Besides holding our jour-
nalists accountable for accu-
rate reporting, putting our
lawmakers on speed dial, set-
ting up a daily schedule of
input to them as to what we
want for this country, and
using our words to make a
difference, consider aligning
with an action group.
One such group in my area
is Alliance4Action, that has
chosen five areas to focus on:
Health Care; Immigration;
Education: Climate Coalition;
and the election of progressive
candidates. To sign up, contact
afpgvaz@gmail.com. Or goo-
gle “Indivisible Guide,” a man-
ual for organizations to resist
through grassroots action.
Above all, remember this: If
you are a senior, you have the
wisdom, the time, the resources
and the reasons to save and
protect the future for your chil-
dren and grandchildren who
will live into the world we
have created for them.
GAIL BALDEN
Green Valley, Arizona
Santa’s breakfast
T
he Warrenton Community
Center Advisory Board
held a Breakfast with Santa
at the Warrenton Community
Center on Saturday, Dec. 17.
The breakfast was a great suc-
cess. We served 202, and 85
kids enjoyed seeing Santa and
having their pictures taken.
We want to thank the com-
munity for their awesome
support.
A special thanks to all our
great volunteers, and to Star-
bucks Coffee in Warrenton,
Pig ’N Pancake, Bornstein’s,
the Veterans of Foreign Wars
and VFW Auxiliary Detach-
ment 1228, Lektro, Marcia
Harper Insurance, McCall Tire
Center, Wauna Federal Credit
Union, the Columbia River
Bar Pilots, Warrenton Kiwanis
and Warrenton Deep Sea.
A special thanks goes to
the Pig ’N Pancake staff, who
cooked our pancakes, to Santa
for dropping in and to the vol-
unteers from the senior cit-
izens group who served our
breakfast and washed our
dishes.
FRANK BECKER
Chairman, Warrenton
Community Center Advisory
Board
More tourism?
I
live on what shall remain a
nameless street in the heart
of Cannon Beach. There is
one other family living full
time on my street, and the rest
of the housing in my “neigh-
borhood” is taken up with
vacation rentals and absen-
tee ownership. I am very well
aware of the housing crunch,
and the lack of affordable
housing here on the North
Oregon Coast.
My hometown is Astoria.
In the spirit of nativism, and
as my I see my home town
increasingly caught up in the
tourism racket, I would like to
offer the following, from The
Asheville Blade newspaper:
“The most important step
in tourist interaction is what
you can do to reduce the like-
lihood of encountering them
in the first place. Tourists are
very attracted to food, which
means that trash should be
secured indoors and not set
out on the curb the night
before pick-up. Remove bird
feeders from the property, as
those too are known to attract
tourists. Do not feed them or
alert them to your restaurant
connections …”
The article goes on, but
its tenor is obvious, as is my
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