ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
THuRSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
GUEST EDITORIAL
Yes, Virginia,
there is a
Santa Claus
T
he following is perhaps the most
famous example of a child wanting
to know if Santa is real.
Letter to the editor
The New York Sun, 1897
Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old. Some of my little
friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa
says, ‘If you see it in The Sun it’s so.’ Please
tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
— Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia,
Your little friends are wrong. They have
been affected by the skepticism of a skep-
tical age. They do not believe except they
see. They think that nothing can be which
is not comprehensible by their little minds.
All minds, Virginia, whether they be
men’s or children’s, are little. In this great
universe of ours man is a mere insect, an
ant, in his intellect, as compared with the
boundless world about him, as measured
by the intelligence capable of grasping the
whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He
exists as certainly as love and generosity
and devotion exist, and you know that they
abound and give to your life its highest
beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would
be the world if there were no Santa Claus.
It would be as dreary as if there were no
Virginias. There would be no childlike
faith then, no poetry, no romance to make
tolerable this existence. We should have no
enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The
eternal light with which childhood fills the
world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might
as well not believe in fairies. You might
get your papa to hire men to watch in all
the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch
Santa Claus, but even if they did not see
Santa Claus coming down, what would that
prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that
is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The
most real things in the world are those that
neither children nor men can see. Did you
ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of
course not, but that’s no proof that they are
not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine
all the wonders there are unseen and unsee-
able in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and
see what makes the noise inside, but there
is a veil covering the unseen world which
not the strongest man, nor even the united
strength of all the strongest men that ever
lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy,
poetry, love, romance, can push aside that
curtain and view and picture the supernal
beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah,
Virginia, in all this world there is nothing
else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives,
and he lives forever. A thousand years from
now, Virginia, nay, 10 times 10,000 years
from now, he will continue to make glad
the heart of childhood.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East
Oregonian editorial board. Other columns,
letters and cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not necessarily
that of the East Oregonian.
LETTERS
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters
of 400 words or less on public issues and public
policies for publication in the newspaper and on
our website. The newspaper reserves the right
to withhold letters that address concerns about
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The phone number will not be published.
Unsigned letters will not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR 97801
YOUR VIEWS
Misinformation to blame
for lagging vaccinations
Here is something to think about as
we enter the winter months, with the
potential for an uptick in COVID-19
and the variants of delta and omicron.
This information was updated as of
Dec. 5 and heard on NPR’s “Morning
Edition.” The print article was head-
lined “Pro-Trump counties now have far
higher COVID death rates. Misinforma-
tion is to blame.”
Since May 2021, people living in
counties that voted heavily for Donald
Trump during the last presidential
election have been nearly three times
as likely to die from COVID-19 as
those who live in areas that went for
now-President Biden. That’s accord-
ing to a new analysis by NPR that
examines how political polarization
and misinformation are driving a
significant share of the deaths in the
pandemic.
The trend was robust, even when
controlling for age, which is the primary
demographic risk of COVID-19 mortal-
ity. The data also reveal a major contrib-
uting factor to the death rate difference:
The higher the vote share for Trump, the
lower the vaccination rate.
The analysis looked at only the
geographic location of COVID-19
deaths. The exact political views
of each person taken by the disease
remains unknowable. But the strength
of the association, combined with
polling information about vaccina-
tion, strongly suggests that Repub-
licans are being disproportionately
affected.
Misinformation appears to be a
major factor in the lagging vaccina-
tion rates. The Kaiser Family Founda-
tion’s polling shows Republicans are far
more likely to believe false statements
about COVID-19 and vaccines. A full
94% of Republicans think one or more
false statements about COVID-19 and
vaccines might be true, and 46% believe
four or more statements might be true.
By contrast, only 14% of Democrats
believe four or more false statements
about the disease.
The full report can be found on NPR.
org.
Dan and Jan Blair
Joseph
Elk are fortunate
to have economic value
“The elk arrive” (East Oregonian,
Dec. 15) provides information about
10 local elk feeding stations operated
by Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife. Elk are fed to keep them out
of ranchers’ haystacks. Many ranchers
graze cattle on public lands in summer
while their lower private land grows
hay.
As noted, elk are highly adapted
to survive winters by pawing through
snow to grasses. But when cows eat the
grass, elk are forced into the valleys
and will quite naturally eat from
haystacks. To prevent that, elk numbers
are controlled through various hunting
programs. The sale of elk tags is lucra-
tive for ODFW. Thus government feed-
ing stations, paid for by public dollars,
are run to benefit ranchers and ODFW.
Elk are fortunate to have economic
value for ODFW.
When wolves kill or harass livestock,
all hell breaks loose. Ranchers howl
and get reimbursed. ODFW condemns
repeat offenders to death. After all,
there’s no money in wolves. In an
unregulated capitalist system only profit
has value.
Respect for diverse species and
healthy ecosystems is not yet prior-
itized by most people, particularly
lawmakers taking funding from big
business. For that reason, basic ecosys-
tems are unraveling everywhere. See
Norm Cimon’s Other Views column
“Cheatgrass will take over Owyhee”
(The Observer, Dec. 16).
There’s a steep price to be paid for
such bedrock ignorance and greed.
Worldwide news is chronicling it today.
Mary McCracken
Island City
Give to cultural nonprofits
that matter to you
Twenty years ago, a mighty group of
visionaries celebrated the fulfillment of
a dream — a simple and effective way
for Oregon taxpayers to direct funds to
cultural activities. This was the gene-
sis of the Oregon Cultural Trust and its
cultural tax credit.
It remains cause for celebration. As
the Oregon Cultural Trust marks its
20th anniversary, it has proven itself a
stable source of funding for Oregon’s
arts, heritage and humanities nonprofits.
The state tax credit is available to any
Oregonian who donates to one or more
of the 1,500-plus cultural nonprofits and
makes a matching gift to the Cultural
Trust. At tax time, the amount you gave
to the trust comes back to you — dollar
for dollar. And the state sets those funds
aside for Cultural Trust grant awards
the following year.
Since its founding in 2001, the trust
has raised — through the cultural tax
credit — more than $74 million for
culture statewide. It has distributed
nearly 10,000 grant awards totaling
more than $34 million and its perma-
nent fund now exceeds $33 million. In
addition, the Cultural Trust network of
County Cultural Coalitions enabled the
distribution of more than $25 million in
Coronavirus Relief Fund for Cultural
Support awards to 621 organizations
struggling to survive the pandemic.
Please donate generously to the
cultural nonprofits that matter to you
— they need your help now more than
ever — and use your power by making a
matching donation to the Cultural Trust
by Dec. 31.
Roberta Lavadour
Executive Director
Pendleton Center for the Arts