Wednesday, September 15, 2021
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
Regaining
the spirit
we had on
Sept. 11
S
aturday marked the 20th anniver-
sary of the horrific terrorist attacks
on Sept. 11, 2001.
For many of us, the images from that
morning are seared in our minds, some-
thing that will never be lost.
For the current generation of high
school students — even some college
students — and younger, it is history they
didn’t live through, a history they will
only get from what we tell them about it.
But whether you lived through it or
view it only as history, it should carry a
weight of impact with it.
That impact, though, may be fading.
What did you feel after 9/11? How did
you respond to those around you?
People often talk about the together-
ness, the sense of unity and the love of
our nation that was felt in the aftermath
of 9/11.
It shouldn’t have taken a terrorist
attack to bring those things to the surface,
though. And yet those very principals, it
seems, are fading just as fast as the mem-
ory of 9/11.
We say, “Never forget.” Have we
forgotten?
We should care for those around us.
Do we?
We should have respect for and love
our neighbors, even if we disagree with
them or have different viewpoints. Do
we?
There are pockets of this love, respect
and care, to be sure, but it seems more
and more that is being replaced with vit-
riol. Many feel that if their neighbor is
only 99% in agreement with them, then
they are 100% against them, and thus,
an enemy. There are countless topics to
be divided on, as well, and there is virtu-
ally no way for each person to be in exact
agreement with another.
So does that mean we should all be
enemies?
Of course, the answer is no. But we
often act that way.
And if that course of action doesn’t
change, we may as well be lost as a
nation.
That is no way to remember those lost
on 9/11.
You can disagree with someone —
even vehemently — on a topic, and yet
still be good friends with them. Care
about them. Love them. A great example
of this is the friendship between two late
Supreme Court justices, Antonin Sca-
lia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who were
often on opposite sides when it came to
a vote, but were close friends in spite of
that.
That is the spirit we once had as a
nation, and that we seemingly have lost.
If you disagree with someone, don’t
badger them into agreeing with you, then
turn and call them a bigot if they choose
not to. Choose to respect their position
and opinion, even if you disagree with
it. Choose to be there for them. Choose
to love them — which is to look out for
their best interest.
This is just a small piece of spirit of
America that we had after 9/11, one that
has been lost.
One way to honor the memory of
those lost is to regain that spirit.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Times like this require
conformity ‘for greater good’
America is facing a public-health crisis
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal government and scientists
working together developed successful
vaccines within an unprecedented time-
frame — an astounding achievement. Sci-
entists and epidemiologists are learning
more about the virus as time goes on and
make adjustments accordingly. Unlike
other (better?) times, citizens are not
united in confronting this crisis. By not
getting vaccinated and refusing to wear
masks and social distancing, individuals
help propagate the virus and encourage
more dangerous mutations to develop.
Many of these same people immunize
their children from other childhood dis-
eases as well as vaccinate their pets and
livestock. Why not vaccinate against this
particular virus? The answer appears to be
from an onslaught of disinformation and a
misguided concept of government author-
itarianism and loss of liberty from follow-
ing public safety measures.
No, the government is not using health
care to develop an authoritarian state, but
simply trying to protect its citizens from
death and disability — one of its primary
functions. This is in contrast to the vio-
lent Jan. 6 insurrection, which actually did
threaten our democracy, as did consequent
attempts to undermine the presidential
election results and subvert voting rights
in some states. The cry of “authoritarian-
ism” is obviously by someone who has
never lived or visited a true authoritarian
state and rings hollow. Following health
guidelines is a temporary inconvenience,
not a loss of freedom. There are times
when conformity is needed for the greater
good. This is one of those times.
Jon Larson
Enterprise
Journalists are perpetuating
fear-based narratives
It is an unfortunate observation that
data and logic have become largely irrel-
evant due to the politicization of the pan-
demic. As I was perusing the Society of
Professional Journalists Code of Eth-
ics, I was struck by the principle: “Seek
Truth and Report It: Journalists should
provide context (and) take special care
to not misrepresent or oversimplify… a
story.” Bearing this in mind, it occurred to
me that most of the coverage of the pan-
demic by the mainstream media has been
unethical at best, and at worst, insidiously
contemptible.
I recently read the headline: “COVID-
19 infections and deaths spiral out of con-
trol in Oregon,” (WSWS.org, Aug. 31,
2021). Perhaps this journalist is unaware
that the deaths in Oregon resulting from
the Delta wave are not even half the num-
ber of deaths we saw at the peak of the
pandemic in early January this year (538
deaths from Dec. 6, 2020 to Jan. 9, 2021,
vs. 218 deaths from July 25, 2021 to Aug.
21, 2021) and that these numbers, com-
bined with the most recent OHA report
showing that “new cases in Oregon are
continuing to decline,” do not lead anyone
with average reading comprehension skills
to conclude that deaths are “spiraling out
of control.”
Another shocking case of blatant mis-
information was observed on MSN.com.
The headline, “Podcaster Joe Rogan Is
‘Treating’ His COVID-19 With Horse-De-
wormer and Other Drugs,” fails to men-
tion the fact that this “horse dewormer”
is actually the Nobel Prize-winning drug
ivermectin, which has been used safely
in humans for over 35 years with more
than four billion doses administered to
date. Furthermore, a peer-reviewed study
out of India that showed the prophylactic
use of ivermectin “was associated with a
73% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 infection
among healthcare workers for the follow-
ing month.”
Calling ivermectin a “horse dewormer”
is disingenuous, to say the least. The
media is manipulating public perception
through the use of negativity bias, selec-
tion bias, attention bias, the framing effect
and egocentric bias. Anyone following
the science can see that COVID-19, with
its 98.2% overall survival rate (99.8%-
plus for people under 49) is being used by
the mainstream media to whip people up
into a frenzy and generate revenue from
“click-bait.” It behooves us to do our own
research before we publicly expose our
own fear and ignorance.
Rebecca Patton
Enterprise
Government overreach
must be stopped now
On the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 1,
I attended a rally at the Wallowa County
Courthouse for “Stop the Mandates.” It
was extremely well-attended for being
on a work/school day. People of all ages
were represented, and all came together
with a common goal. The goal was to end
the vaccination and mask mandates in the
state of Oregon.
I was approached, through social
media, to represent people who could not
attend and in less than 24 hours garnered
over 150 signatures. These signatures were
from teachers and school staff, nurses,
health care professionals, frontline work-
ers, military personnel and retirees, many
of whom will lose their jobs and positions
if vaccine mandates are enforced.
Are enforced mandates worth losing
hospital staff, school staff and firefighters?
Furthermore, it has been threatened that
if they lose their jobs due to a choice of
freedom they will not receive unemploy-
ment benefits, yet people who quit their
jobs early on in the pandemic, simply due
to virus fear, were not only rewarded with
unemployment benefits, but extra money
every week.
Many of these folks have worked
through the pandemic, some of these folks
will lose their jobs, some of these folks
are even vaccinated, but all of these folks
believe in freedom of choice. My question
for those who support a foreign substance
being injected into an unwilling partici-
pant is, what is next? What will be man-
dated next?
I am not an anti-vaxxer, nor am I
against people who choose to receive a
COVID vaccine or to wear a mask. The
“science” states that the vaccinated can
still get, spread and carry the virus, so it
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of
the Wallowa County Chieftain.
LETTERS: The Wallowa County Chieftain welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
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P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
Vaccine mandate no
different than traffic laws
I was out bicycling yesterday, and
Labor Day traffic was so unremitting that
I could not cross Main Street in Joseph. I
resorted to walking my bike in the cross-
walk, and fortunately a few drivers slowed
down enough to let me cross alive.
I don’t know about you, but I am thank-
ful that Oregon’s laws require drivers to
stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. I’m
thankful that legions of anti-crosswalk cit-
izens aren’t flaunting this law and run-
ning over old ladies, moms with strollers
and people like me. Probably their slo-
gans would say something about “refus-
ing to kowtow to the authoritarian regime”
for limiting their constitutionally protected
driving rights. They would possibly claim
that, if their basic freedom to drive is vio-
lated, “we will see this overreach of power
extend much further,” “tormenting us for
our own good” and, God forbid, even lim-
iting our “inalienable rights” to cross yel-
low lines, drive on sidewalks and disobey
stop signs.
Mandates for vaccination and masking
are no different than traffic-safety laws,
which, let’s face it, limit some personal
freedoms for the safety of the “collective.”
The right to infect is not enshrined in the
Declaration of Independence.
Rob Kemp
Joseph
River Democracy Act
a good thing to support
I just wanted to briefly point out how
great it is that Sen. Wyden spearheaded the
move to expand the wild and scenic rivers
in Oregon. Overall, the state has around
1% of its rivers and streams designated as
such, and with this new push it should end
up closer to 6%. Still, this pales in compar-
ison to the 17% of all U.S. river miles that
are impacted by our 75,000 or so dams.
At a time when there is a new weekly
reminder of climate derangement, it is
a step in the right direction to safeguard
these habitats. Every little piece is worth
protecting. Carbon accounting only gets
us so far, and I fear that without intact eco-
systems everywhere, we’ll continue to
face adverse effects with weather.
In this plan it’s refreshing to see that
clean, cold water and fire planning are put
in the forefront. What’s more, tribal voices
will have a place in the conversation about
how to manage these waterways and ripar-
ian areas. Overall, it seems to be a safe
compromise that leaves private property
and irrigation rights fully protected. I hope
similar legislation is given consideration
here and elsewhere into the future.
Garik Asplund
Enterprise
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VOLUME 134
seems a moot subject for getting a jab that
has only been tested for a few months.
This, of course, is my opinion. I sup-
port the right to choose, the right for free-
dom. Government overreach will affect
everyone eventually if not stopped now. I
choose freedom.
Judy Kinsley
Joseph
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