Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2015)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ NOVEMBER 25, 2015 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 RYAN CRONK , EDITOR Opinion ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM DEAR READERS: Office closed T he Siuslaw News office is closed Thursday in observance of the holiday. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. —Editor LETTERS Political theater I recently watched part of the Benghazi hear- ings. What was it — the eighth, 10th or 15th hearing? Apparently there have been more hear- ings on Benghazi than there were after Pearl Harbor, 9/11 or after the financial collapse of 2007-2008. I’m not arguing that what happened in 2012 at the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi wasn’t tragic. However, remind me how many congressional hearings were held after Columbine, the shoot- ing at Sandy Hook Elementary School or the recent domestic terrorist attack at Umpqua Community College? Many political observers believe — and this belief is confirmed by House member Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) — that these endless hear- ings have been largely political theater; and like the parallel “email scandal,” motivated by Republican attempts to “hobble” and/or reduce the poll numbers and popularity of the Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton. So let me posit this: If Clinton should be held accountable for the five Americans killed in Libya, then we should also hold FDR account- able for the thousands of U.S. service men and women killed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and as Donald Trump recently intimated, George Bush should be held accountable for “not keeping us safe” on Sept. 11, 2001. How so? Although I don’t know if the con- spiracy theorists are correct regarding FDR’s motives in seemingly provoking the Japanese and leaving Pearl Harbor relatively “undefend- ed,” I’ve read that Bush never read Richard Clarke’s (the Anti-terrorism Czar) memo out- lining the plans of jihadist to use hijack com- mercial airplanes as flying bombs to inflict maximum civilian casualties. Similarly, Bush’s Vice President Dick Cheney, who often misrepresented the “facts in evidence,” should be held accountable for the 5,500 U.S. deaths, 40,000 causalities and added $4 trillion deficit that resulted from the United State’s disastrous 2003 Iraq invasion. I’m all for congressional hearings, particular- ly as it regards attacks on our nation, acts of domestic terrorism or our justifications for our attacks on others, especially when dozens to thousands of lives are lost. But let’s agree that another vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (56 and counting) or another Benghazi hearing simply represent the “Political Theater of the Absurd” and represent another reason why Americans are so disaffected by their represen- tative democracy. Jeffrey M. Shear Florence Common sense approach to gun control I’ve done a little research on the Australian firearm program and I have a few comments. I don’t believe their type of gun control would work in the United States to prevent mass shootings. The first reason: The current population of Australia is approximately 23 million. Considering the quantity of firearms confiscat- ed, reported after 1997, was between 100,000 to 1,000,000, it means much less than 5 percent of the Australian population were affected by the then new program. Compare that number to the current U.S pop- ulation of 321 million. Here, the reported 315 million legal firearms are anywhere from 32 to 47 percent of the population. That works out to roughly 100 to 150 million firearm owners. And, that doesn’t count the black market. A lot of Americans that would have their second and fourth amendments curtailed. This brings up my second point: In Australia, there is no bill of rights. Australian owners of permitted and approved firearms are subject to police search procedures. This means they can enter your premises or vehicle at any time of day or night to search without a warrant, in per- petuity. If the Australian mandatory confiscation pro- gram were to come here, our fourth amendment right to unreasonable search and seizure would go out the door. It would be reasonable to say that the same program of limiting type of firearm, size of caliber, size of magazine, etc., that you could own, would also go out the door, thereby affecting the second amendment. The sheer numbers involved and loss of rights for so many Americans, by comparison, just won’t work. Not unless the Bill of Rights is substan- tially changed. My third comment: Prior to 1997, the Australian firearm owners also didn’t have an effective spokes organization. Considering the tiny population of firearm owners affected, it’s no wonder their legislature found it easy to take away any perceived rights. During my search of the Australian firearm program of 1997 documents, I could not find a solid mental health component in their assess- ments in determining their new regulations. In the United States, we have several firearm organizations that speak on behalf of firearm owners. The one that is the most prolific is, dare I say their name, the NRA. I am not a spokesperson for them nor am I a member. But, I agree with them on some form of a bill that has a mental health component/database to add to the National Instant Background Check System. To me, this would be a common sense approach to identifying and flagging a potential person of threat rather than taking away the rights of millions of Americans. But, this is just my opinion. Michael Davis Florence Columbus Day Are you kidding me? Someone wants to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day? I can hardly pronounce it. I’m referring to an article written in the Nov. 10 issue (“City Considers Columbus Day Name Change,” page A1). Is this what our elected city council members are up to when they meet? Columbus Day isn’t about a race, it’s about America, a country. There is a movement to remove everything about what makes this country what it is, and I’m surprised to see it leaking into our town, which is solidly made up of a commu- nity of people who value this country’s roots. The majority of us probably have Native American blood running through our veins, which I am one of also, but this name change for this holiday is crazy. Let’s keep the race issue out of this one. I don’t believe the Florence City Council has the right to make this kind of decision for all of us. Donna Dobson Florence Cure cancer I am 75 years old and, although I still drink and smoke, I am in fairly good health for some- one my age. In the past 10 years, I have lost a number of friends, both young and old, who had no vices, ate healthy and exercised, and cancer still took them from me. Instead of spending billions/trillions on a trip to Mars or engaging in more unwarranted con- flicts, why not infuse those monies into research to cure cancer and other cures for Alzheimer’s and paralysis using stem cells? Seems like our government is more concerned about going into space and to war than fighting diseases and the health of humans. Win Jolley Florence USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2015 © Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. John Bartlett Jenna Bartlett Ryan Cronk Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Publisher, ext. 327 General Manager, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Advertising Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $71; 10-weeks subscription, $18; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $94; 10-weeks subscription, $24; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $120; Out of United States — 1-year subscription, $200; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: www.TheSiuslawNews.com L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor concerning issues affecting the Florence area and Lane County. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed let- ters must be signed. All letters should be limited to about 300 words and must include the writer’s full name, address and phone number for verification. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous and anonymous letters as well as poetry will not be published. All submissions become the property of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com
