4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| MAY 23, 2018
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
C
The First Amendment
ongress shall make no law respecting an es-
tablishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Gov-
ernment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
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Jenna Bar tlett
Ned H ickson
E r i k Ch al h o ub
Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n sul t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3
ech al houb@regis ter-pajaron ian .com
M ark et i n g D i rec to r, e x t . 3 2 6
O ffice Super v is or, ex t . 312
Pro d uc t i o n Su p er v i s o r
Pres s M an ager
Su s an G u t i errez
Cat hy Diet z
Ron Annis
Je remy G e n t r y
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LETTERS
Fear-based politics draw
lines, don’t build bridges
Two letters to the editor, May 16, were
worth reading. One promotes inclusion in
our democracy and the other, dominance
by a select cadre. Mel Gurtov speaks of tol-
erance, community and goodwill; Ian Eales
expands on his ongoing fear based politics
including imposing his preferred religious
beliefs on others and unbending support
for the NRA.
I have no doubt that NRA members are
law abiding, loyal and patriotic citizens. So
are non-NRA members. Mr. Eales accuses
those who do not support the rigid stance
of the NRA as debasing solid good Amer-
icans.
He apparently feels the need to draw the
line between people and policy. The un-
bending policy of the NRA is in opposition
to the majority of good, patriotic and loyal
Americans, which include both NRA and
non-NRA members.
The hate, fear and convoluted patrio-
tism promoted by such as Mr. Eales are
reminiscent of the extreme policies of Joe
McCarthy in the 1950s. Back then, the fear
flag was Communism. Now the fear flag is
immigrants.
McCarthy used his power as Chairman of
Senate Committee on Government Opera-
tions and Subcommittee on Investigations.
McCarthy labeled the State Department
and its secretary traitors. He attacked the
military when one of his aides was denied
a posting that the aide was not qualified for.
McCarthy expanded his labeling attacks
on those he did not agree with, including
the press, government offices, universities,
unions and the arts.
Anyone not in step with McCarthy was
labeled a Communist with the attached fear
and shunning. The resulting loss of jobs,
reputations and careers was massive and
no one who crossed him was exempt from
his vicious destructive behavior. Those who
came to the defense of the accused were
considered guilty by association.
Important to know is that the chief coun-
sel who defended McCarthy’s abuse and
destruction was Roy Cohn, the same Roy
Cohn who became Donald Trump’s lawyer
— and more importantly, mentor.
The Senate held a hearing in 1954. It was
televised. I sat through it with my aunt who
stressed that what I was watching was one
of the most important lessons in politics.
The truth needs to be brought to light
and media has the right and the responsi-
bility to inform the people. Without that,
we are not a free country.
The Senate in the midst of chaos and di-
vision demonstrated integrity, supported
the investigation, held a hearing, voted to
condemn Joseph McCarthy and supported
democracy.
—Karen Mahoney
Florence
Thank you for community
support in clean-up
I want to thank the Mapleton School
District community service volunteers who
worked so hard a few weeks ago to clean
up. I am particularly thankful to the young
man with a tractor who removed the dirt
and grass that nearly covered the sidewalks
and mowed the grass on Highway 126 near
the stores.
All of us local residents and our summer
visitors appreciate the positive change.
Is there another clean-up scheduled for
maintenance?
You can count me in.
—Lucas Stang
Mapleton
It's no wonder there is so
much fake news
I am glad I don’t suffer with ulcers as the
letter submitted by Dr. Mel Gurtov, Prof. of
Political Science at Portland State, whose
letter certainly would have activated some
ulcers I probably didn’t know I had.
His entire letter contained so much
mush, which I know professors like him
and others are expounding to young stu-
dents in classes.
He is a prime example of the survey I
recently heard on the radio regarding all
of the colleges in our country that teach
“Communication” — meaning radio, TV
and newspaper — and discovered the
number of liberal professors and teachers as
compared to conservatives was 120 to zero.
Yes, 120 to zero.
It's no wonder there is so much fake news
and liberal writings. Makes me wonder if
colleges won’t accept conservative profes-
sors or is it that conservative professors feel
like they are spitting against the tide ?
—Tony Cavarno
Florence
Three sides to every story
In response to Ms. Marenco's letter
“Don’t Minimize the Death of Millions,”
hear are some facts:
The Nazi party was formed in 1920. An-
tisemitism was one of the main planks in
their platform. Dachau opened in 1933.
Thirteen years of antisemitic propaganda
convinced Germany of the need to rid itself
of Jews.
The NRA specifically targets 2nd
Amendment issues and contributes to
elected officials that will work to preserve
our rights. It spent about $30 million total
on the 2016 campaign at all levels from lo-
cal to federal. Banks alone contributed $1.2
billion — or 40 times as much.
The Nazis [National Socialist Workers
Party] originated as leftists metastasizing
to the ultimate hate group. A thinking per-
son has to wonder how long it will take for
“deplorable” and “irredeemable” to become
“vermin” given the evermore strident leftist
characterizations of those with whom they
disagree. Probably less than you think given
the ubiquitous and unceasing onslaught of
a lazy, corrupt and biased media.
No gun control law anywhere can be
shown to have stopped or reduced murder.
There are myriad “studies” that purport to
do so but further examination finds them
severely flawed.
A new study has shown that the more
information one gets from Facebook, the
less politically astute they may be. (https://
psmag.com/news/facebook-may-be-creat-
ing-a-less-informed-electorate.)
There are three sides to every story. Un-
less one takes the time and effort to inde-
pendently ascertain the facts, one is part of
the ignorant mob destined to become an-
other thug on the next Kristallnacht.
—Ian Eales
Florence
Mai l u
s bscr ipti on in
cl udes E-Edition
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Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com
Letters to the Editor policy
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part of a community discussion of issues on the local,
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ter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Emal letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us