4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| JUNE 16, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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 Government 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)
USPS# 497-660
Copyright 2018 © 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.
Jenna Bar tlett
Ned H ickson
Erik Chalhoub
Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3
echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com
M ar k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6
O ffice Super visor, ex t. 312
Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
Pre s s M a n a ge r
Su s a n G u t i e r re z
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Je re my G e n t r y
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Letters to the Editor policy
LETTERS
Define our country based
on principals of decency
The practice of ripping children from
their parents and separating families is
utterly cruel and immoral.
These people are not “illegals.”
They are not M-13 members or terror-
ists.
They are human beings seeking polit-
ical asylum from a country where their
lives are endangered. As refugees, they
have every right to petition the United
States to have their request for asylum
heard on a case-by-case basis. What they
don’t deserve is to have their children
thrown in metal cages, where they spend
up to 22 hours each day without proper
medical care and nutrition, terrified and
not knowing where their parents are.
They don’t deserve the physical and
psychological trauma inflicted on them
by ICE agents who appeare to be acting
as Trump’s private gestapo.
As Americans, most of us had ances-
tors who came to this country seeking
refuge from religious and political op-
pression. Most Americans even claim to
believe in a compassionate and loving
god. If so, how can we allow this inhu-
mane practice of separation of families
to continue?
We must not be complacent or numb.
Demand politicians take a stand
against fascist policies and put an end to
this. Cruelty is not democracy and ha-
tred is not freedom. As Americans, we
can chose to define our country based
on the principles of decency and com-
passion for all humanity.
It is my constant prayer this is the
America we will become.
—Linda Olsen
Forence
Patriotism is
not partisan
The card found in the Veterans Park is
a wonderful reminder that children are
this country’s future.
The heartfelt message from a 5-year-
old thanking veterans for protecting us
is truly noteworthy and every veteran,
regardless of political affiliation, should
be able to view this remarkable evidence
of awareness and gratitude.
Patriotism has nothing to do with par-
tisanship. So why will it reside in a place
that seems to serve only one belief sys-
tem?
It has been proposed that the local
military museum might be a more inclu-
sive location for it.
I couldn’t agree more.
Apparently, Lawrence Ferguson and
MJ Flowerday of Patriot Place think
that only those veterans who share
their opinions and values should have a
“heartwarming” experience.
I’m sure Mallory didn’t think so.
—Peggy Bradley
Florence
It’s up to us to defend
our own democracy
Freedom of Speech and Freedom
of the Press are guaranteed in our U.S.
Constitution. Our democracy relies on
these freedoms.
However, our president's constant
portrayal of “fake media” and attacks
against the press are a cause for concern.
We could live under a dictatorship like
Syria, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea
or countless other countries where free-
dom of speech is nonexistant.
It’s up to us and our congressional
leaders, liberal and conservative, to de-
fend these constitutional principles.
Otherwise, we could end up in a very
diff erent country we no longer recognize
as a democracy.
You choose.
— Julie MacFarlane
Florence
Want to be a better father? Get a bigger grill
T
omorrow morning, I
will awaken to the sizzle
of bacon and eggs, the
aroma of freshly brewed coffee
and shuffle of approaching feet
as I lay in bed quietly thinking
to myself, My God, my wife is
leaving me.
Then I’ll remember, Wait —
It’s Father’s Day! A day when we
fathers are revered for our wis-
dom, patience and, in a few rare
instances, our neckwear.
For one whole day I’ll be the
perfect father since my wife will
be handling everything for me.
She does this to help me relax
and enjoy my special day.
The problem is, it’s hard to
relax when, by handling every-
thing herself, my wife makes it
clear I could be replaced by a
new dishwasher and a few extra
power cords.
Okay, that’s not entirely true.
But our son already takes out
the trash, leaving me with “The
Grilling of Food” as my main
contribution to the daily oper-
ation of our family.
I have managed to keep this
duty the way most men do, by
making the task of grilling ap-
pear as complicated and miser-
able as possible, even if it means
faking a heat stroke while grill-
ing pre-cooked hot dogs.
I realize there are many new
fathers who have made them-
selves indispensable during the
diaper-changing phase.
Just remember: Your in-
dispensability in this area
— much like this morning’s
tightly-wrapped dooty — will
eventually disappear into the
Diaper Genie.
That’s when grilling even
the simplest things, such as a
bratwurst, should be made to
look as difficult as possible.
To do this, you’ll need a large
grill. The bigger the better. In
fact, if a Hibachi is your main
grilling source, go now, hop
into your vehicle, and acciden-
tally back over your Hibachi
several times and replace it with
something more practical.
And, practically speaking,
we’re talking a grill roughly the
size of an Oldsmobile.
Why?
You need a large cooking sur-
face so that you can convincing-
ly spray down flames and battle
for control over a raging infer-
no that, if not for your grilling
skill, would quickly consume
everyone’s bratwurst — and
quite possibly the county.
Unless you are highly expe-
rienced in pyrotechnics, or live
hidden behind the grill.
Lastly, you should purchase
a special, custom-made spatu-
la that is so enormous and so
heavy it can only be wielded
with two hands. This will make
the grilling process appear even
more difficult by requiring a
“spotter” every time you flip
someone’s burger.
Put all of this togeth-
er — spray bottle, giant grill,
two-handed spatula — and
you’ll have the dramatic image
you want: a sweat-stained fa-
ther staggering in and out of the
flames of his grill, both hands
gripped tightly around the han-
dle of his 50-pound spatula as
he devoutly retrieves the eve-
ning meal.
Sure, this may sound like a lot
of effort; you could fold clothes
instead.
But the effort is worth it
when it comes to family.
Besides, it’s really hard to
keep beer cold when it’s hidden
in the laundry.
near an open gas line, trying to
produce this same effect on a
Hibachi is very difficult.
Once you have your giant
grill, you’ll need to keep a spray
bottle handy. Your wife will as-
sume it’s to prevent charring.
This is partially true.
But mostly you’ll be using it
to spray on your face and body
to appear as though you are
(Write to Ned Hickson at
perspiring when, in fact, you nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com,
are frequently supplementing or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple
any loss of body fluid with lib- St. Florence, Ore. 97439)
eral amounts of ice cold beer
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as
part of a community discussion of issues on the local,
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Emal letters to:
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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