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4A | TUESDAY EDITION | JULY 3, 2018 NED HICKSON , EDITOR Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 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) July 4 holds remarkable coincidences for our nation (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submissions As was custom in the day, the loser be- on this and other topics are always welcome came the Vice-President, and Jefferson as part of our goal to encourage community soon opposed Adams on a host of issues. discussion and exchange of perspectives.) Among them was the controversial Alien and Sedition Act of 1798, which induced ew dates in American history have Jefferson to forego Washington in favor of been so profound. his Monticello home. On July 4, 1826, as the nation cel- They again squared off in the 1800 ebrated the 50th anniversary of its inde- Presidential election, and this time, Fed- pendence, both John Adams and Thom- eralism vs. states’ rights was the dominant as Jefferson died. The loss of two of our theme. The rematch was even more bitter first three Presidents, as well as two of its than the 1796 campaign, and is consid- founding fathers, is one of the most re- ered one of the dirtiest elections in Amer- markable coincidences in the his- tory of the nation. The two men are inextricably By Tom Emery linked to the Revolution. Both Historian were among the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, and Adams and Jefferson were on the Conti- ican history. Jefferson tied Aaron Burr nental Congress’ Committee of Five to with 73 electoral votes, while Adams, with compose the document. 65, went down in defeat. Both debated who should take the lead, Adams, stung by the loss, proceeded to and Adams finally persuaded Jefferson, reel off a succession of “midnight appoint- claiming that a Virginian “ought to appear ments” of Federalists to judicial offices at the head of this business.” Adams also and in his last hours in office, designed to assessed himself as “obnoxious, suspected, leave his mark against Jefferson. He then and unpopular,” while adding that Jeffer- slipped out of town early in the morning son “can write ten times better than I can.” of the inauguration, choosing not to wel- Jefferson then drafted the document. come the incoming President, as is tradi- Despite their mutual efforts for inde- tion. pendence, Adams and Jefferson later be- The relationship remained frigid for came political rivals. The short-tempered, many years until intervention by a mutu- prickly Adams clashed with Jefferson’s al friend, Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphia laid-back approach, and Adams’ Federal- doctor who had also signed the Declara- ist devotion was also at odds with Jeffer- tion. Though Adams was non-committal son, who believed the states should have to Rush’s efforts, he took the initiative, more power. and on Jan. 1, 1812, wrote a note with The two former friends met in the 1796 well-wishes to Jefferson. Presidential election, which became a On Jan. 21, Jefferson responded in kind, mud-slinging affair of polarizing political recalling when “we were fellow laborers in views, largely on foreign affairs. The out- the same cause” of independence and ex- come, however, was razor-thin, as Adams tending “my sincere esteem for you … I edged Jefferson in electoral votes, 71-68. salute you with unchanged affections and F Guest Viewpoint respect.” Thus renewed a friendship of decades past, and Adams and Jefferson continued to send respectful, thoughtful letters to each other, a source of great mutual sat- isfaction. Jefferson, who suffered from rheuma- tism and an enlarged prostate, was forced to decline an offer to attend the 50th an- niversary celebrations that July 4 in Wash- ington. By July 2, he was barely lucid, and died at Monticello around 12:50 p.m. on the Fourth. At his Quincy, Mass., home, Adams had also declined an in- vitation to a 50th anniversary extravaganza in Boston due to poor health. Early on July 4, he lost consciousness. He recovered slightly near mid-day, and according to most accounts, his final words were some form of the words “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” The irony is that Jefferson had just died, though modern researchers cite no proof that Adams made such an utterance. He died around 6 p.m. that evening. Incredibly, Adams and Jefferson were not the only early Presidents to die on July 4. Five years later in 1831, James Monroe passed away at age 73, marking the third of the first five chief executives to die on the date of the nation’s birth. One President, Calvin Coolidge, was born on the Fourth of July holiday in 1872, though most historians rate him among the weakest of chief executives, unlike Adams and Jefferson. Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com. LETTERS Respectful protest is right of all Americans Like letter writer Vickie Hymer Copyright 2018 © Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and TUESDAY 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 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. TUESDAY Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classifiedad,sThursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednes- day 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $76; 6-month in-county, $52; 10-weeks subscription, $23; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription,$99; 6-month out-of-county, $65; 10-weeks subscrip- tion, $29; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $125; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $71. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, gram- mar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaran- teed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or documented will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siuslaw News readership area will only be published at the dis- cretion of the editor. 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Emal letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com Learn principles of liberty and freedom Recently, Vickie Hymer wrote a good letter on civility in our political discourse (“What Is Happening To My America,” June 30). She recognized that our pres- ident is under a steady assault which is not good for the office of the presidency or the “republic” (not democracy) for which we stand. I do not, however, believe the incivil- ity is equal. Not when the White House press secretary is escorted out of a restaurant with the owner, ala 1960s in- tolerance when segregated lunch count- ers were the fashion of the day; not when a congresswoman is calling for “in your face” behavior with anyone in the pres- ident’s cabinet or association; not when the Attorney General of Florida and her boyfriend are harassed on four different occasions at a local movie theatre. Vickie is correct in wanting civil dis- course, but part of civility is knowledge and part of knowledge is truth. This na- tion was founded on a certain set prin- ciples contained in great books like the Federalist Papers. It is essential that Americans learn principles of freedom and liberty to nav- igate the right path to responsible dis- course. The political discourse should not be based solely on emotion or hatred and vitriol, which turn into hyperbole to make an uninformed point. In a politi- cal sense, the public needs to know the whys and wherefores of our founding documents: The Declaration of Inde- pendence and the our U.S. Constitution. Without that bit of intelligence, we are basically, playing into our emotions, which leads to political demogoguery. Vickie is correct on how we debate and talk to each other. But we must be careful to learn American history and why we are the most dynamic nation ever. Without this knowledge we will quick- ly descend into the abyss of nations and kingdoms long forgotten. God bless America. —Joel Marks Florence USPS# 497-660 WHERE TO WRITE (“What Is Happening To My America,” June 30), I am also 75 years old. While I agree with her that our democracy gains nothing and loses much by incivility and that the office of the President of the United States demands our respect, I re- serve the right to protest in a respectful manner. The current president was elected without winning the popular vote, and was elected with the tampering of our election by Russia. He and his adminis- tration ignore civility through their poli- cies, lies, ignorance and bullying. I do not respect those trademarks of his presidency. I will continue to protest and resist in a respectful manner and enthusiastically support candidates who share the values which uphold the true greatness of this country. This is not imposing my will on others — it is respectfully exercising my rights as a voting citizen. —Judith Preisler Florence Respect must be earned In regards to the letter “What is Hap- pening to my America?” (June 30), with all due respect: Respect is earned. Period. It also needs to be maintained on a daily basis, no matter what title some- one possesses. How can anyone expect people to have respect for a person who is deliberately separating hard working mothers and fathers from their children and locking them up like criminals? Many Americans, including myself, gave Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt when he was elected. But unfortunately the “mob mental- ity” that has been witnessed is coming from the President himself. And we should respect that? —Denise Schilling Florence Limbaugh doesn’t speak in falsehoods In Win Jolley’s response to Ian Eales’ great letter “No Limit It Seems To Lib- eral Hypocracy” (June 27), Mr. Jolley stated from the likes of Rush Limbaugh come false information. I listen to Rush whenever I can and have for many years. I don’t hear any falsehoods. I would ask Mr. Jolley to state here and now at least three falsehoods Rush has voiced and back them up with irrefut- able proof for all of us to see. —Tony Cavarno Florence 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