4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| JULY 18, 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)
LETTERS
Need to open our eyes
to bullying
There is a movie available to check out
at the Siuslaw Public Library that I rec-
ommend for all people to see. It is called
“Bully” with a red circle around the title
and a red line crossing the circle. It will
open your eyes to the terrible hazing that
many young people experience if they
have any little thing in their appearance
or demeanor that makes them different
from others.
For too long, adults let it go with “it’s
just growing pains or they’ll get over it.”
A bully doesn’t stop until he or she is
made to stop — either by another stand-
ing up to him or her or by the interven-
tion of another person.
Too many young people are taking
their own lives when they simply can’t
live with bullying anymore. Some of the
students commenting in the movie said
that they were always the last to be cho-
sen for games and that many events in
school were like popularity contests in
which they could never participate.
Last Sunday evening, I attended (along
with about 150 people) the Serve 2 Unite
Mission presented at the Presbyterian
Church of the Siuslaw.
We listened to the story of two men
who became friends after a terrible
shooting at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin.
Their message is about turning hate into
kindness and love — something we all
need to work at.
My hope is that bullying in schools
and playgrounds could be eliminated
altogether.
For that to happen, we all need to take
part.
—Nancy Rickard
Florence
Intelligence agencies
overthrowing our
own government
The Mueller investigation is a sham
intended to portray U.S. intelligence
agencies as being opposed to tyranny.
I predict it will exonerate Trump and
proclaim justice being served by indict-
ing Russians beyond the reach of U.S.
law and, ultimately, prosecuting a few
Trump associates for blatantly illegal but
USPS# 497-660
not relevant activities.
With a 60-plus-year record of over-
throwing democratically elected leaders
worldwide and replacing them with fas-
cist dictators or extreme right-wing con-
servatives, why would our intelligence
agencies suddenly change direction?
They have not; they are just bringing
it home.
—Bill Durst
Florence
Trip abroad was simply
an embarrassment
“The Donald” made a fool of himself
during his trip to Europe, both verbally
and physically. He tripped over himself
from the meeting with NATO; the em-
barrassing time spent with the Queen of
England; and bowing to Putin.
What he did was embarrass us, those
who live in the United States of America.
If the GOP does not sanction and defy
him come November, there will no lon-
ger be a country as we know it.
Impeach him.
— Win Jolley
Florence
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Ned H ickson
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Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
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Je re my G e n t r y
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Emal letters to:
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We’ve come a long way since Th e Dixie Chicks
controversy — but in the wrong direction
I
t was 15 years ago this
past March when the once
skyrocketing career of the
country singing group Dixie
Chicks came crashing back to
Earth after making a comment
disparaging the president while
performing on foreign soil.
The Texas-based trio of sisters
Emily Robison and Martie
Maguire, along with lead singer
Natalie Maines, were performing
at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Theater in London and kicking
off their international Top of
the World Tour following the
multi-platinum release of their
album “Home.”
At the time, then-president
George W. Bush was supporting
the invasion of Iraq, and Maines
took the opportunity to voice
her opposition to the impending
war.
“Just so you know, we’re on
the good side with ya’ll,” Maines
said. “We do not want this war,
this violence, and we’re ashamed
that the president of the United
States is from Texas.”
Reaction from the other
side of the pond in America
was swift and, as the coming
weeks and months would prove,
I was living in Texas at the
time and I can tell you that the
sense of betrayal felt by the Lone
Star State ran deep.
Ultimately, the backlash ended
what had been a cosmic rise to
superstardom.
From the Editor’s Desk
Ned Hickson
unrelenting. Many country fans
and Americans in general felt
the group betrayed a sacred trust
between the American people
and their elected president, re-
gardless of which side of the vote
they had landed on.
Simply put: You don’t “dis” the
president when you’re on foreign
soil.
Almost instantaneously, radio
stations stopped playing the
group’s music, country music
starts like Toby Keith and Reba
McEntire spoke out against the
group, one-time fans and even
radio stations held CD-crushing
parties during which cars and
trucks were driven over stacks of
Dixie Chicks albums.
Now, 15 years later, in a
not-so-subtle twist of irony, it’s
the American people and the in-
telligence agencies representing
their interest around the world
who have been disrespected by
the comments made by their
president while on foreign soil.
The reaction?
Swift ambiguity.
While a few in the U.S.
Congress have used terms like
“shameful” and “bizarre” to
describe President Trump’s vocal
support of Russian president
Vladimir Putin’s denial of elec-
tion meddling, the vast majority
have offered little more than
finger wagging and generalities.
The president offered no such
generalities when he specifically
called out the FBI, remarking
“They said they think it’s Russia.
But I have President Putin; he
just said it’s not Russia,” later
adding: “President Putin was
extremely strong and powerful
in his denial today,” effectively
saying he took Putin at his word.
Regardless of the president’s
personal feelings on the Muel-
ler investigation and talk of
collusion between foreign and
domestic interests participating
in swaying the 2016 election, to
shake hands and openly express
supporting the word of a strong-
man dictator over America’s
top intelligence agency and the
people it serves is, at the very
least, disgraceful.
At its worst, it raises the
question of whether Russia’s
influence has already swayed its
way into the White House.
In an era where taking a knee
in protest has created so much
controversy and division, it
would seem we’ve come a long
way since the Dixie Chicks’
remarks drew disdain from so
many Americans.
But, apparently, we’ve come a
long way in the wrong direction.
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