4A | SATURDAY EDITION | SEPTEMBER 1, 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 “W e need a free press. We must have it. It’s vital. ... If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. ” Sen. John McCain February 19, 2017 REMEMBERI NG JOH N MCCAI N 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 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. LETTERS The real accomplishments of President Trump Because letter writers Tom Jackson and Mary DeCeault (“No Cherry Pick- ing,” “Some of the ‘Accomplishments’ of Donald Trump,” Aug. 29) have al- ready covered all the left-wing talking points so eloquently, I would like to provide my own truthful perspective. First, after eight years of unques- tioned far-left policies, it is a wonder President Trump could achieve any- thing with all the ridiculous policies that had been put in place. But as for- mer President Obama liked to do: If you can’t get what you want through Congress, just use a phone and a pen. In doing so, he left the door open for President Trump to void many of our former president’s bad ideas — and for that, I thank him. As for the 500 (estimated) children not reunited with their parents, it’s on the parents for committing a crime by coming to the U.S. illegally. They knew what they were doing, just as people who commit crimes here and get sent to jail; they, too, get separated from their kids. Unless we do something worse by putting the kids in jail with their parents. Yes, Trump’s North Korea plan has not panned out too well. But he did get a couple of prisoner’s back home, along with some of our MIAs’ remains (we hope). And it didn’t cost us a dime. The jury is out on the tax cuts cost. But what we do know is that the econ- omy is going gang busters. Unemploy- ment among all categories is at its low- est in a long, long time. And the GDP is above four percent after being told, for the previous eight years, that we needed to accept a measly two percent GDP or less as the new normal. As for downsizing the National Monuments and allowing companies to explore for energy? No problem there. In my opinion, they were getting used for vote-getting and fundraising from the eco-extremists like the Sier- ra Club and other far-left eco groups. And just where is the pollution and en- vironmental damage from this? Take a look at the EPA’s pollution of the Colo- rado river. As of last year, it still hasn’t paid the bill. (www.usatoday.com/sto- ry/news/nation -now/2017/01/13/epa- wont-pay-claims-mine-spill-released- 3m-gallons-toxic-water/96555846) As for the president’s golfing… Wow, I am amazed that anyone could play golf more than President Obama. When it comes to who golfed more, I really don’t care either way. I could give a longer list of things I think matter, but then the editor would have to give me a whole page — and that is unlikely. So here is a link to the not right-wing Washington Times article (www.washingtontimes.com/ news/2018/may/6/giving-trumps-ac complishments-their-due). That all being said, I would like to see a few less tweets. Personally, I don’t tweet because I think it is silly. —D avid Eckhardt Florence We should take a lesson from John McCain’s playbook Th is will be a short letter, witten in response to Mary DeCeault’s Letter to the Editor in the Aug. 29 issue of the Siuslaw News (“Some of the ‘Accom- plishments’ of Donald Trump”). Th ank you for so eloquently writing what I suspect is the opinion of more than half of our fractured country. Th at being said, I don’t care who you are or what party you belong to: Vote. Tell your friends to register to vote. You can register at the post offi ce. Also, let’s be civil with each other. Let’s be honest with each other. Let’s be kind to each other. Lively conversation is good; arguing Saturday 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. isn’t. I didn’t necessarily agree with John McCain, but I loved him and his bi-partisan ways. We could all take a lesson from his playbook. —Gail Katz Hanson Florence America is on the right track Wow. Double wow. Two responses to my letter regard- ing liberal Democrats overlooking the good this administration has done for the country since President Trump came into office (“Overlooking the Good President Trump Has Done,” Aug. 25). As for Tom Jackson asking in his Letter to the Editor for a list of the good things (“No Cherry Picking,” Aug. 29), it exemplifies the majority of Democrats’ lack of accepting facts, or their blindness due to their hatred of this non-conventional president. Because of this, I’m sure a list of his accomplishments would do no good; they are out there for those who are willing to look. The same would apply to Mary De- Ceault’s letter regarding the same sub- ject (“Some of the ‘Accomplishments’ of Donald Trump,” Aug. 29). In my opinion, they must see these positive accomplishments but simply fail to register them as such. Certainly this president isn’t perfect, any more than any previous presidents have been. Do I agree with 100 percent of the things President Trump has said or done? No. But he has America on the right track — and to not think of America first and put party politics second is truly sad. —Tony Cavarno Florence 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. Political/Election Letters: Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing cam- paigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) ex- plain the reasons to support candidates based on per- sonal experience and perspective rather than partisan- ship and campaign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the news- paper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any let- 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