4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| JUNE 1, 2019
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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Siuslaw News
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Letters to the Editor policy
Mueller report could off er much-needed
diagnosis of our ailing political sytem
Even with special
counsel Robert Mueller’s
unexpected
9-minute
public statement made
Wednesday, many layers
remain unrevealed from
what will undoubtedly
continue to be an endless
peeling back of this spe-
cial investigative onion —
and in the end, no camp
will be left standing out-
side its pungent aroma.
As I said months ago,
regardless of how you
feel about our current
president, his election
and subsequent endless
controversies — while
polarizing many Ameri-
cans — have also forced
us to engage with our
government and its pol-
icies more than we have
since the 1960s and 70s.
Whether or not you
believe the president will-
ingly or unwittingly col-
luded or obstructed, I do
want to believe that the
dozen indictments Muel-
ler has handed down over
the course of the last two
years will force us to take
a hard look at just how
ineffective and corrupt
our political system has
become — regardless of
which side of the aisle
you’re on.
And while Russia’s in-
fluence campaign un-
questionably played a
role in the 2016 elections,
it merely recognized a
weakness in our system
we have been unwilling
to admit or change: A de-
pendency on campaign
tions — spawning Super
PACS (Political Action
Committees) that rou-
tinely raise hundreds of
millions of dollars for
candidates by holding
events hosted by special
interests, lobbyists and
others hoping to benefit
from influencing future
legislation.
Tucked within the
2016 election were Rus-
sian special interests, be-
ginning with Mueller’s
From the Editor’s Desk
Ned Hickson
funding from special in-
terests, both financially
and fundamentally.
In the 2004 general
election, 95 percent of
House races and 91 per-
cent of Senate races were
won by candidates who
spent the most on their
campaigns.
This has only become
more prevalent since
2010, when the Supreme
Court’s “Citizens United”
decision began allow-
ing unlimited spending
by corporations, unions
and “individuals” in elec-
very first indictment in
April 2018, when Dutch
national Alex van der
Zwaan was indicted for
— and eventually pleaded
guilty to — lying to fed-
eral agents about his con-
tacts with Trump cam-
paign deputy chair Rick
Gates in September 2016.
In addition to his con-
tacts with Gates, van der
Zwaan was also connect-
ed to Paul Manafort and
Konstantin Kilimnik, a
Russian business associ-
ate of Manafort’s with ties
to Russian intelligence
officials.
Though accusations of
collusion, manipulation,
money laundering, false
statements and conspira-
cy are still being investi-
gated through individual
branches stemming from
Mueller’s report, they are
merely symptoms of a
political plaque that has
been building in the ar-
teries of our government
for decades — and now
threatens the very heart-
beat of our democracy.
The special counsel’s
report could prove to be
one of the most import-
ant in our nation’s histo-
ry, providing a diagnosis
of what we need to know
rather than what we want
to know.
Only then can we be-
gin to address the kinds
of reforms needed to as-
sure that the heart of our
political system beats for
its people rather than the
pocketbooks of special
interests at home and
abroad.
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the edi-
tor as part of a community discussion of issues on
the local, state and national level.
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Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen-
tative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are
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Letters containing poetry or from outside the
Siuslaw News readership area will only be pub-
lished at the discretion of the editor.
Political/Election Letters:
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Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
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candidates based on personal experience and
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As with all letters and advertising content, the
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criteria.
Email letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Write to Siuslaw News
editor Ned Hickson at
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.
com
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
@oregonlegislature.gov
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