A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Moving
forward after
the election
A
fter a seemingly endless
election campaign loaded
with negative messages
and vitriol, most people probably
feel as though they have nothing
in common with wide swaths
of their neighborhood and the
American public in general.
People supporting “the other”
candidate or issue may seem as
if they have completely lost their
minds.
Yet, today, we embark upon
new paths selected by all of
us, collectively, in yesterday’s
election. And we do so together,
whether we like it or not.
Despite all of our differences,
we all likely share at least a few
things in common.
Most people — regardless of
who won and who lost — share
the joy that this election is fi nally
over.
And with as many contested
races and issues at play in this
election, from city council seats
up to the nation’s highest offi ce,
it is almost certain everyone is
disappointed about at least one of
the results.
But we have much more in
common than being happy the
elections are over and being
upset about the results.
We share neighborhoods. We
share businesses. We share the
same government services. We
share sports teams. We share a
nationality.
Despite all of our differences,
we actually share most things in
common.
Yet, so many seem so
eager to cast their neighbors
as enemies for differences in
opinion that are actually minor
in the big picture.
For perspective, read the
stories about our local veterans
on the front page of this
newspaper. These brave men —
along with so many other brave
men and women in our country
— answered the call to face real
enemies.
Enemies who caused
genocide. Enemies who would
have killed them if only given
chance.
Without threats from real
enemies, it may be easy to
consider a political opponent an
enemy. But are our neighbors
really enemies?
People will always disagree.
Our system of government is
based on that. No single person
or opinion is given preference.
We decide by majority, not
unanimity, and some people
will always fall in the minority.
Whether majority or
minority in this election,
however, everyone should
remember we have more in
common than it would appear
after this campaign season.
We are all Americans.
We are all members of this
republic. We all owe our
current freedom to the veterans
who have previously secured it
for us.
Despite all of our differences,
we must move forward together.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
Abstinence prevents minivans
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Everyone learned basic math in
high school, but I think somewhere
between math and health, students
should have been taught that 1+1=5
and a minivan!
One of my college friends is
currently looking to trade in his
man card for the dreaded, yet fuel
effi cient, minivan. He and his wife
were making a list of all the pros
and cons, and somehow hands-free
sliding doors and a built-in vacuum
cleaner seemed to outweigh a fi ve-
speed and a lift kit.
I have to admit that there was
one time we also drove a minivan.
It was a few years ago in Florida.
We had just come back from the
Caribbean, and there was a mis-
take at the car rental agency. The
only thing they had available was
“a lovely maroon mini” — and, un-
fortunately for us, he didn’t mean
“Cooper.”
My husband grumbled, but
what were we to do? It did easily
accommodate our luggage, and it
had enough cup holders to appease
a thirsty octopus. And enough stor-
age to lose all manner of trinkets.
But driving through the Flori-
da Keys in a min-
ivan — even with
the windows down
— wasn’t quite the
experience
we’d
had before as we
breezed through the
Brianna
Sunshine State with
Walker
the T-tops out of
our Trans Am.
It got us where we needed to
go. We just felt like we needed a
bumper sticker that said, “We used
to be cool!”
The best part about that minivan
was taking it back at the end of the
vacation. After all, what happens
in Florida, stays in Florida — and
really how many cup holders does
one need? You can only drink one
drink at a time.
Not too long ago, after the arriv-
al of their second baby, one of my
husband’s friends, Ty, surrendered
his muscle car for the more sensible
family van. One afternoon, we had
popped in to visit, and he was trying
hard to convince us just how cool
the decision was. He showed us the
wi-fi option, and the folding DVD
screens for each kid, night lights
under the chairs and a back door
that opens and closes with the push
of a button. And on that self-closing
back window was a family of stick
fi gures — thoughtful to let others
know you’re a family man, since
driving a hot minivan often gives
off the impression of being wild
and single.
“It drives so nice, and there is
so much room,” Ty kept repeating.
“And the gas mileage is great!”
“Well, it defi nitely looks as if
you’ve got yourself a good depend-
able vehicle,” my husband agreed.
“Yeah, I just can’t believe all the
features they put in these things. It’s
pretty cool,” he gushed.
Ty continued extolling the vir-
tues of the all-amazing mini. It had
both AC and DC plugs, it had park
assist, the chairs were extra wide,
etc.
While our husbands continued
talking minivan features, his wife
and I had decided on dinner plans,
but we found ourselves short a few
ingredients.
“Hey, Ty, can you guys run to
the store and grab some lettuce and
french bread?” his wife asked.
“Sure, no problem,” he said, then
he turned to me and asked sheepish-
ly, “Can we take your Jeep?”
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
‘God bless America
and those who have
the courage to act’
W HERE TO W RITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-
575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax:
541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-
575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityofl ong-
creek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025.
Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax:
541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
USPS 226-340
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
Email: www.MyEagleNews.com
Phone: 541-575-0710
John Day, Oregon
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
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E DITOR
A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT
R EPORTER
C OMMUNITY N EWS
S PORTS
M ARKETING R EP
O FFICE M ANAGER
Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com
Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com
Jackie Osborne, jackie@bmeagle.com
Rylan Boggs, rylan@bmeagle.com
Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Lindsay Bullock, office@bmeagle.com
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and additional mailing offi ces.
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POSTMASTER — send address changes to
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
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To the Editor:
“Not guilty of all charges!”
Many are now vindicated and are
no longer under suspicion of being
a “patriot.” As if that is a bad thing.
Perhaps the self-righteous, sign-car-
rying protesters will do some intro-
spection and realize just what they
were “het up about.” But the truth
never causes a liberal to waiver
from their path of deceit. If still
fearful of patriotic fellow Ameri-
cans, liberals can contact the All Af-
rican People’s Revolutionary Party
- Oregon. Yes, that is the group that
provided security Oct. 7 when Ru-
ral Organizing Project was hosted
by Grant County Positive Action.
ROP aired a biased presentation on
patriotism and anyone that believes
that history indicates that militia
roots were the key to American in-
dependence. Recant? Retraction?
No, that would require an honest
assessment of the issue and liberals
run from responsibility. Their most
common response when they have
painted themselves into a corner is,
“I don’t care. That’s just the way I
feel.” Are they ashamed? Probably
not, but mortifi ed that those “crim-
inals” at the refuge were just patri-
otic citizens standing up for fellow
Americans. God bless America and
those who have the courage to act.
Tad Houpt
Canyon City
Public Forest
Commission
‘not over’
To the Editor:
The Grant County Court has
again let the citizens of the county
down by shirking their responsi-
bilities. “We know nothin’!” is the
excuse for their non-response when
Mark Webb fi led in March against
the Grant County Public Forest
Commission in Circuit Court. How-
ever, when county counsel Ron
Yockim represented the county in
August, the county court members
were still in the dark. Surely, Yock-
im informed the court and asked
for directions and was approved
the $7,500 legal fee he charged the
county. The court members and sec-
retary represent $150,000 per year
expenditure to the county. And yet a
system is not in place, so issues that
affect the county can be known?!
This mess smells and is reminiscent
of Hillary’s emails and Obama only
learning about them when the me-
dia broke the story. Someone lied
then, and the truth is not being told
now. Commissioner Labhart re-
frained from throwing the GCPFC
under the bus like Myers and Brit-
ton readily did. Labhart wanted to
“see all the facts” before he made a
decision. An honest and novel idea.
This is not over by any means.
Roger L. McKinley
Prairie City
Editor’s note: Grant County
Circuit Court Judge William D.
Cramer Jr. has not submitted his
full opinion regarding the nullifi ca-
tion of the measure creating Public
Forest Commission as of Nov. 3. He
has only submitted an abbreviated
opinion to inform the county clerk
who was preparing ballots that oth-
erwise would have included Public
Forest Commission candidates.
Thank you for your
service, veterans
To our American veterans:
Veterans Day celebrates and
honors the service, sacrifi ce and en-
during achievements of the nearly
22 million living Americans who
served our nation in uniform — at
home and abroad — during times of
both war and peace. We at Veterans
Affairs not only honor our service
members past and present, but the
family members who supported you
when you were called to defend our
nation’s freedoms and after you
came home — often dealing or strug-
gling with issues as a direct result of
your service to our great country.
When the world is threatened,
it calls on America, and we call
on our service members who serve
without question and without delay.
You served as our protectors and
defenders — warfi ghters, peace-
makers and peacekeepers. You were
the guardians of the greatest social
and political experiment the world
has ever known — representative
democracy.
Consider this: Veterans Day
is but one day a year. Year round,
approximately 5,000 VA staff, vol-
unteers and medical residents at VA
facilities across the Pacifi c North-
west — about one third of whom
are Veterans themselves — with the
National Cemetery Administration,
Veterans Benefi ts Administration
and the Veterans Health Adminis-
tration, are privileged, proud and
humbled to support a common goal
and mission: to fulfi ll President
Lincoln’s promise, to care for those
“who shall have borne the battle,”
and for their families and their sur-
vivors, by serving and honoring the
men and women who are Ameri-
ca’s Veterans. The VA is currently
implementing MyVA (http://www.
va.gov/myva), the largest transfor-
mational project in the department’s
history. We are updating systems
and procedures to better serve you,
and our goal is to become the top
customer-service agency in the en-
tire federal government.
We are privileged to live in the
United States where the cost of
freedom, as you especially know,
is not free; it has been paid for by
the sacrifi ces of the men and wom-
en like yourselves who have served
and fought for the fl ag of our na-
tion and all it represents. On this
special day, we at the VA want to
give a special thanks to you and
to your families for your service
and sacrifi ce in defending the free-
dom and liberty that we all enjoy.
We are privileged to serve you,
the American veteran. There is no
higher honor. Thank you for your
service.
Michael W. Fisher
Director, VA Portland Health Care
System
William F. Streitberger
Director, Portland and Anchorage
Regional Offi ce
George Allen
Director, Willamette National
Cemetery