Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2018)
A4 Opinion Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, August 15, 2018 We are not enemies T oday’s political rhetoric sounds as if our nation is embroiled in a civil war. The term “enemy” is used so frequently it seems as if people have forgotten how many true enemies we have had to face to secure and maintain our freedom. An enemy is not someone with whom a person disagrees, despite how the term is often used lately. According to Merriam- Webster, an enemy is “one that is antagonistic to another, especially one seeking to injure, overthrow or confound an opponent; something harmful or deadly; a military adversary; a hostile unit or force.” In the true sense of the word, an enemy is someone with whom a person cannot coexist. Not because of trivial differences but because the enemy is actively trying to harm a person’s well-being. A political rival is not an enemy — unless that rival is armed with an intent to hurt someone. Yet, that type of language is commonplace. While politicians often use hyperbole to persuade voters, real problems result when people begin to react in their daily lives in the same exaggerated nature of many of these rhetorical claims. People believe and act on these exaggerations. They start treating rivals as if they were enemies, in the literal sense. Our republic, founded on the principles of democracy, gives a voice to each citizen, but it belies the very system when all the voices are yelling and no one is listening — when the people who must work together to govern this system that provided our freedom treat each other as enemies. This government of, by and for the people requires, at a minimum, that people believe more in the common bond with their countrymen than in any political difference. This country would not have been established without that strong belief in the commonalities we share. It cannot move forward without a restored belief that we are more alike than we are different. Yet, this is not what we hear from politicians. Each side attacks the other with such growing fervor that it seems the real point of our political process — the country itself and our commonalities — has been forgotten. If we do not restore civility to our political discourse, the chasm will continue to grow as the country swings from one pole to the other until the entire system has been unraveled. It is those who describe their countrymen as enemies who are the true enemy of this country. G UEST C OMMENT The importance of a free press By Judy Patrick To the Blue Mountain Eagle notforsale 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@cityoflong- 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. SALEM • Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378- 3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: www. governor.state.or.us/governor.html. • Oregon Legislature — State Capitol, Blue Mountain EAGLE P UBLISHED EVERY W EDNESDAY BY Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180. Website: www. leg.state.or.us (includes Oregon Constitution and Oregon Revised Statutes). • Oregon Legislative Information — (For updates on bills, services, capitol or messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313. • Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900 Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-1730. Website: www.oregonlegis- lature.gov/Bentz. Email: Sen.CliffBentz@ oregonlegislature.gov. • Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503- 986-1460. Website: www.oregonlegislature. gov/findley. Email: Rep.LynnFindley@ oregonlegislature.gov. WASHINGTON, D.C. • The White House, 1600 Pennsylva- nia Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500; Phone-comments: 202-456-1111; Switch- board: 202-456-1414. • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D — 516 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Email: wayne_kinney@wyden.senate.gov Website: http://wyden.senate.gov Fax: 202-228-2717. • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D — 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753. Email: senator@merkley.senate.gov. Fax: 202- 228-3997. Oregon offices include One World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St., Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; and 310 S.E. Second St., Suite 105, Pendleton, OR 97801. Phone: 503-326-3386; 541-278- 1129. Fax: 503-326-2990. We’ve been complacent. We thought everybody knew how important a free press was to our world and that all this talk about us being the enemy of the people would be dismissed for the silliness that it is. But the reckless attacks have continued, instigated and encour- aged by our president. When the leader of the free world works to erode the public’s trust in the media, the potential for damage is enormous, both here and abroad. We once set an example of free and open government for the world to follow. Now those who seek to suppress the free flow of information are doing so with im- punity. The time has come for us to stand up to the bullying. The role journalism plays in our free society is too crucial to allow this degrada- tion to continue. We aren’t the enemy of the peo- ple. We are the people. We aren’t fake news. We are your news and we struggle night and day to get the facts right. On bitter cold January nights, we’re the people’s eyes and ears at town, village and school board meetings. We tell the stories of our communities, from the fun of a county fair to the despair a family faces when a loved one is killed. We are always by your side. We shop the same stores, attend the same churches and hike the same trails. We struggle with daycare and worry about paying for retirement. In our work as journalists, our first loyalty is to you. Our work is guided by a set of principles that demand objectivity, independence, open-mindedness and the pursuit of the truth. We make mistakes, we know. There’s nothing we hate more than errors but we acknowl- edge them, correct them and learn from them. Our work is a labor of love be- cause we love our country and be- lieve we are playing a vital role in our democracy. Self-governance demands that our citizens need to be well-informed and that’s what we’re here to do. We go beyond the government issued press release or briefing and ask tough questions. We hold people in power account- able for their actions. Some think we’re rude to question and chal- lenge. We know it’s our obligation. People have been criticizing the press for generations. We are not perfect. But we’re striving every day to be a better version of our- selves than we were the day before. That’s why we welcome criti- cism. But unwarranted attacks that undermine your trust in us cannot stand. The problem has become so serious that newspapers across the nation are speaking out against these attacks in one voice today on their editorial pages. As women’s rights pioneer and investigative journalist Ida B. Wells wrote in 1892: “The people must know before they can act and there is no educator to compare with the press.” Judy Patrick is the vice president for editorial development for the New York Press Association. L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR ‘Unacceptable behavior’ To the Editor: It’s a horrible day in Grant County when the younger working population, representing our com- munity at the John Day city pool, humiliate a 13-year-old child over 5 cents. She was short 5 cents and was told to “go scrounge the park- ing lot,” while the pool employee started letting other people in. This is unacceptable behavior from the young people that lifeguard at the pool and represent our community at the pool front desk. Are we not more compassionate than that? Jennifer Medico John Day L etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters. Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. We must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244. Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper P UBLISHER ............ ..................... C HRIS R USH , CRUSH @ EOMEDIAGROUP . COM E DITOR & G ENERAL M ANAGER ... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM R EPORTER ............................... R ICHARD H ANNERS , RICK @ BMEAGLE . COM C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM O FFICE A SSISTANT .................... A LIXANDRA H AND , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County .....................................$40 Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51 Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Email: www.MyEagleNews.com Phone: 541-575-0710 Periodicals Postage Paid at John Day and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER send address changes to: Blue Mountain Eagle 195 N. Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845-1187 USPS 226-340 Copyright © 2018 Blue Mountain Eagle All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping or information storage and retrieval systems — without written permission of the publisher. www.facebook.com/MyEagleNews @MyEagleNews
