The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

To the Editor:

When does freedom of speech become defamatory, partial truth and disrespectful? Craig Rullman harms his credibility by painting every Democrat or maybe every Rebublican with the same brush. Rullman suggests that all Democrats are guilty of fighting tirelessly for slavery and on he goes ad-nauseum to support his generalizations.

My great-grandparents, dyed-in-the-wool Southern Democrats, were a historically documented part of the Underground Railroad, helping to shelter, clothe and feed countless slaves seeking freedom.

Rullman’s column, September 25, does nothing but create further divisiveness between political parties. Where is the respectful discourse in such a short-sighted and narrow-minded article? I expect more from him than mean-spirited, disrespectful generalities. Let us live to respect others and recognize that all of us want the same things for our community, our families, our world.

The pen may well be mightier than the sword — but when you wield it, be ever mindful of the wounds you inflict.

As for the main gist of his column, the right to keep and bear arms, he went for the humor with the mental picture I had of Elizabeth Warren arriving to kick down my mom’s door and take her firearm. My 80-year-old mom claimed to be Charlton Heston’s best friend and staunch member of the NRA. Nobody would take her firearms, but then my mom didn’t sport an UZI!

Karen Keady

s s s

To the Editor:

In reaction to Roger Engstrom, who wants to help prevent bee extinction and evidently was surprised from the Science Club lecture that climate change was a factor and politics was somehow involved: It sounds to me like you got a dose of reality and real science rather than the political propaganda and pseudo-science you get on conservative media.

The fact is that human-created climate change and certain crop pesticides like NMP, Imidacloprid and Chlorothalonil have been reported to be the likely cause of colony collapse disorder. The Department of Agriculture is spending a paltry $3 million to investigate this.

The EPA is doing little to protect the environment. The EPA is primarily protecting corporations. This administration buries, defunds and denies science and you should be upset about that. If you really want to help the bees by reversing climate change and regulating pesticides, you should elect a government that supports science, instead of denying in order to plunder the country’s natural resources to create a few jobs.

It’s admirable that you care about the bees, but planting more flowers will not help. If you want to do your part to help the bees, drive your car less, or better yet buy an electric car. If you use pesticides, stop using them.

Steve Nugent

s s s

To the Editor

Actually, this is a letter to thank the young lady who paid for the rotisserie chicken I picked up at Ray’s last Friday. I hope you read The Nugget so you will know how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity.

I looked for you in the parking lot but you had disappeared. You are truly a blessing.

Donna Holland