Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor

I love The Nugget for its hometown newsiness and friendly flavor. But I find its selection of political commentary and cartoons biased and tiresome -- sarcastically mocking our president week after week.

President Bush has provided unwavering leadership in a time of national crisis, understood fully the threat to our country and had the guts to do something about it despite high risk and great difficulty.

He doesn't deserve hypocritical second-guessing by those who've swallowed anti-Bush propaganda hook, line and sinker. Why, for example, is he now branded a liar for taking action against the threat of WMDs in Iraq -- when the pre-war list of those trumpeting the danger of Saddam's WMDs included none other than John Kerry, Bill and Hillary, the U.N. Security Council, and Russian, American and British intelligence agencies?

President Bush is now accused of single-handedly fabricating the entire threat? Give me a break.

The heavy price paid by our armed forces to liberate Iraq and terminate its weapons programs has included, sadly, the sacrifice of over 900 American lives.

Detractors claim this is too high a price, touting it as proof the war in Iraq was an ill-conceived failure. While it's a horrific sacrifice for the families impacted, the loss of 900 Americans in Iraq over the past 16 months is being used as an emotional wedge without context or perspective.

In that same 16 months, 2,650 Americans were murdered in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago alone (perhaps we should pull out of those cities since our peace-keeping efforts there are obviously a "total failure").

In that same 16 months, 56,000 Americans were killed in automobile accidents -- nearly 900 deaths every week (shall we give up automotive travel since the price is too high?).

During that same 16 months, off-duty accidents claimed nearly 700 American service members. But 900 lost in a war to eliminate a terrorist regime and its supporters is deemed an unacceptable price? Saddam, Bin Laden, Al Zarqawi and their friends absolutely love hearing such talk.

Bruce Williams

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To the Editor:

Being raised in Sisters and graduating an Outlaw, I had always hoped that the town would hold strong and forever forbid the golden arches to loom like gargoyles over our streets. Alas, we sold out. But for what?

McDonald's has every right any other business does to open up shop in Sisters. This wouldn't be the case if the community had kept their policy of no fast food franchises allowed, but that's beside the point. But I want every citizen of Sisters to ask "Do we want McDonald's in our town? Is this what's best for Sisters?"

No doubt people argued that McDonald's would create new jobs for the unemployed and bring in new revenue from travelers. Of course it will. But let us not forget an age-old economic fallacy: A young boy hurls a rock through a baker's window and is declared a hero by the townspeople because he created profit for the window repair man who will in turn disburse his new earnings throughout the community by buying goods and services.

But the new window costs the baker $100 and instead of buying a new suit, the baker is forced to repair his window. So although the window repair man was grateful for the boy's malicious act, the tailor was not.

McDonald's gain in business is simply a loss to another potential business.

I don't want to sound arrogant and I understand that for low-income families with five children, McDonald's can be a quick and cheap meal. But those families seem to be getting along fine now. And if those kids eat McDonald's every day, their parents will end up paying for it in the long run because they'll be writing checks to clinics and camps that deal with obesity.

Being a student for 22 years I never once hung out at a McDonald's, so I doubt it will be a hot spot for the high school kids. Business meetings won't be conducted there. No art shows will be displayed there.

So McDonald's offers no social benefits. What exactly does McDonald's offer? Well, they offer....uh...um...a playground with dirty plastic balls? If you're desperate for a Big Mac you can drive 20 minutes to Bend.

It may be too late to save Sisters from the menacing golden arches. But in the future, citizens of Sisters need to sit down and take a minute or 10 to think about how we want our town to look in 20 years. It is not having everything, but making the best out of everything you have.

It is becoming rarer everyday to have a sense of home. Citizens of Sisters, population 1,080, do. Let's keep it that way.

Forever an Outlaw,

Evan Owens

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To the Editor

Can anyone answer this question? Why are these third-party telephone book companies like Transwestern Publishing of Bend and Phone Directories of Orem, Utah allowed to litter the roads of rural Deschutes County with their phone books?

They are too cheap to pay to mail them so they throw them on the roadside below the mailboxes. Very few are picked up as most people don't want them. They sit there until they rot and send loose pages across the landscape. If you or I were seen throwing this much trash on the roads, we would be cited for littering.

I just picked up two sets of these phone books at our group of mailboxes and sent them to the dump. In other years, I gather them up and use them for backstops at my private firing range. Enough of them lined up and they will even stop 30-06s.

If you are as sick of this trashing of our roads, let these two litterbug companies know. Their contact information is on the first couple of pages of these junk phonebooks. Also, let the main local advertisers know that you will not do business with them as long as they support this type of litter. Working together maybe we can stop this trashing of our rural roads.

Carlton S. Yee

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To the Editor:

Watching the sunrise while patiently waiting for my morning coffee to brew can bring on some of my best thinking of the day. How lucky I am to share this time and place with so many good and honest people.

This morning I'm thinking about my friend Jerry Norquist and the amazing level of quality and service he, along with his staff and volunteers, provide related to Cycle Oregon events.

To the outside observer Cycle Oregon is a very fun bike event. When you look towards the heart of the event you begin to see the amazing economic benefits it provides Sisters along with other rural communities.

The generous contributions from Cycle Oregon have supported a number of important community projects from our Sisters Trails to our CATS.

My morning coffee toast: May Cycle Oregon and Sisters have many more adventures together and live happily ever after!

Bill Willitts

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To the Editor:

Who IS that guy on the bicycle pulling knapweed along Highway 20 and Indian Ford Road?

Thanks, "Weed Warrior." One person CAN make a difference.

Karen Shadley

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To the Editor:

We are local Sisters kids who love to swim, so we began swimming with the Bend Swim Club last fall. Our club held its yearly lap-swim fund-raiser last month and we wanted to thank all the Sisters businesses and community members who sponsored us in that event.

The club will be holding its annual Bend Open swim meet August 13-15 at the Juniper Swim and Fitness Center. We welcome you to watch our club and others compete.

Again, thank you for helping make this year's fund-raiser a success.

Tia and Tyler Berg

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To the Editor:

Yesterday I was at the county fair and I saw the Democrats' booth. I went over to talk to them and asked them a few questions.

I asked them if they were pro-Kerry or anti-Bush? They answered, both. I found this hard to believe that anybody likes Kerry, so I asked them why they liked him. All they could say was how bad Bush is and nothing good about Kerry.

This leads me to believe that they do not like Kerry, but dislike Bush.

Will this hatred help them win the election? If there is nothing good about Kerry, how could they?

Sincerely,

Graham Miller