Letters to the Editor 1/24/2024

Imagine

To the Editor:

Well, here we are again. Another election year which is quickly ramping up with both sides of the isle pointing fingers, laying blame and generating biased statements that oftentimes seem to lack the truth. Then there is the media. Conservative and liberal outlets alike appear hell-bent on creating and fostering a deeper level of divisiveness and animosity within our society. Based on a number of opinions posted lately in The Nugget it appears these factors have made it increasingly more difficult to maintain civility and respect for those whose opinions differ from our own.

Personally, I believe that those of us that have the privilege of living in a small community like Sisters Country have a deeper level of respect and appreciation for our friends, neighbors and community members. Is it possible for us as a community to refrain from spewing our political opinions and bias with the intent to influence others? Rather, respect others enough that you allow them to formulate their own unbiased opinions even if they may differ from your own. Additionally can we then respect their views as we avoid judgement, condemnation, or disdain?

Imagine if you will the level of civility and respect possible within our community if we can just allow a little of John Lennon’s “Imagine” into our lives this election cycle.

Tom Braun

Thank you to Sisters Ranger District

To the Editor:

I want to give a big shout out to law enforcement with the Sisters Ranger District. She stopped to help when I was stuck in the snow and was just so pleasant. While it was snowing! Needless to say I am not used to driving in the snow to begin with. Her act of kindness is so much appreciated by myself and my husband. And now I have learned how not to drive in the snow.

Thank you!

Linda Levinson

Free Palestine

To the Editor:

I feel that the history of Israel has been misconstrued, as has much of the crisis in Gaza. The land that is known as Palestine became modern day Israel after the British Balfour Declaration, which said that it intended to create a national home for Jews. Zionists then volunteered to help the British conquer Palestine. The British had already betrayed their promise of Arab independence after the revolt against Ottoman Turks. This colonization was supercharged by the influx of European Jews escaping the Holocaust. And in the face of resistance by the Palestinian people (of whom there are Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike), the British and Zionists engaged in the first Nakba in 1948.

The Nakba, or catastrophe, was the forced removal and dispossession of the native Palestinian people. There were massacres, towns were destroyed and/or repopulated with Jewish settlers, and even today Palestinians are not allowed to return to their homes or the homes of their family. It is racist, settler colonialism that says almost anyone of Jewish descent can move to Israel, it’s even encouraged and sponsored. Yet people who were forced out of their homes and moved into ever shrinking and fenced off spaces cannot rightfully return.

This violence, the dispossession of people based on ethnicity, race, and religion, the Zionism itself is not true Judaism. Activists like Rabbi Dovid Weiss or Israeli historian Avi Shlaim are great resources who talk about the conditions in Israel/Palestine and the hypocrisy of Jewish Zionism. Israel dresses itself in the trappings of Judaism and yet goes against all of its principles and even harms Jewish people themselves. It is against G-d, morality, and humanity.

Free Palestine!

Micaela Verbitsky

Silver thaw

To the Editor:

This morning I watched my first “silver thaw.” It was one of the most awesome natural spectacles I've ever seen.

We have had nearly two weeks of cold and snow with all the snow topped by days of freezing rain glazing all the snow and everything outside.

This morning at 9 a.m., new rain started to fall. The temp was still 27 degrees but the rain was warm enough to not freeze. As the rain fell, a small glint of sun shone through a tiny section of clouds. Suddenly the snow turned silver and the sun made it sparkle. It looked like silver glitter had been tossed out on all of the snow as far as I could see.

The beauty lasted about five minutes and then the shadows were gray and the glitter had all been washed away. I've never seen it before and I hope to never see it again because it required massive amounts of rain freezing and glazing the snow to make it happen. But it was awesome to see it once.

Jean Nave

Dangerous Democrats

To the Editor:

In response to the letter, “Do nothing Republicans” (The Nugget, January 17):

What has the Democrat party (there is no Democratic party) accomplished in the past and what besides Socialism do they plan for the future?

They formed and supported the Ku Klux Klan. They tried to keep blacks and Catholics from owning firearms. They implemented Jim Crow laws to prohibit white Americans from engaging in financial, property or marital transactions with disfavored groups, plus even eliminating most occasions for proximity. They did not want blacks and women to be able to vote. They did not support desegregation. They supported the Occupy Wall Street movement and they are behind ANTIFA.

They have totally wrecked our energy independence. They want to remove the dams (no more clean, cheap, and renewable electricity and no more flood control). They opened the borders (give the illegals free medical, housing, education, driver’s licenses, and don’t hold them accountable for their crimes). They are letting the Communist Chinese buy our farmlands and forests with no oversight or plan for the future.

Thomas Nitcher