Letters to the Editor 6/5/2024

Best president

To the Editor:

Jan Pray’s letter to the editor was right on.

Lincoln, Roosevelt, Reagan, and Trump have been the greatest presidents we ever had. There is a big drive toward socialism, away from God, country, and freedom.

Senator Tim Scott said this is our last chance in November to turn the country back to liberty and freedom or we are done!

Some members in churches across the U.S. are advocating for socialism and removing God from the church, which grieves me.

Chet Davis

First responders

To the Editor:

We are truly blessed to have the Camp Sherman Fire District here in Sisters. They responded quickly recently by ambulance to transport my wife to St. Charles emergency.

The two ambulance attendants were extremely courteous, professional, and caring for my wife. Both my wife and I cannot express our thanks enough to the fire district and their first responders.

Ronnie Frigulti

Great place

To the Editor:

So, while I find letters to the editor informative and interesting, I would like to see something positive as well.

We moved to Sisters recently. The community as a whole is so friendly! Love all the local shops. Love all the variety of events. Art galleries, restaurants, food trucks, and the beauty of the area all amazing. I love nature and animals. Seeing deer right outside my window is incredible.

The number of organizations to volunteer or join is an opportunity to get to make friends and get involved.

Linda Levinson

Israel

To the Editor:

I am responding to Bruce Campbell’s letter entitled “What America deserves” in the May 29 edition.

There’s not enough room to reply to all the Trump Derangement Syndrome on full display in his letter, but I cannot let his disinformation about Israel pass by. Not in this current culture where rampant antisemitism exists in so many forms.

He accuses Israel of “trying to exterminate a people whose land they took.” Correction: Israel is trying to exterminate Hamas, and more power to them. “Land they stole”? Seriously? Pretty hard to steal what was already yours because of being indigenous historically to the land.

Dig anywhere in Israel and you’ll find Jewish artifacts dating back thousands of years. Dig in Gaza and you’ll find terror tunnels and weapons. Hmm.

“Hamas is the end product of years of oppression from Israel’s policies.” So, what pray tell was the reason for the 1948 attack on Israel by five Arab countries the day after Israel declared independence? Or what was the reason the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem sided with Hitler during WWII? Hmm. Could it be virulent hatred of the Jews?

“No excuse for what they (Hamas)‚ did.” Talk about minimizing the butchering of 1,200 men, women, children, hundreds of rape victims, not to mention the 240 who were taken captive as hostages to Gaza and who knows if any are still alive. What they did was unimaginable horror. There is no excuse for what they did, indeed.

Regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu being a “war hawk who was just looking for a reason to go into Gaza and kill as many people as he can get away with.” Such slander against a leader who is trying to make sure October 7 can never happen again. And that means killing Hamas who use their own people as human shields. If Netanyahu had taken no thought whatsoever for civilian casualties in Gaza, the war would have been over months ago.

Free Palestine — from Hamas!

Deborah Halsten

To the Editor:

Bruce Campbell’s conspiracy theory reads like a fevered rant.

Netanyahu, he fantasizes, was glad for the brutal massacre of October 7, giving him an excuse “to go into Gaza and kill as many people as he can get away with.” I’m afraid that all norms of civil discourse break down against such stupefying ignorance and bigotry.

Hamas, he foams and blathers, is a product of Israel’s policies — ignoring that the same butchering jihadism embraced by Hamas, ISIS, Taliban, and the rest, has cut a wide swath across much of the planet, from the Southern Philippines across North Africa, and from mosques in Europe down through East and Central Africa where Boko Haram kidnaps schoolgirls for wives. All just to say that Islam’s reformation is long overdue.

But Mr. Campbell’s biggest lie is that Israel “is trying to exterminate a people whose land they took.” Two lies actually. Jews never stole Arab land. On the contrary, those who fled persecution in the 19th century paid premium prices to absentee Arab landlords for barren land in an abandoned corner of the Ottoman Empire. Then came the third birth of the Nation of Israel, along with the ethnic cleansing of Jews (and then Christians) from Arab lands. Then came the wars of extermination against Israel, all started by Arabs and yes, they lost some land then. Sorry, don’t start wars. None of those wars were as murderous as the wars that Arabs inflicted on themselves, but you won’t hear a bigot crying for a million Syrians if he can’t blame the Jews.

In any case, as most people in Sisters know quite well, the Children of Israel have far more right to live in Israel than Mr. Campbell has to live on whatever stolen land he occupies.

David Miller

Those who think differently

To the Editor:

Mr. Campbell, you appear to be a longtime follower of CNN and deeply embedded in your liberal beliefs. Including lessons learned from Hillary Clinton and her now famous quote calling individuals who think differently as “deplorable.” Referring to those who think differently than you by calling them stupid and less educated fits the definition of presenting oneself as a narcissist, a descriptor you in fact used for President Trump.

Additionally, you elected to reference Jesus in your editorial piece, suggesting you have somewhere along the line been taught the lesson of self-reflection. I might suggest you look within and channel that lesson to navigate through your interactions the remainder of this election season.

Rather than cite my many differences of opinion regarding political policy I would suggest we simply “agree to disagree.” Please, in future opinion pieces try to practice some civility rather than name calling and express yourself as the educated man you believe yourself to be.

Tom Braun