The next episode I had with Editor “Ed” involved my response to this letter written by David Eckhardt.
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Because letter writers Tom Jackson and Mary DeCeault (“No Cherry Picking,” “Some of the ‘Accomplishments’ of Donald Trump,” Aug. 29) have already covered all the left-wing talking points so eloquently, I would like to provide my own truthful perspective.
First, after eight years of unquestioned far-left policies, it is a wonder President Trump could achieve anything with all the ridiculous policies that had been put in place. But as former President Obama liked to do: If you can’t get what you want through Congress, just use a phone and a pen. In doing so, he left the door open for President Trump to void many of our former president’s bad ideas — and for that, I thank him.
As for the 500 (estimated) children not reunited with their parents, it’s on the parents for committing a crime by coming to the U.S. illegally. They knew what they were doing, just as people who commit crimes here and get sent to jail; they, too, get separated from their kids. Unless we do something worse by putting the kids in jail with their parents.
Yes, Trump’s North Korea plan has not panned out too well. But he did get a couple of prisoner’s back home, along with some of our MIAs’ remains (we hope). And it didn’t cost us a dime.
The jury is out on the tax cuts cost. But what we do know is that the economy is going gang busters. Unemployment among all categories is at its lowest in a long, long time. And the GDP is above four percent after being told, for the previous eight years, that we needed to accept a measly two percent GDP or less as the new normal.
As for downsizing the National Monuments and allowing companies to explore for energy? No problem there. In my opinion, they were getting used for vote-getting and fundraising from the eco-extremists like the Sierra Club and other far-left eco groups. And just where is the pollution and environmental damage from this? Take a look at the EPA’s pollution of the Colorado river. As of last year, it still hasn’t paid the bill. (www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation -now/2017/01/13/epa-wont-pay-claims-mine-spill-released-3m-gallons-toxic-water/96555846)
As for the president’s golfing… Wow, I am amazed that anyone could play golf more than President Obama. When it comes to who golfed more, I really don’t care either way.
I could give a longer list of things I think matter, but then the editor would have to give me a whole page — and that is unlikely. So here is a link to the not right-wing Washington Times article (www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/6/giving-trumps-accomplishments-their-due).
That all being said, I would like to see a few less tweets. Personally, I don’t tweet because I think it is silly.
Sept. 1, 2018
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Below is my response to Eckhardt’s letter. Ed revised it and printed his version without my permission.
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I saw recently on Facebook a video of a man rescuing six puppies deposited along a desert road somewhere in a Western state. How entirely cruel the owner of those puppies had to have been!
Ah, but the puppies were not human beings; their owner surely would not have abandoned six children.
In that same vein, President Trump and his administration deliberately separated some 500 children from their asylum-seeking parents seeking entrance into our country at the southern border.
His motive? It appears to be to send a message: Come here with your children; you lose them.
How can he and his supporters minimize this horrendously cruel act? Heed David Eckhardt’s words in his Sept. 1 letter. “… it’s on the parents for committing a crime by coming to the U.S. illegally. [Forget the fact that seeking asylum is not a violation of U.S. law.] They knew what they were doing, just as people who commit crimes here and get sent to jail; they, too, get separated from their kids. Unless we do something worse by putting the kids in jail with their parents.”
I am dismayed to suspect that there is a segment of our population that sees Latinos — and anyone else who isn’t “like us” as criminals and rapists, gang members, drug dealers and murderers.
Thank you to our president, Fox News, Newt Gingrich and the rest of the political agitators on the airwaves who have not one scintilla of conscience, reducing “the others” to sub-human status.
That mindset seeks to make it palatable to the general population to separate vulnerable children from their desperate parents in the same way as leaving unwanted puppies to die of thirst and over-exposure.
September 8
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I sent this email out to several friends.
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Just so you know. I’ve had it with this guy. He just destroys the heart and soul of a forceful letter. The attachment I have provided illustrates it. He did this to me recently and I called him on it, he apologized for printing his changes without consulting me first. I assumed thereafter that any changes he wanted to make in forthcoming letters that I would send him he would try to negotiate. I said he should leave letters send to him (by anyone) alone. Once again he did what he did previously: print his version of my letter and embarrass me (portraying me as somewhat of a milquetoast that writes awkward sentences) without contacting me previously. I really don’t intend to write any future letters. I would tell him that but I need his good will to print a forthcoming book presentation notice I plan to make.
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I received two responses.
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Jenny Velinty: It seems like a lost cause for any kind of balance with the SN and I note letters from Florence are being printed in the RG, [Register-Guard] which is also rapidly stepping right and dumping any opinions but their own.
It looks like a time to circle the wagons, support each other privately, use the Eugene Weekly for print, and get out the vote. The midterms are crucial for derailing this bull on wheels and I hope the fickle Independents have seen the light.
The dems must keep getting background on Kavenaugh and delay the rush to install him and hopefully Obama can make a difference. The news that healthcare costs are contained may help but racism is exploding around the world. People seem ready to throw out all the old guard in their frustration. Only Ruth Ginsberg gets respect.
Rand Dawson: Harold....we know you are not milquetoast....and not nearly as civilized as that letter he printed!! At least he left your name unscathed ....I personally cannot imagine where he gets the time to do that....////Hey--take a break....your talents are too much needed to deny us your wisdom-en-futuro…
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Here was David Eckhardt’s hissy fit response letter.
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In response to Harold Titus’ Letter to the Editor “Dehumanizing Others Who Are ‘Not Like Us’” (Sept. 8), which referenced my Sept. 1 letter (“The Real Accomplishments of President Trump”), I am not dehumanizing anyone.
Comparing puppies to children in his letter and then conflating that to what “all” presidents have done to protect our country is contemptible at the least and ignorant at best. As many already know, seeking asylum is not illegal. But crossing our boarder without permission is.
Yet in his letter, Mr. Titus misleads in a way that confuses one with the other.
Following his train of thought, the parents of illegal immigrants have no responsibility for what their actions cause. So, should we just have no borders or laws to deter people from breaking them?
Taking that extreme view to its logical conclusion, we should just suspend all laws that interfere with what a person wants to do.
In his letter, Mr. Titus went on to conflate that members of our brave policing agencies are racist for enforcing our laws, suggesting by way of association that those of us who support policing the laws — including the president — are also racist.
That could not be more wrong, and those who think that way are simply dishonest and, in my opinion, contemptible. To think that all who cross illegally into our country are saints is pure ignorance.
And let’s be clear: No one has said that all illegals are rapists and murders.
But that reality doesn’t fit the narrative, which is to paint those on the “right” as Nazis or Nazi supporters. The intent of letters like that is to stifle dissent through a narrative that accuses those in support of the rule of law as racists.
I, for one, won’t be deterred by that.
In this unperfect world, we are all responsible for our actions and the consequences of those actions. Like it or not, each of us has a responsibility to be aware of — and enforce — the laws that govern us as a republic.
Anyone wishing to come here and become a citizen should be welcomed with open arms. Just one requirement: Do it legally.
Printed September 15, 2018, in the Siuslaw News
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I emailed Editor Ed the following October 18.
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Certain practices contrary to the welfare of the vast majority of people and the people who perpetuate them need to be called out for what they are. Taking the heat out of the calling diminishes considerably the message to the point that it is no longer worth the doing. No need to talk any further. Your policy is reducing your number of letter writers, I suspect, from both the left and the right.
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I vowed not to submit another letter to the Siuslaw News until Ed ceased to be its editor.
I did submitted a long letter October 17. Our state representative, Caddy McKeown was up for re-election. Her opponent had said some nasty things about Caddy at a Republican Party rally in Florence. A Democrat had been at the rally and had recorded her words. I had received a transcript of what she had said. I had always written letters of recommendation for Caddy and Arnie Roblan. I felt obliged to do so again, despite my disagreements with Ed. I doubted that he would print the letter, so I sent him a message along with the letter.
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This is a long letter. Perhaps it could be used in your “guest viewpoint” feature.
If you want to use it, I do not want anything changed. In my last two letters you made considerable (unnecessary in my opinion) changes without my knowledge, causing me to think that instead of putting my name underneath the printed letter you should have stated “based on a letter submitted by Harold Titus.” You should not get to modify a letter writer’s opinion and pass it off as what he precisely thinks. Same goes for how the letter writer expresses himself.
Consequently, I do not want you to print this letter if you feel compelled to make even one change.
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This was Ed’s response, October 18.
I appreciate your letter and taking the time to share your perspective. That being said, I think we should talk about the difference between Letters to the Rditor and Guest Viewpoints. Letters have specific guidelines that run in each edition along the side of page A4 (Opinion Page). I do allow a certain latitude when it comes to Guest Viewpoints, primarily because they receive a certain prominence based on the writer’s expertise, particular insight or background on the subject. When it comes to Letters, however, in addition to a preferred length (again with which I have some latitude depending on the number of submissions), the following guidelines apply:
“… Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or documented will not be published.
Our objective is to provide letter writers with an opportunity to share a specific insight or perspective in a way that is as concise as possible and devoid of argumentative, sarcastic or inflammatory language. Whatever editing I did was likely done to eliminate those components while still leaving the message intact, such as the difference between “The candidate is unqualified” and “The candidate is ridiculously unqualified.”
Without question, the attached piece would have to be a Guest Viewpoint because of its length and tone. I will tell you that, if specific quotes are included and attributed for or against someone in the Guest Viewpoint (or Letter, for that matter), I require submissions to include the sourcing of those quotes unless they are referring to a quote that has appeared in our own newspaper (which I can easily verify.) This is just due diligence in the interest of fairness. I receive many letters that reference quotes with no attribution or source, and I don’t run them. This would be the case with your submission, in which you reference quotes “recorded by a registered Democrat.”
I don’t need to include that person’s name in the submission, but I at least need to verify it with the individual or hear the recording myself before attributing words to any individual mentioned in a Letter or Guest Viewpoint.
It’s probably not the response you were looking for. However, I have taken the time to explain my position and reasoning in the hope that it will facilitate more of your submissions rather than fewer of them.
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Expecting its rejection, I sent my letter, slightly revised, to Coos Bay’s The World.
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Teri Grier’s high talk about providing “compassionate leadership for our coast” is not meant to persuade me and other long-time liberals. Some sort of sorcery is required to erase the images of Mitch McConnell declaring how much huge tax cuts for large corporations and billionaires are going to provide jobs, the White House’s calculated, cruel separation of immigrant children from their asylum-seeking parents, and GOP Secretaries of State purging from their states’ voter rolls probable Democratic Party voters. GOP candidates like Grier have to dissemble hard to try to reverse the growing disregard many voters harbor for today’s Republican Party.
The GOP has always been the water-carriers of big business and the very wealthy. To attain majority support, Republican candidates must assert that their taxation policies benefit the middle and lower economic classes; they must exacerbate wedge issues; they must exploit citizenry fear of and prejudice toward people easily scapegoated; and they must vilify their opponents. Truth goes out the window. Winning is all that matters.
Red Republican Teri Grier opposes cap and trade, the mildest form of reducing CO2 emissions. On her website, she states: “Cap-and-trade is a system designed to raise tax revenue, not reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
She bemoans the poverty so apparent in rural Oregon and blames Democrats. Corporate employee wages across our county have been stagnant for decades while corporate profits have soared. Which political party has supported this? Which political party opposes minimum wage increases while pushing always to cut taxes that benefit almost exclusively the top one percent? Teri Grier takes the Ayn Rand position that the poor must not be helped. Assisting them, she has said, turns them into babies, strips them of their self-esteem, destroys their motivation.
Grier’s website states that she supports right-wing Measures 104 and 106.
Her attack flyers — typical GOP vilification — portray Caddy McKeown as a horrible person. Surprised?
Caddy McKeown is a moderate, business-oriented Democrat. At a recent forum she stated: "I’m much more concerned about voting for this district than I am about voting for or against a party.”
In 2012 I wrote this in The World. "I want representing me a person who is governed not by expediency, and not by moneyed interests that benefit the few. I want that person guided by fairness and conscience.” That is what I got. That is what I will get if Caddy is re-elected.
Printed in The World October 22, 2018
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Here are comments e-mailed to me by friends.
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Karin Radtke: Wow Harold! And just when I was starting to think we might have to call on our local "Weroance" [reference to my novel Alsoomse and Wanchese] to start mediating... Thanks, and will pass this around.
Rand Dawson: wowow....honest to god....!!
Ron Preisler: Your article is excellent as usual. Shame more locals won’t be able to read it. Did you send it to … [Ed] as well?
Igor Kusznirczuk: I would forward to .. [Ed] and thank him for being such a jackass. Nice work.
Rosetta Favors: Good job!!!
Heather Rollins: Very nice.
Jenny Velinty: A-HA! More than one way to get an LTE published! Congrats! The World is the best place for a letter supporting Caddy. They know her quiet get-it-done ways. She’s one of them-treading a cautious but determined path and the longer she stays in office the stronger and wider her influence will be.
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