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Letters to the Editor: July 27, 2018

Keep great asset going

As stated in last week’s lead editorial, the problem is with the landlord, not the museum. And it is still open, though some people believed otherwise.

I have been a volunteer for more than 19 years. On my day, I meet with just about all who visit.

I meet people from all around the world, coming to see the “Goose.” Some do not even speak English.

On occasion, late in the afternoon, out-of-state travelers on the way to the coast see the 747 out front and drive up to see what’s going on. Their first impression is, “Wow.”

As there is not enough time left to visit before closing, they go down the street and check into one of the motels. They dine and shop in McMinnville, then return to the museum the next day.

This is money spent here, not in Lincoln City.

We no longer have Del Smith’s largesse to rely on. We depend on visitors walking through the door.

So when you have out-of-town visitors, consider bringing them out to the museum to immerse themselves in aircraft history. That way, we will help keep this great asset going.

Don Bowie

McMinnville

 

Words have consequences

Michael Bennett’s letter in response to Tom Henderson’s tremendous article “Literally shooting the messenger” (July 6 Viewpoints), requires a response of its own.

Mr. Bennett seems to be unable to grasp the fact words have consequences, particularly when they come from our president. Since early in his candidacy, he has spewed endless hate toward the press. And this has increased since he has become president.

On Jan. 21, 2017, Trump said he had a “running war with the media” and called reporters “among the most dishonest human beings on earth.” On Feb. 17, 2017, he labeled the media an “enemy of the American people.”

In a tweet of June 6, 2017, he identified “fake news” purveyors to include CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, The Washington Post and The New York Times. At other times, he has included The Wall Street Journal, exempting no major national medium except Fox TV.

While his rhetoric may not have reached the level of Dana Loesch, the NRA spokeswomen who called reporters “rat bastards of the earth,” it has been so negative and unrelenting it has to have affected listeners.

Journalists in many countries, including neighboring Mexico, are murdered frequently. We should be grateful that’s not happening here, The Capital Gazette slayings a rare exception.

It seems to me the President, in denigrating the press, is setting it up for acts of violence. While we cannot say that Ramos’ acts in Annapolis were due to Trump’s rhetoric, we have every reason to believe it may have been related to the consequences of his words.

In another area it is actually possible to measure those consequences. Of more than 1,400 hate crimes analyzed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and ProPublica, approximately 20 percent were committed in Trump’s name.

I found neither intended bigotry nor fake news in Mr. Henderson’s article.

Les Howsden

Amity

Comments

Don Dix

Mr. Howsden -- You wrote -- "While we cannot say that Ramos’ acts in Annapolis were due to Trump’s rhetoric, we have every reason to believe it may have been related to the consequences of his words." You 'cannot say', but 'have every reason to believe'? Seriously? Didn't you just 'say it'?

Hopefully you are aware that both the SPLC and ProPublica have ties to and receive most of their respective funding from the liberal side of the political spectrum. Would you expect anything other than anti-Trump sentiment from either?

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