Opinion

I have always considered myself a philosophical and constitutional purist. Thus I have always opposed political term limits. After all, democratic principles should guarantee my right to reelect a superb representative until death, mine or his.

However, it has now become apparent that politicians are solely self-interested equivocators (the term “liars” being too coarse). I always thought that their words held meaning. That I could, at least infrequently, rely on their promises. That they are employed by me to pursue the general welfare of their constituency and of our nation. Ideally, their positions could be equated with that of a housekeeper, landscaper, or plumber. They are hired to do a job and the job gets done.

It has become increasingly apparent that, in reality, all our politicians share two bipartisan goals: financial success and reelection for additional financial success.

The GOP leadership and Pres. Bush have proven that Republican fiscal responsibility is a myth. The Senate had to pass a version of AMT relief that is not paid for because Bush threatened to veto and the GOP filibustered the “Pay-Go” version.

I really enjoyed reading Ryan Frazier’s opinion piece “An apple a day keeps the condos away.” In his article Ryan brings up issues facing many communities all across America. From the domestic furniture industry in the Carolinas, to auto manufacturers in Detroit, to food producers out west, the story is the same; America is changing rapidly and many millions are facing radical alterations to their way of life.

After all Mason Hess’ recent protests, despite his laughable earlier declaration of American life as indistinguishable from ‘martial law,’ he still can’t name a single thing — out of all those ‘rights and liberties’ he claims the Bushies have decimated — that he could do pre-Bush that he can’t do now as a result of a Bush policy.

Not one?

We often don’t have time to attend public meetings, so we are relying on what the Gazette-Tribune reported took place at the Tonasket City Council’s Nov. 27 meeting concerning public comment on the new addition planned for North Valley Hospital. It sounds that we need to keep all options open, keep an open mind and use some common sense to resolve this problem.

To all you parents out there, I desperately hope you will not take your kids to see “The Golden Compass” showing at the theater. I know it looks like a good, exciting, story of adventure. I’m sure it is, but the problem is where it comes from.

It’s all about legacy.

Dr. Bruce Amundson, an expert in rural health care, compared the North Valley health complex to the Mayo Clinic. “It’s an anomaly. It has no business being there.” Just as the Mayo Clinic rises out of a cornfield in Minnesota, the North Valley medical complex seemingly rises out of nowhere in Tonasket. When most small rural towns would do anything just to have a doctor, Tonasket has a hospital, nursing home, assisted living, two medical clinics, physical therapy, dentist office and optometry office all on the same campus with satellite clinics in Oroville. We are unique. Just as the Mayo Clinic didn’t appear by accident, our health care system has evolved with hard work, determination, sacrifice, foresight and tenacious community support.

A few nights ago an event took place near our home; an event that could have been an accident and the driver not even aware of the occurrence. However, in my experience the driver probably was aware, probably was not traveling in an emergency mode and probably didn’t even care. The car sped off; the cat might have instantly died but probably not. However it did die sometime during the night and probably had a very painful last few minutes or hours. And, probably as the car sped off, the driver said to himself, “Oh well it was just a cat.” But it wasn’t just a cat. This cat was a friends and a pet in addition to being part of God’s creation.

What? No snow here in the highlands? In thirty years I have never seen an October or a November without snow on the ground. Only five days left in November maybe; most unusual. Snow may have been abrogated by an authoritative act to prove Mr. Gore’s Nobel-winning theory of Global Warming. Not many years ago there were near promises of the “big freeze” and now the “melt down”? As is usually the case, something one hears proves true, and sometimes false.

Since Mr. Solberg is seeking to be elected as the 2008 Oroville Chamber of Commerce President, I feel compelled to speak out and question his overall veracity, professional conduct and ability to provide competent leadership for the town or Oroville.