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COLUMN
EDITORIAL
Good news sports fans!
Those of you with 24 hours
worth of free time to spare
each and eve~week can
keep up with Mason County
government.
Under new rules adopted
last week, the county com-
missioners can meet at
anytime between 8:30 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m. on Mondays,
Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Some of the meetings will
be announced beforehand
and include agendas, while
some of the meetings will be
like, well, surprise parties!
Wanna know when the
commissioners may or not
meet on one of those three
days. No problem! Just
show up for the alloted eight
hours on each of the first
three days of every week.
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!
P.S. Be sure to bring a
paperbag lunch or somesuch
in case the commissioners
want to get together over
the noon hour.
• • •
This is my recurring nightmare:
A male African lion is begin-
ning to move toward me, across a
small patch of dirt yard.
Knowing that all of his 600
pounds of muscle, claws, teeth
and terror will soon be upon me I
watch as he accelerates with every
step and I turn to the ramshack-
le house in my
dream, hoping to
make it safely in-
side.
When I cross
the threshold
and slam the
door I can still
see him com-
ing, now in full
TOM charge, because
MULLEN there is only a
screen door and
it bounces with a bang and the
lion leaps toward me.
The lion, I have come to believe
in my waking hours, is my ego.
Sigmund Freud would have called
him my Id. That is, my will to live
that supersedes all my other de-
sires.
He will devour me if I let him
and in my dreams it appears I
have no choice.
When I was young enough to
have a mentor I was told things
like "real newspapermen have no
!
friends" and "never stop doubting
your own beliefs" and "we have
nothing to fear from the truth."
These platitudes are meant to
keep the ego in check, the lion at
bay.
If you start to believe that your
work is somehow special, that you
are the righteous protector of the
citizenry, that it is some kind of
mission from God, then you doom
yourself to be eaten by the lion -
and then you become the lion.
If I am to believe the good
things people say about my work
as a newspaperman, then I must
also believe the bad and so I have
learned to take little stock in ei-
ther.
Today I was reminded of a time
when that wasn't so, when the lion
ruled my psyche.
A potential advertiser com-
plained to someone (not me) that
they would not support the news-
paper because of the way we had
failed to adequately cover one sto-
ry or that we were too harsh in ottr
coverage of another story.
Any criticism of how a reporter
covers a particular story is inher-
ently fair because it is subjective
in nature - just as the reporter's
hearing and re-telling of that
story is subjective, so that rarely
bothers me.
The threat of losing potential we don't want to lose your adver-
advertising bothers me because tising but the only reason to spend
I've got to eat but I must, in good money with us is because youql
conscience, push those emotions make more money by doing it.~
aside if I am to maintain any cred- But I let the lion win that day
ibility. To allow an advertiser to and maybe he's winning now as I
dictate the content of any story is write.
a lose/lose proposition. The only Today I also had the singu-
reason this newspaper has existed lar pleasure of interviewing Bill
longer than just about every other Ohrman. The Drummond artist's
business in town is because gen- work is a treasure of truth and
eratious of readers have come to talent that surrounds engulfs the
trust that those people charged viewer.
with the care of their paper will He told me a story about a man
not be ruled by the man with the whom he thought to be a Saudi.
most gold. The story was spurred perhaps
And if we allow our advertisers by my questions on the killing of
to dictate the content of our stories Osama bin Laden.
then we give them their advertis- Bill hesitated in telling the
ing for free - meaning we have story because he too tries to keep
nothing to sell them. the lion at bay and I apologize to
But here is what bothered me him here for retelling it because I
then and bothers me still: "I don't know he wouldn't want me to.
want to support the paper..." After viewing Bill's work the
Well guess what? I don't want Saudi bowed deeply to him several
support. When I first heard that times and when their eyes finally
line it was from a cafe owner and met Bill could see tears streaming
I was insulted enough to fire right down the Saudi's face.
back. The truth in Bill's work had
"How would you feel," I que- touched the man deeply and re-
ried, "if I told you the only reason vealed for Bill, and me and now
I come to this restaurant and eat you, the humanity that we all
your food is because I want our share.
town to have a cafe?" And sometimes the truth is
What I had been schooled to say painful but I wasn't taught to hide
was more along the lines of "look, it.
TO EDITOR
can accommodate 300 more
prisoners. Are we lucky, or
what?
incinerator What's a "Prison Recep-
tion Center" you say? Well,
would trade ,,,s kind of like boot camp
for new prisoners. Yeah, I
health know, but it sounds alot
o u r better than an "Indoctrina-
tionCenter," and makes
everybody feel a little better
for profits about what goes oninside.
Didn't get the memo?
Editor, the Journal Well, the hearing was held
Contrary to Mr. Hager's this past Friday evening
opinion regarding my state- at the new Public Works
ments in a April 2(3 letter building. It wasn't re- have finally snagged a real During the last two budget deficit, which is
to the editor, the Olympic ally the best time for most "growth industry," the bad years, while our intelli- primarily the responsibil-
Region Clean Air Agency citizens to attend but, no news is that there are now gence agencies were work- ity of the Republicans in :
(ORCAA) website shows matter, all the heavy hit-
the amount of pollution ters were there trying to more prisoners in our coun- ing on Obama's behest toCongress, on everyone
try than there are farmers, capture bin Laden, what but themselves. The Bush
produced by each company get the Dept. of Corrections No, I'm not whining about was the Republican part administration inherited
in our area, and Simpson/ to pick Mason County over the poor state of our socio- working on? a very nearly balanced
Olympic panel are, indeed, the Bremerton or Thurston economic condition; I'm 1. Opposing health care budget from the Clinton
the largest air polluters in County sites. One thing merely trying to explain reform. They had no re- administration. During the
Mason County. If some- you have to say about our why you can't find a good alistic proposals of their six years in which Repub-
body's lying, it isn't me. local officials is that when
tomato anymore, unless you own to put forward. Theylicans had a majority in
Check out the ORCAA web- it comes to government
site Larry. handouts they're right up grow one yourself, had no legitimate basis for Congress they passed tax
All this should make you opposing the Affordable cuts for the rich while bor-
And no, Mr. Hager, I there at the front of the wonder why we're paying so Health Care Act, which rowing money to fund two
am not on the payroll for line. Of course, with a little much money to people who was based on Republican wars. Anyone who can do
any environmental orga- initiative it may have been think the key to our future Mitt Remney's healthcarethird grade arithmetic can
nization. I work at the possible to persuade a more lies in another prison. Pris- policy for Massachusetts. figure out what that will do
hospital as a laboratory suitable business to relo- ons don't really fill me with The Republican opposition to the budget deficit. When
scientist. Everyday at work cate to our community, but community pride. And even to the AHCA was based pri- Obama took office he inher-
I see people suffering from I guess there's no point in if they did, maybe two of marily on lies. There were ited a budget deficit of near-
diseases that are caused going hunting when there's them is a little too much no death panels, the AHCA ly 1.3 trillion dollars creat-
and/or exacerbated by a dead deer right there on pride for one community, creates jobs and it isn't a ed by the Republican policy
pollution: chronic obstruc- the side of the road. I guess some of us will socialist proposal, of cutting taxes for the rich
tive pulmonary disease, I did a little research never be happy with what 2. Promoting voter sup- while hemorrhaging money
asthma and heart disease, before attending the hear- the cat dragged in. pression laws. Laws gener- for two wars. Now Repub-
to name but a few. It is ing, and even tried to ask Tom Davisated by ALEC, a Republi-licans are proclaiming that
a straightforward equa- the DOC guy a question Sheltoncan think tank, which are the deficit (their deficit) is
tion an increase in air pol- about jobs. As it turns out, intended to make it harder the most terrible thing ever
lution equals an increase in less than 20 percent of the for elderly people, students, to happen to this nation
suffering. This is the basis jobs created from building a people who don't have cars and are using their deficit
for my "nefarious purposes" new prison in a rural area and the disabled to vote are as an excuse to attack the
so named by Mr. Hager. I will go to local residents, under consideration in Re- economic stability of the
want to see health hazards He wasn't too excited about publican-dominated states middle class. The budget
reduced. I want to see the getting into that, or even
resulting suffering from how the rest of the posi- across the U.S. which passed the Republi-
3. Attacking the eco- can controlled House would
these health hazards re- tions would be filled. Fact
duced, is, he punted the question nomic security of state gut Medicaid, slash funding
Obama d employees. In Wisconsin for infrastructure and edu-
As I clearly stated in to the EIS guy who cocked a n the Republican controlled cation, but includes another
my letter, Simpson and his head and shot me a one- legislature created a budget tax cut for the rich.
Olympic panel are not what eyed turkey-look that said,Rep blica
I ,oppose. While these corn- where you going with this, U n deficit and is now rising 5. Trying to change
the deficit as an excuse to Medicare into an under
pmnies do in fact increase son? Never did get my ques- end collective bargaining, funded voucher system that
health problems with their tion answered.
pollution, they also pro- Ofcotirse, not too many Similar efforts to end collec- will leave all American ex-
tive bargaining or to strip cept the rich with little or
vide benefits to the corn- people ever dreamed ofbe-
munity in.the form of jobs, coming a prison guard, and Editor, the Journal state employees of health no protection from medical
etc. There is a trade there, even less parents dreamed The recent killing of bin benefits are underway inexpenses in their old age.
Republican controlled Ohio, Quite a contrast, while
something for something, of such a future for their Laden provides an interest- Michigan and Indiana. Obama was going after bin
and therefore a tolerable kids. The good news is that ing contrast between Presi- The model legislation used Laden, Republicans were
symbiotic relationship, those responsible for bring- dent Obama and his critics
However, the newly ing jobs to Mason Countyin the Republican Party. comes from ALEC. attacking their own neigh-
4. Blaming the national bers and fellow citizens.
Laura Koerber
proposed Solomon incinera-
tor is an entirely different
story and is what motivated
me to write my previous
letter to the editor. With
a proposed maximum of 3
jobs, Solomon's own admis-
sion, this second incinera-
tor would be built only to
produce electricity to be
sold to the highest bidder in
order to generate profits for
Solomon, not, as Mr. Hager
suggests to offset local util-
ity costs.
To produce this electric-
ity, the proposed Solomon
incinerator would produce
many tons of additional
pollution, again the num-
bers are all on the ORCAA
website in Solomon's permit
application. This additional
pollution will most defi-
nitely increase the health
hazards for everyone in our
community, but without
any meaningful positive
benefits of any kind for our
community. That is why I
referred to this relationship
as a parasitic one.
Solomon's new incinera-
tor would trade our health
for its profits. That's the
real bottom line.
John Cox
Center here
in Mason
County -
lucky us
Editor, the Journal
Have you heard the good
news? Mason County is on
the short list for a brand
new 1,024-bed "Prison Re-
ception Center"just a crime
spree away from the exist-
ing prison. If this goose de-
cides to lay its golden egg,
the old "Reception Center"
will move to the new facility
and the Corrections Center
Shelton-Mason County
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