Opinion

It's campaign season, and that's evident based on the assault of television and radio political ads that are dropping as the nation girds for this important election. This week's Letter of the Week underscores just how strong the feelings are running on both sides of the ticket.

As a boomer growing up watching Leave it to Beaver, I never quite understood why that phrase - giving someone "the business" - was always used in a negative connotation.
I get it now.

What happens when you mix the colors red and blue? Most people would say purple, but as I observe all the confusing political jousting, it just gives me "More Blues."
Donkeys and elephants, libs and conservatives, right versus left.

As a long time resident of Bend, this election seems to be evolving to be one of the most "sit up and take notice" events, EVER!
Having felt so strongly about it, I have donated the most money, ever, in an election cycle. So, I guess I have put my money where my mouth is.

In reference to your Upfront article last week, the column entitled "World Gone Wild," I can't believe what a callous and demeaning statement Ric E. James made about "the world going to hell in a handbasket thanks to a bunch of bums who didn't pay their mortgages.

Frankly, it scares the heck out of me that someone like Sarah Palin, who desires to be Raptured, has a possibility of being in control of our "Football," that briefcase that is always within the immediate reach of the president and contains our nuclear launch codes in case of nuclear war.
The idea of the Rapture negates any usefulness of the concept of MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction, as a deterrent to nuclear war, she actually wants the destruction to come about, she wants Rapture to happen.

Thank you for the "Wild Things" issue. I'd like to put in a word for another much-maligned predator: Me.
Like the coyote, I hunt too, and I'm fighting a bad public image. People accuse me of being unethical. They say I kill for sport. They embrace nature and try to prevent me from having a place in it. But I'm every bit as necessary to a healthy ecosystem as the coyote and the eagle, and not even in a very different way.
I am, by virtue of what I do, a conservationist. My activity helps to keep in balance that crucial relationship between predator and prey. Skeptics should note that in places where hunting is not allowed (National parks being a prime example) wildlife populations are out of balance. Coyotes, wolves, bears, and cats are doing their part, but it's not enough. Something is missing. There's an unfilled niche.
Society wants to believe that four legged predators can fill that gap, but there's a problem. Animals are unreliable. They tend to wander. They hunt where they want, not where they're needed. They kill what they can catch, not always what's most expendable. They never have nor ever will be able to fill the wildlife management role that man has occupied for eons.