In response to school shootings.
Safety. Words which were never oxymorons before America. There are not enough tears to undo the vetoes there are not enough votes to undo the tears is the story they say, but they are wrong. And we, we are so tired- “thoughts and prayers” cannot undo the lifelong trauma of bullets riddled into the bodies of our children- Political excuses which land like burnt ash on the homes destroyed in gun fire. Wildfire. of a different sort. So we pray. We raise our flag. We sing songs ‘proud to be an American’ while the other nations look on in shock in awe We raise our children with fear of being murdered in the very place they are to learn about the laws they cannot yet vote for. Or against the violence. The racism. The hatred- a nation numb. We allow gun fire into our safe places while putting bullet holes in the backs of school building in nations called Iraq. Afghanistan. When children die at the hands of OUR guns- does it matter the nation under attack? We are under attack. Freedom fighters when killing others unfortunate and un-preventable when killing our own. Held hostage by a few members of congress who love their power more than the child looking up at you for answers. Why? Pro-life they say. But whose life? When your gun has more voice than the dead children shot down in the halls we once called sacred.
—Janessa Wells
Guns
Uvalde shooting! And the Texas AG says what we need is MORE guns. What an absolutely deranged statement. To suggest that we all need to carry firearms to counter these shootings is proof we are failing as a nation. And nothing will change as long as citizens continue electing head-in-the-sand Republicans. Reprehensible!
—James Scott
RE: Racism is No Longer Hiding in Plain Sight Opinion, 5/26
I can’t add anything to your opinion column on 5/26, except to say thank you. Yes, we can’t sit back and do nothing in the face of resurgent racism in CO.
—Jeff Cole
RE: Tourist-isms Feature 5/26
The cat is definitely out of the bag about Bend! We now need to spread the word that there is a severe housing shortage, tripled rent, tourist season is way more crowded than Disneyland in summer months, all our Beer has gone bad, we have an uncontrollable outbreak of wolf spiders, all camp spots have been overrun by fire ants and poison ivy, snapping turtles have invaded Bend, lurking in the night with razor sharp teeth and an abundance of poison water moccasins and fresh water sharks have been spotted in our lakes and rivers which are eating up all the fish and children! Sorry folks, nowhere to camp, fish or play in the water and definitely no places to live. Don’t even get me started on the Bigfoot sightings of Sasquatch in a speedo!! That’s a hairy mess all on its own.
—Charity Scott via bendsource.com
Letter of the Week:
Eek, snapping turtles!! And Sasquatch in a Speedo! Thanks for the laugh, Charity. You get letter of the week. Come on by for your gift card to Palate.
—Nicole Vulcan
This article appears in Source Weekly June 2, 2022.
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Ms. Wells, thanks for the great letter. Lee Greenwood (“Proud to be an American”), who she references, had this to say on Fox and Friends: (From Daily Beast report.)
For me to go and play at the NRA just days after the shooting would be an endorsement, and people would then deem that as [me saying] I like this weapon. Obviously, that weapon killed kids. I just couldnt go.
The hosts of the Fox News morning program quickly changed the subject after his comments.
Ms. Wells – you ramble. Doesth thou thinks it is intellect?
What business do you have commenting on kids and their well being?