Display of Assault at La Pine Rodeo
I’ve only attended one rodeo in my life—and I left disgusted by the blatant display and celebration of animal abuse. I didn’t think much more about it until several people close to me, driven by their deep compassion for animals, began actively speaking out on behalf of rodeo victims.
Recently, I learned about an especially disturbing event at the La Pine Rodeo—an event so extreme it isn’t even sanctioned by the PRCA (an organization that already permits electric prods, spurs, and the brutal treatment of calves). This event is called “wild cow milking.”
The term “wild” is used because these mother cows are not accustomed to human handling, let alone being forcibly milked in a rodeo arena. These are mothers who have just given birth. They are ripped away from their babies, loaded into trucks, and hauled to a chaotic, noisy arena. There, they are chased down by male rodeo contestants, restrained by several men—one holding her head, another pulling her tail—while someone else hurriedly milks her for time.
This isn’t sport. This isn’t entertainment. This is a violation. If this doesn’t qualify as assault, what does?
—Gordon Cumming
Doomed to Repeat History
A few days ago, the Trump Administration attacked the country of Iran. The U.S. is now an active participant in yet another war in the Middle East.
At age 51, I’m beginning to feel like the main character in the movie, “Groundhogs Day,” living the same thing over and over. In my adult lifetime, each Republican President has initiated military action and war in the Middle East. Each Republican President has left the mess for others to clean up long after the fact.
The rest of this becomes predictable. The “You are with us or you’re with the terrorist” rhetoric comes next, pushing any critical thinking about this to the fringes where it can be safely ignored. The informal censorship created by media mongers and message manipulators seeking to create a groundswell of public support for war will silence reasonable and reasoned voices and opinion about U.S. military action and the U.S. leaders making the decisions about the how, what, and why the U.S. military engages in combat operations. Queue the patriotic music and prepare to be labeled a traitor for asking “why.” Mission accomplished, right?
Before all of this happens, I just want to ask some questions. How many people will be injured or killed because of this escalation of war? Civilians, non-combatants, Israeli soldiers, Iranian soldiers, US soldiers, soldiers and civilians from other countries? How many people will suffer and die until the governments of the USA, Israel, and Iran do what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning: sit down and talk?
Or is a nuclear “solution” on the table now? In theory, a tactical nuclear strike would end the war and cause Iran’s unconditional surrender like Japan in WWII but would irradiate access to a large portion of the world’s oil supply. That is just bad for business.
World history shows that war tends to be caused by one or more of the following: economics, land acquisition, or the ego of rulers clinging to power. Technology has made war easier, increasingly deadly, and profitable. There is no profit in dissent, in questioning, in critical thinking when it comes to war.
It is often said those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Here we go again.
—Jason J. Herring
Protecting Public Land
Americans love Smokey Bear. All of us love him. Parents, kids, grandparents, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Indigenous Americans, European Americans. All of us love Smokey Bear and the Public Lands Smokey Bear protects. Smokey taught us since we were kids to respect and protect our Public Lands. Now Trump wants to sell our Public Lands. On this issue, like so many others, Donald Trump has gone completely Benedict Arnold on the American public.
To offset tax breaks for the wealthy in his Big Beautiful Bill, Trump plans to sell off our Public Lands. These lands represent our shared American heritage. They are important to our culture and to the economy of so many great American places, including the great state of Oregon. It is an embarrassment that Eastern Oregon’s Representative Cliff Bentz, in an act of blind fealty to Traitor Trump, voted in favor of selling our heritage to fund tax breaks for the wealthy.
Trump’s billionaire friends rely on the hard-working middle class to create the profits that make them rich. It is past time for the wealthy to give more back in the form of paying higher taxes on their income and wealth, instead of taking away public spaces and places Americans have protected and enjoyed for generations.
—Ken Brinich
On Being American
In 5th grade, we had a long-term substitute teacher who was a Navy veteran. With the 5th grade curriculum including American history and America’s Bicentennial celebration coming that July 4th, this teacher taught us much that instilled a strong sense of patriotism. One day in particular stands out. He wore his Navy uniform to school and taught us how to properly handle and fold an American flag. He taught by example, folding in silent reverence for the stars and stripes and for what the flag represents. That moment remains sacred in my memory.
At a time when the American flag and the democratic principles it represents are being usurped and disrespected by the people who we entrusted to guard them, I wonder what I can do as a citizen to save this flag and our country. I questioned how going to a protest would matter, but I went to Bend’s No Kings march anyway. As it turns out, being with so many people who are feeling what I feel, seeing their clever signs, and shouting, “This is what democracy looks like!!,” as one voice, energized me. So, WHAT CAN WE DO? All of us must engage our uniquely human capacity to think critically! Fine, watch FOX News, but also read and watch the news from many other sources. Listen to and read many opinions. Remember what your mom, dad, other elders, and great teachers in your lives have instilled in you as right, decent, and kind as well as what is wrong and criminal. Engage your mind, heart, and intuition to analyze, reflect, decide, and act. What’s at stake are our human rights and a free country defined and protected by our unique constitution!
—Tomoko Harada Ferguson
Letter of
the Week:
Tomoko, as letter of the week, you can stop by our offices for a gift card to Palate coffee.
—Managing Editor, Nic Moye
This article appears in Source Weekly July 3, 2025.
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