The Eugene Weekly’s promotion of Senator Merkley to be a presidential candidate (cover story, 8/30) omitted key facts.
Merkley supported Trump when Congress met to ratify the Electoral College.
Congress, not the voters, makes the formal determination of who is president. When they met to ratify the result on Jan. 6, 2017, a few on the House side spoke in opposition to confirming the alleged electors due to suppression of minority voters (gregpalast.com) and voting machine tabulators that flipped the results in key swing states.
No senator, not even Merkley nor Wyden, dared join the dissidents on the House side and therefore no debate on Trump’s illegitimacy was permitted. Therefore, Democratic senators share responsibility for the loser of the election being installed as the president.
Sen. Merkley, like the rest of the Oregon Congressional delegation, supported the Obama administration’s $226-million subsidy of NuScale corporation, our local nuclear power startup. Since there is no “solution” to nuclear waste, generating more is a crime against future generations of all species.
“President Merkley” seems like wishful thinking. He is probably not enough of a militarist for the Pentagon and CIA to support. (Obama had a CIA background and escalated military interventions, including drone warfare.)
The last U.S. president who called for an end to militarism was extra-judicially removed from office on Nov. 22, 1963. No president since Kennedy has dared challenge the Empire in a meaningful way. Authentic political “change” would require honesty and courage about our predicaments.
Mark Robinowitz
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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