Klamath Falls Herald and News

Letter to the Editor

October 15, 2010

   The news is filled with individuals shrilly citing our nation’s Constitution. Unfortunately, too many of them seem to overlook, in practice, one of the basic tenets of the Constitution: Fairness.

   A few thoughts on fairness:

   First, if our federal and state governments refuse to extend equal rights to all citizens, say gays and lesbians, don’t tax them. Fair enough?

   Second, the Mazama Tree Farm section of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement seems to be a hot item for those who don’t want this land to go to local Native Americans in any way, shape or form.

   In 1864, the local tribes were forced to cede 20 million acres of land to the U.S. government in exchange for 2 million acres for a reservation. Such a deal for the white folks, huh? So now, when I hear griping about the tribes’ possibly getting a (wow!) 90,000-acre tree farm, it makes me wonder where these whiners’ sense of historical fairness is.  

   Third, what’s fair about Greg Walden touting himself as a fiscal conservative when he (1) supported nearly every Bush administration spending increase, and (2) recently sent out a glitzy, totally noninformative, totally political mailing that probably cost taxpayers millions of dollars?

   Finally, is it fair for the Republican gubernatorial candidate, who got paid millions for sitting on a bench much of the time, to criticize Oregon’s waitresses for getting tips on top of the minimum wage? The waitresses I see deserve every penny they get. Did he?

   If we truly want to honor the Constitution and its framers, let us be fair.

   Judy Smith-Clifton

   Klamath Falls