Dr. Blizzard’s departure

The article in a recent Bulletin did not say what caused the departure of Dr. John Blizzard from St. Charles. I would just say that Central Oregon lost the best heart-lung surgeon in the state. He saved my life on two occasions, and I’ll bet that I am not the only one. I did considerable research before the first procedure, and I learned that Central Oregon had two of the best heart-lung surgeons in the state. It is a shame to lose such a talented surgeon. If I have to have another procedure, I’ll be looking for you, Dr. Blizzard! During my two stays at St. Charles, I had excellent care from all the nurses and other staff.

William L. Carey

Redmond

Obama has not been complacent on terror

I am responding to a recent column titled “Obama has been too complacent on terror,” which was recently published in The Bulletin. In the column, the author, who was a speech writer for George W. Bush, accuses our president of being too restrained in his response to the terrorist attacks by ISIS and not taking their threat seriously enough. In my opinion, that criticism is unfounded and, considering the author’s background, probably politically motivated.

President Obama has done everything in his power to combat ISIS short of sending large numbers of ground troops into Iraq and Syria, which the vast majority of Americans oppose. He has been accused by the “hawks” in Congress of not having a strategy to defeat ISIS and not allowing the United States to lead in the conflict. His strategy has been to build a coalition of nations to combat the terrorists and support them rather than making our country bear the entire burden as has all too often been the case.

It is time that the United States stopped trying to be the world’s watchdog and sending our young men and women to be killed and mutilated. That has been the norm for so long that most other nations expect us to do it while they either contribute only a token effort in the conflicts or simply sit back and watch. Our president is not weak, does have a strategy, which is the correct one, and, as commander in chief, deserves our support — not attacks for political purposes by those who are generally unqualified to judge his decisions.

Frank Barnes

Bend

Don’t succumb to fear

How fragile must we feel to actually believe that all Syrian refugees should be excluded from our country or any of our states because we fear for our safety. Each of us, except Native Americans, are or are the descendants of immigrants.

We should be able to agree that immigration has a positive impact on our country. If there is a dispute, some factual basis of how we got to where we are, without immigration, would be welcome. Our actual history demonstrates the beneficial impact of those who immigrated and became citizens.

Unfortunately, many who have the ear of public media because they seek higher office focus on this issue trying to exploit the potential that one among many might intend harm. Others, who affect the opinions of a segment of the public through broadcast or print media, exploit that same fear on an hourly, if not daily, basis. Their rhetoric serves to cloak actual facts.

The essential purpose of terrorism is to create fear because the underlying ideology can find no rational means to persuade the public to accept that ideology.

To succumb to the fear engendered by terrorists or those who exploit that fear is to relinquish the values our country has fought to preserve and abandon our ability to distinguish between the reality of the past and the promise of the future. Thoughtful consideration of actual facts belies alarmist declarations and dubious claims of peril from those who seek the safety and opportunity our country offers.

Michael Hanbey

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