Typewriter

Iranian women, protesting the Islamic Republic’s treatment of women, are destabilizing the regime “to its core,” according to a knowledgeable Israeli official.

Iran has been dictatorially ruled for 44 years by an Islamic Supreme Leader.

A Rand Corporation researcher said, “I think we are seeing what is going to be the cause of the end of the Islamic Republic.”

Iran originates many terrorists’ attacks in the Middle East and globally. To abate this, the U.S. has applied economic sanctions; but destabilizing the theocracy are Iranian women.

Reading about Iran’s women made me realize our city, state and, in part, our nation is led by women. In Bend, we have a new mayor. The same is true for a state assemblyperson, a U.S. congressional representative for part of Bend, and our governor. As women, they share a fresh outlook to solve problems.

Gender is not a prerequisite for public leadership competency. But my 57 years in business, government and community taught me women, not the men, I worked with were more effective problem solvers.

I read what Iranian women continue to do to remove their rulers. I think the women who represent me in my city, state and Congress will bring a distinct new energy and skills.

Affordable housing … the houseless population … teenage suicides and mental health problems … quality of Oregon’s K-12 public education system.

My new year’s wish is that now, U.S. women will resolve these systemic problems.

— Tim Conlon, Bend

In his farewell address to the nation, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the only military general to be elected president since the start of the 20th century, warned: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” Half of the $1.7 trillion spending bill Congress just passed went to the so-called “Department of Defense,” as if a nation bordered by two oceans, Canada, and Mexico suffers such peril that it must allocate 50 percent of its expenditures to self-protection. For some years, our military budget has exceeded the combined budgets of the top ten remaining military nations taken together. The $36.1 billion in unsolicited funds that Congress added to President Biden’s original $761 billion request was almost twice as much as it would have cost to end homelessness in America, according to figures from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Instead of building at home, however, we have 750 military bases in over eighty nations—more than three times the number of bases of all other countries in the world combined. And this November, the Pentagon failed its fifth straight audit, unable to account for over sixty percent of $3.5 trillion in taxpayer-funded assets. These statistics prove that Dwight was right.

— Matt Orr, Bend

In July 2022, I responded to a Bulletin editorial that was written to expose the fentanyl problem in Central Oregon. I pointed out that the editorial failed to address where the drug was coming from and why it was getting into our country.

The Jan. 8 issue does another lengthy article on the fentanyl subject. Again, the Bulletin fails to address the issue of why so much is here, hence the increasing death toll.

A wide-open southern border is the root of this burgeoning problem. This article makes no mention of the fact that for the past 2 years, our present administration and Democrat-controlled Congress have done little to try to get this terrible situation under control.

The national media, with a few exceptions, seems intent on not letting the public know what is happening at the border. To do so might bring public pressure to get something done.

To paraphrase radio legend Paul Harvey: “let’s hear the rest of the story.”

— Richard Bryant, Redmond

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor.