First allow me to say there are more important issues to write about, such as the absolute failure and abdication of responsibility of La Grande city government and the Union County Board of Commissioners to prepare their constituents for the encroachment of wildfire into the city and county. There is the miserable condition of La Grande’s streets. How about air quality in the county? Smoke and foul air from barely regulated field burns and hot plants affect the health and quality of life of residents.

But boy, oh boy. What did we we do to deserve this? One presidential candidate is a Nixon on steroids. “I am not a crook.” Why, yes you are. The other party’s standard bearer is a doderer with a wayward kid, the enunciation of a slug in reverse and the animation of a comatose Howdy Doody. Has the United States of America come to this? Why, yes it has. ’Tis pity, ’tis true, and we are the worse for it.

M.R. Rosenbaum

La Grande