This is in response to the opinion page on Aug. 1.
Today I found the opinion page of The Signal filled with far-right opinions starting with the opinion of The Signal’s editorial board (“Turning a Blind Eye to Chaos”). It is sad to see a partisan hit piece like this masquerading as unbiased opinion on “a public forum for opinions on a wide spectrum of political beliefs.” I submit that The Signal’s editorial staff is wildly partisan and does not reflect the community it serves. This opinion covers the unrest in Portland, Oregon. After reading it, you would be hard-pressed to find that anything happened in Portland over these past 60-plus days that was not anarchistic, violent and an attempt to destroy the United States of America as we know it.
A person would have to go elsewhere to discover that peaceful protests in support of Black Lives Matter and in support of George Floyd have been continuing there since George Floyd’s death. Peaceful protests, my friend, are as American as apple pie and are essential to the health, prosperity and growth of the United States. The big front-page news story coming from Portland is the message of the peaceful protesters there. In other forums, I have seen video and images of peaceful protesters and videos and images of destruction and violence. I have not seen any stories that purport to show that most of the participants are violent.
There are four reasons that come to my mind to support my assertion that The Signal editorial board is wildly partisan. 1. There is no mention of protesters truly protesting in support of Black Lives Matter and against racial bias in policing – even though this is the basis of the protests. In fact, the writers maintain that this cannot be the objective of the protesters because “the vast majority of people” agree that “the killing of George Floyd was a heinous act by police.” This is overtly faulty logic as both can be easily true. People can agree that it was a heinous act and people can justifiably protest the act to seek remedies. 2. There is little support by The Signal for the right of the people to protest. 3. The Signal writers falsely confer almost the entirety of the objectives of protesters in Portland to Democrats wanting to undermine Donald Trump’s election chances in 2020. 4. And most importantly, The Signal writers missed the entire point of Democrat objections to federal forces in Portland. That is, that federal help was not asked for and was in fact rejected. The mayor and governor clearly raised their voices in objection because they, as the elected officials closest to the problem, knew that the action would make things far worse – which proved true. The bogus rationale of the federal government was that it was protecting a federal property – something that is the responsibility of local government.
The other two opinions on Aug. 1 were equally partisan and equally absurd. If “The Signal” truly wishes to support the entire community, they need not swing left – they just need to provide all sides surrounding an opinion and be fair. You can easily support an opinion that the Portland unrest hurt local businesses and lament the criminal elements responsible. But, ignoring the diligent work of peaceful protesters and slanting the objectives and mission of the protests to un-American purposes blamed on Democrats is the work of political hit men.
Duane Mooring
Castaic
