A symbol of hate

The problem is, there is a contractual link between the publisher/editor of the recently-founded newspaper and our county government. The Klickitat County Board of Commissioners voted -- two different times -- to contract with Becky Blanton, the newspaper's publisher/editor, to produce newsletters for the county. To date, those contracts have totaled $15,900.

County officials point out that Blanton had the low bid on the contract, but the fact is, the county had its choice of two identical low bids in awarding the most recent contract. The choice of Blanton is ironic, since the role of the community newsletters was supposed to be building a spirit of unity within our county. Instead, we get swastikas on the front page of her newspaper.

Is the use of a swastika a thinly-veiled threat to minorities, environmentalists, or others who don't necessarily go along with the majority view all the time?

Regardless of the intent, the use of an inflammatory symbol such as this is not productive for our county, to put it mildly. For example, merchants in the business community have been working to create an inviting community to encourage business. Well, imagine how welcome swastikas will make a tourist feel, or the good cheer such imagery might leave on a prospective business owner considering relocating his or her plant to our county.

If there is any inkling that our county may be allowing intolerance to take root, we can forget about getting new businesses to locate here, or getting tourists to visit here.

Damage is being done to the positive image the Mt. Adams Chamber of Commerce, the Port of Klickitat, and so many others have worked so hard to build up. Before more harm is done, the Klickitat County Board of Commissioners needs to strongly disavow this symbolism and make it clear that Klickitat County is not, and will not become, a haven for those filled with hatred and intolerance.

Let me put it in another perspective: Like many others in this county, I come from a military family. My father served in the U.S. Army in World War II. After World War II, he was assigned to assist in the Nuremberg war crimes trials in Germany, so he witnessed first-hand the horror of Hitler's drive for "ethnic purity" -- the symbol of which, of course, was the swastika. Later, during the Korean War, he was assigned to a forward artillery unit where his primary mission was to fly in a flimsy, single-engine spotter plane, hunting for Communist troops to call in strikes on their positions. It was high-risk work.

The point is, millions of American men and women have fought and died (and still are) trying to protect democracy and help the oppressed. The honor we feel for their sacrifices is sacred, so we don't like seeing symbols of the evil they helped to defeat thrown in our faces. And we like it even less to realize that the person behind the symbolism is supported, obliquely though it may be, by our county's financial resources.

JB