I think the biggest threat to America is tribalism. Instead of viewing each other as Americans first, people put their race, gender, sexual orientation and political affiliation first. By doing so it clouds their perspective and judgment.

If one was to be truly objective, could you honestly say it is in the best interest of America to give foreign countries billions of dollars when we have so many domestic needs to be addressed here? The same is true of the open border policy of the current administration. Is it in the best interest of America to allow over 8 million undocumented, unvaccinated, unvetted illegal aliens to travel and live wherever they want, anywhere in America at the taxpayers’ expense? At the same time, we have an epidemic of homeless Americans living on the streets.

America’s greatness came from our industrial might and ingenuity, yet we have moved from being a producer to a consumer nation. We have become reliant on other nations to supply us with our basic needs and material goods. This includes everything from prescription drugs to fishing poles. It is not in the best interest of America to be reliant on other countries for our basic needs.

Every election is an important election in a representative form of government such as ours. If we are to survive as a country, we need to put aside partisan beliefs and take a clear objective look at who is going to be best for America. Just my thoughts.

Joe Mesteth

Hermiston

Thank you, EO Media Group, for your recent editorial (published in the Herald’s sister papers, the East Oregonian and La Grande Observer) concerning the indictment of a Forest Service burn boss and the related issue of anti-goverment sentiment (Indictment of burn boss not the answer, Feb. 24). An unfortunate situation for sure.

My concern is the anti-government side of the story. Simply stated, corporate greed is getting a free ride on the tails of this sentiment. Big government has always had a close relationship with big business.

Sure, we need many of the things that big corporations provide. What we don’t need as average citizens is to pay extra to feed the greed that has grown exponentially in the last 60 years. The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio went from 21-to-1 in 1965 to 355-to-1 in 2022. For 100 of the S&P corporations with the lowest median worker pay, the ratio is 603-to-1.

However, we are getting screwed by big government (even though it does provide Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, agricultural subsidies and many more goods and services), and it pales in comparison to how much our lives are affected by corporate greed.

Simply think about how much we pay these days for everything and how much the CEOs are making. A quick example: Our home insurance just went up 26% from last year even though we have never made a claim. The CEO of the company in question makes over $21 million a year in salary and bonuses.

What political party the majority of these people belong to is another conversation.

Jeff Irish

Enterprise

I would like to offer an example of something positive in our rather abysmal ideological-cultural life at present. It is a simple appreciation and recognition of the blessings everyday people are who operate in the background of our lives.

One such person is a man known only to me as “Jack.” Jack is a food server at Denny’s restaurant here in Pendleton. As far as I know, he only works the morning shift because that is where my small group of Tuesday morning breakfast friends who meet there weekly see him. Jack has been our food server for some years now and it amazes me he stays on this job. His talents, intelligence and people skills could take him to other positions where, I’m sure, he could make a better living.

He is the kind of person who, when he sees one of us approaching in the front window, has already grabbed the coffee pot and a cup for us before we even sit down. His customer service approach, bar none, is the veritable apex of the craft. He dotes on us as if we were his only customers (which is not true) and makes us feel special and welcome.

He remembers our names when we forget his. His memory recall is nothing if not impressive. He tends to remember what we want without the need to write it down, and it’s not because we order the same meal week after week. His recall is just that good.

He is effusive in his warmth and kindness, and as a former food server myself, he just blows me away. Every restaurant in Pendleton should hire him for employee training in the skills it takes to work with the public. It would increase their business tremendously.

I don’t particularly like the food at Denny’s. It would be fair to say I tolerate it at best. Denny’s only gets my business because of this man known to me only as Jack. If you’re ever there in the morning, ask to speak to this local but relatively unknown legend.

Matt Henry

Pendleton