Letters to the Editor, Week of Nov. 19, 2026

Guest Opinion: Oh, What a Night! by Lou Capozzi Last Tuesday, voters in Central Oregon sent a clear message. To paraphrase Howard Beal, the character in the movie Network, “We’re mad as hell and we can’t take it any more.” We came together as a community, in the wake of a terrible tragedy, and used our votes to celebrate change and express optimism for the future. But as we celebrate, we can’t forget the lessons of the past. In the ’60s my generation took up causes begun by those who came before us: lawyers who chipped away at Jim Crow, Quakers and pacifists who taught us nonviolence, women who kept the Equal Rights Amendment alive, and brave men and women who formed the first gay rights groups in the 1950s. What we added to their efforts was the voices of millions of students, and a video camera. We burned draft cards and bras, and occupied ROTC and dean’s offices. We took those building blocks of the past into the streets and onto the evening news.

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