MEDIA IGNORED PROTEST

An estimated 450 people recently gathered peacefully in downtown Eugene to
protest the longest, most expensive, and most morally bankrupt war in U.S.
history: the war on drugs.

Politicians, victims and refugees spoke, and even the defenders of this war
spoke. No windows were smashed, no traffic was disrupted, and no pepper
spray was used. A truly peaceful crowd made up of people from under the age
of 6 to over 60, from all walks of life, and from all backgrounds gathered
to express their disapproval of spending $20 billion in tax dollars a year
on this war.

The protesters voiced their disapproval of the continued imprisonment of 1.3
million Americans, the confiscation of their property, and the virtual
police state that has been instituted in America while this war has raged on
our soil. All this is not amazing; it is understandable because most people
are sick and tired of this war with no end that is draining our tax dollars,
corrupting our political and judicial process, and ruining the lives of the
poor.

What is amazing is that The Register-Guard didn't give it any notice other
than a small picture and caption deep in the May 7 paper. I didn't see any
TV coverage, either.

As we have all seen, it only takes a dozen black-hooded thugs (that's what
The Register-Guard calls anarchists) to get front page coverage. Yet this
large peaceful demonstration against the war on drugs was neglected by the
local news media. Is the newspaper saying that these peaceful people should
have done damage and committed crimes to get their message across? When the
local press ignores peaceful demonstrations, is it any wonder that violent
ones follow?

Shame on you, Register-Guard.

Jayson R. Jones, Deadwood