Knute Buehler is my Representative in Salem. He is kind of a Republican. His district in Bend is changing rapidly - left leaning more and more. I've known him for 10+ years. He wants more than a state rep job.

Anyhow, I wrote him  on 4147, and this was his NON-response:



Dear Mr. Hearn,

Thank you for reaching out to our office to express your opinion regarding HB 4147. Representative Buehler takes the rights of gun owners as well as the issue of gun violence very seriously, I will be sure to pass your sentiments on to him, as he greatly values input from his constituents.

If you have any other questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to be in contact with our office.

Best Wishes,




Is there a politician out there anywhere who it willing to take an actual stand?

Probably not in this state.

Yes.  Quite a few actually.  Ginny Burdick, Floyd Prozanski, Jeff Merkely, etc.  The list goes on and on.  


The left is so noisy and outspoken, full of their own righteous indignation that they have been allowed to apprehend the entire narrative and steer it.  Very few representatives feel they can be outspoken about their support for the 2nd Amendment without risking their seat.  

I'm going to start my own political party.  It will be called the Oh Bullshit party.  Every time someone says something that is obviously bullshit, the representatives from my party will be required to begin their rebuttal with "oh, bullshit..."  This will start a grass roots groundswell movement whereby we start to open the eyes of the typical voter to just how much bullshit there is in politics.  By God, let's start a revolution!

Yeah, my question was rhetorical, but your response is perfect.

BSP?  OBP?

I'm in. Take my money.

If you live east of the mountains plenty take a hard stance.

I do. He's my rep here, east of the mountains. Looks like it is time to move farther east.

Idaho looks good.

Bend may think it is east of the mountains, but it isn't.

So sad. Used to be a nice, small conservative town. I've been here almost 50 years. But you are correct. Bend, along with much of Oregon, has been invaded.

A Subaru used to be seen as a practical small vehicle to go along with your pickup for long drives.

Now, it is....a Subaru, in the worst sense of the word.

My mom's parents lived in Bend when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's before they both died.  In the late-80's through the mid-90's we'd go through Bend on our way over toward Christmas Valley to shoot sage rats and rabbits.  I can't believe how far out China Hat Rd. you have to drive now to hit gravel.  What gets me even more is when you do get off pavement out there, there seem to be some real sketchy people just wandering around out in the sage brush.  Bend is truly nothing like it was when I was a kid.  

It's Lesbaru now.  Get it right.

I wrote Peter DeFazio an email to support the Safe Hearing Act. He wrote back and said he was a sponsor for the bill. That was pretty surprising to me.

It would be nice if about the western third of both Oregon and Washington could separate from the rest of both states and become joined to each other. Then there would be one long skinny state running north to south, and a much wider state just east of that, also running north to south.   Rather than Oregon and Washington, there would be the Western state of OrWa, and the Eastern state Orwa.  Sort of like North and South Dakota.  The big benefit for our states of doing this is that the politics of the regions would be more unified, rather than the current situation where the huge population bases of the Western portions of both states having such a heavy impact on politics in the region.

The pessimistic part of me just assumes that then Bend and Spokane would become over time what Seattle and Portland are now.

I think Bend has been there for some time, not too sure about Spokane yet.

Does not sound like a non answer to me. I think his position is clear.