Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Monday, July 7, 2008 Trump tightens up his grip on arrogance It's time for Scotland to vote Donald Trump off the island. Or say, "You're fired," just to make sure he gets it. The billionaire real estate developer and business magnate, TV personality and best-selling author is trying to get approval to build the "world's greatest golf course" on a protected stretch of Aberdeenshire coastline. The $2 billion project includes two championship courses, a five-star hotel, a golf academy and spa, 950 time-share vacation villas and 950 holiday homes that will sell for a minimum of $1 million. Trumpian proportions, in other words. After an Aberdeenshire Council committee rejected the plans, an inquiry was ordered by Scottish ministers, which is currently under way. Environmentalists and others oppose the project; several business interests favor it. Local residents and conservationists say one course should not be built on the Foveran Links, a stretch of shifting sand dunes that is home to some of the country's rarest wildlife and is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. The sands are known as a "dynamic dune" because they shift under a large "dome" during prevailing winds. But the shifting sand may interfere with golfing, so Trump plans to "stabilize" the shifting sand. Correct. Of the beautiful land on which Trump wishes to build, he said: "I have never seen such an unspoilt and dramatic seaside landscape." So, naturally, his inclination is to spoil it. Trump is accused by Britain's Ramblers' Association of not understanding Scotland's "right to roam" laws. "He appeared to believe that he could establish a gated housing and leisure development with security personnel to keep the public out. Neither did he appear to understand that the public have access rights across any part of the proposed golf course, apart from the greens, so long as they do not interfere with people playing golf," said the Ramblers' Scotland director, Dave Morris. Public access would indeed ruin the snob appeal favored by Trump. One doesn't have to condescend, or imagine an idealized Scottish life, to hope with American gusto that Trump's plan will be rejected. No matter what economic benefit, (service jobs, anyone?) people will regret this man's vision and arrogance. Telling Scotland he's going to build the "World's Greatest golf course"? Trump has a lot of advice on achieving "success." "Think big" is one of his overriding themes. He also says, "Go against the tide; go with your gut. This is a very dangerous thing. Going against the tide isn't good for dumb people." Going against the tide, stabilizing shifting sand, sticking with the comb-over. That's only good for, uh, rich people.

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