Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2016 Living disabled in an able-bodied world Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Sales tax is a reach too far ‘P ublic employees unions run the statehouse,” said state Rep. Dennis Richardson, during a 2014 visit to Astoria. The unions assert broad infl uence on the Democratic side of the state Legislature through candidate interviews and cam- paign funding. Now the public employ- ment pensions. Legislative remedies to ees unions are asserting themselves grandly with the PERS dilemma — bro- Initiative Petition 28, the kered by former Gov. John initiative to establish a cor- Kitzhaber — were thrown porate sales tax on corpo- out by the Oregon Supreme rations with gross receipts Court. In the face of the of more than $25 million court’s judgment, there was annually. Paris Achen of a proposal to require new our Capital Bureau reported PERS enrollees to contrib- Tuesday that the farm sup- ute to their retirement, in plies and fuel cooperative the manner that is common Wilco would face a huge in the private sector. Oregon increase in its tax liability if Gov. Kate Brown would not IP 28 passes. support that. Revenue raised by IP 28 Ballot measures are blunt instruments. They are sel- is the unions’ answer to the dom as simple as their propo- PERS problem. Achen reported that the nents make them sound. So what is the reality check on Legislative Revenue Offi ce projects the measure’s effects Initiative Petition 28? The most correct title for as follows: a contraction the measure is the PERS of the private sector and an Bailout Tax. Financial enlargement of the public demands of the Public sector. Another consequence Employees Retirement will be price increases for System will soon increase consumers, as corpora- the load on school districts tions cover their big new tax and municipalities — caus- liability. Initiative Petition 28 is a ing schools to lay off teach- ers in order to fund retire- reach too far. Suicide haunts Northwest jobs uicide is often associated with mental illness — par- ticularly chronic depression — without much reference to external factors occurring in victims’ lives. But a large new study of suicide in the U.S. shows that individual economic circumstances and working conditions play a substantial role. The eye-opening aspect of a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the extent to which rural Pacifi c Northwest jobs are associ- ated with high rates of sui- cide. The CDC’s occupa- tional suicide list is topped by farmworkers, fi sher- men, lumberjacks and oth- ers in forestry or agricul- ture — with a rate of 85 per 100,000. In popular culture, there has been a perception that suicide is especially com- mon among dentists and doctors. But those profes- sions have an 80 percent lower rate than the arche- typal Northwest jobs of fi sh- ing, logging and farming. The CDC leaves to others interpretation of these fi nd- S ings, but “found the high- est suicide rates in manual laborers who work in iso- lation and face unsteady employment,” AP reported. It may be argued that per- sonality types more prone to suicide tend to enter cer- tain professions. However, a compelling case can be made for the proposition that those who grow and catch our food and harvest our trees, have been increasingly left in the lurch by an economic system that attaches too lit- tle importance to lives spent in these vital pursuits. Suicide among fi sher- men makes innovations like a proposed community fi shing associations on the Columbia River all the more important, by providing bet- ter monetary outcomes for fi shing families and provid- ing a path for long-term eco- nomic stability. Similar sys- tems are possible in wood products and farming. We should do all we can to provide hope for our neigh- bors in these crucial indus- tries. Far too often, they are left feeling forgotten and unvalued. By Joan Herman reluctantly left Astoria 14 years ago for graduate school and then career. Now retired, I am fi nally back home in the wind- and rain-swept town I so love. I Yet my return has not been with- out some reservations, most having to do with my much-changed body. All of us age, of course, but multi- ple sclerosis, or MS, has accelerated my physical decline well beyond what most 57-year-olds face. I am all-too aware that my experi- ence living here is going to be far dif- ferent from my previous life in which I co-founded and managed a business, Bikes & Beyond, and rode my bike lit- erally over hill and dale. In my diminished body, I won- der, how will I carve out a new life for myself? This column, the fi rst of what I hope will be the occasional piece, represents one step toward creating a full life here, regardless — or in the case of the col- umn, because of — my condition. I could tell you my goals for the col- umn include raising awareness and giv- ing a face to the millions of people in our country who live with disabilities. And that would not be untrue. That said, I would not presume to speak for others with disabilities. None- theless, I know we share many experi- ences and feelings, yet to a great extent, people with disabilities are invisible in our youth-obsessed culture. I have a voice and want to use it. But the biggest reasons I am writing are personal ones: to reach out and make connections in a way I could not without this forum; to give my life a sense of pur- pose and value, which to a great extent is lost with retirement, especially when, as in my case, it comes prematurely; and, perhaps most important, to do something that makes me feel “abled.” T hrough the column, I will share my struggles living with a chronic condition, an experience that so many people face, whether themselves or a loved one. The column may also veer into the political/advocacy realm, when appropriate. I should mention this is not the fi rst time I have written for the paper. In fact, I fi rst moved to the North Coast 30 years ago to accept a job as a reporter with The Daily Astorian. A newspaper ad in the late ’80s, early ’90s, spoke of Joan Herman’s role at The Daily Astorian. Today, she returns, albeit in a different role and a different stage of life. Although there are so many things I can no longer do, I still want — and need — to feel useful. I was 27, just two years out of col- lege, and excited to start my new job. My biggest health concern was fl oppy ankles that would sprain easily when I ran the trails at Fort Stevens. I could never have imagined I would return some day in a much different physical state. Today I am in a wheel- chair pretty much 24/7, leaving me feel- ing imprisoned in my body much of the time. Often, I want to shout that I used to be successful, holding down a full- time job as a college English instructor, where I was treated with deference by colleagues and students alike. When I ride my red powerchair up and down the Astoria hills because I can no longer drive, let alone walk, I want to tell everyone who sees me that I once ascended these hills on my bike with ease. I feel self-conscious about how acquaintances who haven’t seen me in years react when they view me in “the chair.” I hate the pity looks I some- times get and assume others are secretly relieved they’re not in my situation — and I can’t blame them. I’ve been there, too. B ut I’m taking the leap into carving out a new, ”active” life anyway. If nothing else, having a chronic condi- tion has given me an attitude of “What do I have to lose?” Although there are so many things I can no longer do, I still want — and need — to feel useful. So I volunteer twice a week answering the phones at the local community radio station, KMUN. Some might view it as a big step down from my previous lives, but being there has helped restore, at least a little bit, the sense of worth I had when I was working. I have even ventured into broadcast- ing, starting a new radio program read- ing short fi ction on the air Sunday eve- nings. As my husband, John, jokes, my mouth still works just fi ne. I hope to become involved with other community efforts as they present themselves, as well. Those of us living with chronic con- ditions are often told we’re inspirational because we continue living our lives as best we can in spite of our conditions. While I much appreciate the sen- timent behind those words, they also make me wonder, “Well, what would you have me do?” Hence my column’s title, taken from the poem Late Fragment by the late, great American writer Raymond Carver (who incidentally was born in Clatskanie): And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? This life is not what I planned — even so … This body is not what I wanted— even so … It’s all I have. Joan Herman is a second-time Asto- rian who was co-owner of Bikes & Beyond and a former reporter for The Daily Astorian. She will contribute an occasional column about living with disabilities. Obama’s fi nal fi ght for his legacy By FRANK BRUNI New York Times News Service ou introduce yourself to vot- ers as a son of Kansas and Kenya, an emblem of this coun- try’s openness to outsiders and its embrace of difference. Y Your election and re-election affi rm the distance that the United States has traveled, or so you believe. So you hope. Then you look up toward the end of your second term to behold a Republi- can presidential nominee who is cyni- cally exploiting racism and xenophobia to put the White House within his own reach. He’s not merely your adversary; he’s your antithesis. And his victory would do more than endanger your pol- icies. It would question the very moral of your journey, the very bend of the arc you frequently invoke. That’s what Barack Obama con- fronts right now, and that’s why he hit the campaign trail Tuesday, appearing onstage with Hillary Clinton in North Carolina and proclaiming without res- ervation that “there has never been any man or woman more qualifi ed for this offi ce” than she. That’s why he’ll say words like those again and again, with the same fi re, in the months ahead. For the nation’s fi rst black president, Clinton isn’t just the better candidate. She’s the better America. She wins and he holds on to his rosiest convictions about what he and his presidency sym- bolize. Donald Trump wins and that’s a tricky thing to do. Trump forged his bond with bigots by essentially calling Obama an impos- tor and demanding to see his birth cer- tifi cate. But that particular stunt weighs less on Obama than Trump’s sustained behavior during the 2016 presidential race does, according to people close to the president. “The thing that I’m sure aggravates him — enrages him — is the invoca- ald Reagan, because Bush’s tion of race and ethnicity in father similarly felt the need our politics,” David Axelrod, to fl ex his own muscle, out- a former White House aide, side of anyone’s shadow, told me. “Obama’s mes- and Reagan’s energy was sage is about the emerging fl agging anyway. America and the strength of Dwight Eisenhower? our diversity. He represents When asked what Richard it. And when Trump says Nixon had accomplished as ‘Make America great again,’ his vice president, he said there’s an element of turning that he needed a week to the clock back to the days Frank think about it. when minorities were at the Bruni Obama and Hillary back of the bus.” Clinton have arrived at a “That goes to the char- Where place of obvious respect acter of our country,” Axel- for each other, and of pal- rod added. “The president does pable fondness. His high is someone who would be ratings put him uniquely sensitive to that.” Trump approval in a position to help. Her Uniquely sensitive and utterly impassioned. In fi t into stature puts her in a posi- tion not to be eclipsed by North Carolina he didn’t so it, and his presence or belittled by much urge voters as com- assistance. mand them, with a testimo- does it that Campaigning together nial about Clinton that was gushing and epic. I swear I survive is an imperfect arrange- ment, inasmuch as she saw her blush. may seem to be arguing for Was Trump on Obama’s him? the status quo instead of a mind? I suspect. “Every- body can tweet,” he said, adding better tomorrow. But Americans hold that it’s no preparation or qualifi ca- Obama in signifi cantly higher esteem tion for the presidency. He brought up than they do her or Trump. There are his younger daughter. “Sasha tweets, far riskier things than letting the presi- but she doesn’t think that she thereby dent carry the ball. And he’s a player in this regard- should be sitting behind the desk.” Was Trump on Clinton’s mind? less, given the larger context, which Clearly. She complimented Obama was clear when Clinton asked the as “someone who has never forgotten North Carolina audience to think of where he came from — and Donald, if “the early patriots who met in Phila- you’re out there tweeting, it’s Hawaii.” delphia” in 1776. “Nobody who looked like Barack The 2016 campaign keeps showing us things that we’re not accustomed Obama or me would have been to, and a second-term president cam- included back then,” she said. “But paigning with unfettered vigor for his we’re here today because the story of desired successor is another of those. America is the story of hard-fought, George W. Bush didn’t do it: He was hard-won progress.” That’s the tale that Obama has so toxic at this point in his administra- tion that John McCain’s most fervent always told. It’s the narrative that wish was to tuck him into a broom so many of us cling to. Where does Trump fi t into it, and does it survive closet. Bill Clinton didn’t do it, because Al him? Instead of just wondering and Gore was intent on coming across as his worrying, the departing president has own, less priapic man. Neither did Ron- joined the fi ght.