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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Resolve to
be more
involved
A new year signals a new beginning for all of
us. While many of us will make our standard
new year resolutions, as a community there are
several pledges we should make for 2020.
In the upcoming 12 months, local voters will
once again secure an opportunity to get more
involved in their city, county and state govern-
ment.
Democracy should not chiefl y be a spectator
sport. Instead, the founders designed a frame-
work that, in large part, depended upon the
commitment and interest of voters. Our nation
is divided along partisan lines, which isn’t a good
thing for democracy, but what could be even
more troubling is a lack of interest in public busi-
ness.
Getting involved is never easy and can be, at
times, a downright challenge. After a long day of
work, who wants to eat dinner, and then attend
a city council meeting?
The truth is, though, that fi nding the time
to participate in our government is crucial. We
simply can’t vote a lawmaker into offi ce, and
then turn our backs. Often that becomes the re-
ality. We tend to make our decision at the ballot
box, and then expect government to operate on
autopilot. When a major issue seems to rise up
like the phoenix we are shocked, and suddenly
the seemingly mundane acts of city government
became critical.
Yet, most of those fl ashpoint issues that seem-
ingly come out of nowhere are actually well-
known to lawmakers and have been debated
and discussed at meetings. They should be no
surprise, but often are because not enough of the
body politic is participating in our democracy.
Becoming a small-town lawmaker isn’t like
serving on a high school student body elected
board. It isn’t a popularity contest. The job of a
city council member or mayor is — or should be
— serious business and our lawmakers need our
input and our vigilance.
That means voters must keep a close eye on
what is going on. That is also where the news-
paper comes in handy. We also have an obliga-
tion to ensure the actions of our public leaders
are well-known so that readers — voters — can
debate them and fashion opinions.
This year we should all refl ect on the state of
our city and county and endeavor to work to en-
sure we participate. The founders bestowed upon
us a rich tapestry of democracy, but that fabric
remains strong only if voters remain vigilant
and get involved.
Check
those
sources
There’s an old journalism cliche that
goes something like this: “If your mother
says she loves you, get a second source.”
The cautionary quip reminds reporters
and editors to remain skeptical, double-
check the information you’re going to
relay to readers and question authority.
That’s something we all need to keep in
mind after the U.S. killed Qassem Solei-
mani and other people in an airstrike.
The facts from the White House have
been less than sketchy on what led to
Friday’s assassination of the top mili-
tary leader of an enemy regime.
Supporters of President Donald
Trump don’t like the term “assassina-
tion,” arguing this was a military strike.
Some commenters on The Observer’s
Facebook page expressed their discon-
tent with the term. And Trump detrac-
tors are hyping up the killing as illegal.
We’re not weighing in on that. There’s
nothing wrong with calling the strike an
assassination. That’s just what it was.
There were plots, after all, in World
War II to assassinate Hitler. Not that
Soleimani is anywhere on par with Hit-
ler, but the point is newspapers need to
call things what they are. And in times
of crisis, reporters and the rest of us
FROM THE
EDITOR’S DESK
PHIL WRIGHT
need to stick to facts and be wary and
critical of opinions no matter who gives
them and particularly when they smell
like propaganda.
Since the killing of Soleimani, the
political spin machine began working
overtime. Here are some of the early
assessments and statements that came
out after Trump announced the killing:
John Bolton, former Trump national
security adviser, took to Twitter to
praise the strike and express hope this
leads to regime change in Tehran.
Ari Fleischer, the press secretary for
the administration of President George
W. Bush from 2001-03, chimed in on
Fox News how Iranians could end up
celebrating the death.
Fox News talking head Ainsley Ear-
hardt on Friday called Soleimani a “bad
guy,” and there is little to quibble with
that. She also said Soleimani was re-
sponsible for killing 600,000 U.S. troops.
Bolton is about as hawkish as hawks
get. He has advocated for the U.S. to
use military force in Venezuela, North
Korea and other countries. He has yet
to meet a war he doesn’t like.
Ari Fleischer is the guy who in the
lead-up to the war with Iraq claimed
the small county had weapon of mass
destruction when it did not. He claimed
the Saddam Hussein regime was in
cahoots with al-Qaeda, when, again,
the facts did not bear that out. And he
lied about telling reporters that Valerie
What a difference a
president could make
As we enter 2020, the year in which
we will elect a new president of the
United States, let’s pause to consider
some differences a new president could
make.
There are key executive orders a new
president could issue on day one: Set ag-
gressive greenhouse gas and energy use
reduction goals across the federal govern-
ment, including the military. Establish
an interagency task force to develop the
framework for a Green New Deal.
Stop lease sales for coal, oil and gas
extraction and uranium mining on
federal land. Bar from federal contracts
any corporation with environmental
violations during the past decade.
Close federal private prisons including
immigrant detention centers and end
all federal contracts with private prison
companies. Direct the Department of
Justice to abandon mandatory mini-
mum sentences in federal prosecution
and to pursue alternatives to incarcera-
tion for low-level offenders.
Direct the U.S. Postal Service to begin
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A division of
offering public banking.
Establish a task force to determine a
real living wage across the United States
and set the federal worker minimum
accordingly.
Direct the Secretary of Education to
write off all student loan debt for which
the federal government is the creditor.
And much more. These are a few of
the reasons I believe we need to elect
Bernie Sanders president.
Bill Whitaker
La Grande
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Plame was a CIA covert agent until he
received immunity from prosecution.
Iranians admired Soleimani. Thou-
sands of Iranians marched in funeral
processions this weekend to honor him.
The takes from Fleischer and Bolton
look like opinions detached from reality.
Earhardt’s assertion is dubious at best.
The total number of U.S. Armed Forces
that died or went missing in World War
II is a little more than 407,000. The U.S.
Civil War — our bloodiest war — had
620,000 military deaths.
There is no way an Iranian gen-
eral was responsible for the deaths of
600,000 U.S. troops.
Even Farnaz Fassihi of The New
York Times fell for misinformation. She
tweeted on Friday the largest U.S. mili-
tary base in Iran was under attack. She
later tweeted that was not true. The ini-
tial post garnered some 1,600 retweets
before Fassihi deleted it. Her correction
received less than 400 retweets.
The point is the amount of misin-
formation passing as fact and wishful
thinking passing as expert opinion after
Soleimani’s killing spread fast and can
be all too easy to fall for, particularly on
social media. And Iran’s retaliation Tues-
day with a missile strike on U.S. bases
in Iraq is going to add a fresh round of
Facebook memes and hot takes.
Don’t buy into the bogus mess. Don’t
let confi rmation bias get in the way of
critical thinking and reality. Find that
other source before spouting off about
how much your mother loves you.
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