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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2020)
4A THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020 The Observer OUR VIEW We owe a debt of gratitude Selfl ess sacrifi ce isn’t common, but during the recent fl ooding across the county, numerous agen- cies and people stepped up to help in an uncom- mon way. Gov. Kate Brown recognized citizen-soldiers Friday from Pendleton’s 1st Battalion, 168th Avia- tion for their great work rescuing people during the fl ood disaster. The governor arrived at Pendle- ton’s Oregon National Guard aviation facility and handed out medals to nine Guardsmen for their heroic efforts. Brown’s recognition of the Guardsmen was not only fi tting but also a way to highlight a great group of men and women who often fl y under the collective radar of our community. We see police and fi re department personnel at work on a regular basis. We do not often see, unless we hear the familiar sound of helicopters and look to the sky, the men and women of the aviation unit. They hover in the background, training and working, and when the nation or state calls, they appear and do their jobs. And they do their jobs in a very professional and precise way. The work of the aviation unit and the recogni- tion of its members for their service underscores the often-overlooked role of the National Guard in Oregon as a whole. For the most part, the work of the Oregon Army National Guard and the Air National Guard happens far from the eye of the public, but their role is critical to our state and nation. The National Guard is a unique organization as its role is a dual one. On one hand, the Guard serves its state and the communities across Or- egon. On the other, the Guard stands ready as a massive reserve force that is fully integrated now in our nation’s defense. Throughout the war on terror, Guard units from across the nation — including Oregon — logged multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. These homegrown citizen-soldiers took time off from their civilian occupations, donned uniforms and served in war zones. That is how the founders wanted it, and it is a system that has survived and thrived for more than 200 years. The men and women of the aviation unit repre- sent all that is good and logical about the Guard. They live and work near their hometowns, and they are ready when disaster strikes to lend a hand. Yet, they are also ready to deploy to a foreign shore in defense of our nation. We owe them all a great debt of gratitude. Your views Good things about Valentine’s Day were everywhere — except in The Observer Valentine’s Day should be presented in a positive way. It is a day for displaying appreciation and love. How could a journalist turn that into a negative thing worthy of the front page of the newspaper? The Observer’s Feb. 15 Saturday edition showed its nega- tive and millennial attitude by the content of the front page article: “Experts offer tips to end Valentine’s Day heartache.” Sarcasm: Well, good for The Observer. Absolutely brilliant. The Observer was quick to point out that some people don’t get any attention on Valentine’s Day. So the La Grande High School and Middle School hide the Valentine’s Day deliveries from the students until the end of the school day and then the receiving students pick them up as they leave the school. So now, Valentine’s Day is bad and we must hide the Val- entine’s Day gifts because the gifts make students (who don’t receive any gifts) have “heartache.” My question is: Would it be better if everyone received a Valentine’s Day gift? That appears to me to be the attitude of S ome of the biggest corporations in the United States are brawling over the future of the law that allows free speech and innovation to thrive online. Under the guise of getting rid of lies and protecting children, they’re working with the Trump administration and top Republicans to undermine Americans’ rights and give the government unprec- edented control over online speech. Special interests trying to infl u- ence federal laws and regulations are nothing new in Washington. Big banks and drug companies have been wildly successful at working the system to discourage competition and stay on top. Occasionally, however, Congress actu- ally passes a law that protects the less powerful elements of our society, the insurgents and the disrupters. That’s what it did in 1996 when it passed a law I co-authored called Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 was written to provide legal protection to online platforms so they could take down objectionable material without being dragged into court. It lets companies remove posts from white supremacists or trolls with- out being sued for bias or for limiting individuals’ First Amendment rights. SEN. RON WYDEN If a website wants to cater to the right wing, it can. If it wants to ban Trump supporters, it can do that, too. Section 230 also says the person who creates content is the one responsible for it. So if President Donald Trump libels an innocent person on Twitter, he can be sued. Without 230, social media couldn’t exist. Sites such as Yelp would be sued to death. Startups such as Portland’sAllGo, which collects user reviews about how restaurants serve plus-size customers, would never get off the ground. Move- ments such as Black Lives Matter or #MeToo, whose advocates post contro- versial accusations against powerful fi gures on social media, would have remained whispers, not megaphones for oppressed communities. The fi ght is defi ned by an intensive lobbying effort by big legacy corpora- tions such as Disney and IBM that are looking for an advantage against big tech companies such as Google and Facebook. Each side wants to rewrite the rules to cement its own dominance. Union & Wallowa Co. .......................................$11.80 By mail, all other U.S. ....................................... $15 A division of Some have argued that repealing Section 230 would punish Facebook and Google for their failures. That’s simply not true. The biggest tech companies have enough lawyers and lobbyists to survive virtually any regulation Congress can con- coct. It’s the startups seeking to displace Big Tech that would be hammered by the constant threat of lawsuits. Whenever laws are passed to put the government in control of speech, the people who get hurt are the least powerful in society. That’s what happened in 2018, when, in the wake of news stories about disturbing ads on a site called Backpage, Congress scaled back 230 with a law known as SESTA- FOSTA — a combination of the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act. At the time, I proposed a different approach, including hiring more prosecutors. And I warned that this bill would do little to stop sex trafficking or help true victims but would simply push sex work underground. Whenever laws are passed to put the government in control of speech, the people who get hurt are the least powerful in society. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, represents Oregon in the U.S. Senate. STAFF Phone: SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE Subscription rates per month: William De Lashmutt La Grande Big business undermining Americans SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50 You can save up to 34% off the single-copy price with home delivery. Call 541-963-3161 to subscribe. The Observer and Yeates, the high school counselor. At least the school counselor didn’t suggest the state should provide Valentine’s gifts for all students so that no one has heartache. Why didn’t The Observer and Yeates notice the Valentine’s Day rose petals covering the sidewalk in front of Cherry’s Florist? I think the petals were delightful and uplifting. And I think that should have made the front page of The Observer. I know you do a lot of work to gather stories and I appreci- ate that. I read the Phil Wright “Good local reporting worth the price” column. To me, good local reporting doesn’t mean a lot of work trying to point out something bad about Valen- tine’s Day. Can you please do a lot of work to fi nd the good things about Valentine’s Day? Good things about Valentine’s Day were everywhere, and it would be much easier to fi nd the good things than doing a lot of work digging up some- thing negative. 541-963-3161 An independent newspaper founded in 1896 (USPS 299-260) Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, Oregon 97801. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (except Dec. 25) by EO Media Group, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260) COPYRIGHT © 2020 THE OBSERVER The Observer retains ownership and copyright protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. Toll free (Oregon): 1-800-781-3214 Fax: 541-963-7804 Email: news@lagrandeobserver.com Website: www.lagrandeobserver.com Street address: 1406 Fifth St., La Grande POSTMASTER Send address changes to: The Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 Periodicals postage paid at: Pendleton, Oregon 97801 Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti Classifieds ........................................ Devi Mathson Regional circulation director ....................Kelli Craft Home delivery advisor.................Amanda Fredrick Editor .....................................................Phil Wright Customer service rep ......................... Mollie Lynch News clerk....................................Lisa Lester Kelly Advertising representative...............Juli Bloodgood Sports editor .......................................Ronald Bond Advertising representative...................... Amy Horn Reporter................................................Dick Mason Graphic design supervisor................Dorothy Kautz Reporter....................................Sabrina Thompson Graphic design ..............................Cheryl Christian IT support ........................................Nicole Gilbride Chris Rush, Regional Publisher
