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PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 13, 2015 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM Keizer’s history: discovered Yes, Keizer does have history. A lot of it as will be seen when the book Images of America: Keizer is offi cially released in April. The book, printed by Arcadia Publishing, will have an offi cial re- lease on April 16. The Keizer book will join thousands of others by Ar- cadia which chronicle the history of small towns and downtowns cross the country. The Keizer book, a project of the Keizer Heritage Museum, was headed up by Tammy Wild, an in- structional assistant at Forest Ridge Elementary School and a history buff. Photos from the Keizer Heri- tage Museum’s archives were the fi rst to be considered for the book. A call went out to the community last year asking residents to loan their photos of Keizer life from the 19th century to the mid-20th century. Keizerites searched their attics, basements and albums and loaned hundreds of photos showing Keizer’s earliest pioneers and some landmarks that still stand today. The response was great as photos poured in from residents and organizations. America is camera-happy so it is safe to as- sume there are many more photos dcoumenting the Keizer area dating back 150 years. Tammy Wild authored the book using materials from the museum and submitted items. The books Looking Back and More Looking Back, were also helpful guides. Those books, au- thored in the 1980s by Keizer author Ann Lossner, are still available for sale at the Keizer Heritage Museum. Readers of the new book will see photos and read about people whose names live on in our community such as Blake, Claggett, Cummings and the orginal Keizurs. Charles McNary is featurted prominently in the book, with good reason since so much in Keizer bears his name be- sides our high school. Keizer households, especially those with long ties to the community, will deem this book a ‘must have’ for their bookshelves. Images of America: Keizer shows that everyone and every place has stories to tell and Keizer’s story is as rich as any community. Tammy Wild and other volunteers with the Keizer Heritage Museum can take a deep bow for this accomplishment. The book will go on sale in April there and many other retail locations. Pre-sale orders have been brisk and there are talks about doing a second book covering Keizer from the early 1960s to present day. What a great gift that would be for Keizer’s 35th birthday in 2017. —LAZ No advertising, please By R. WILLIAM STITT I have had a keen interest in see- ing a large “destination” playground being brought to Keizer Rapids Park ever since my fi rst child was born six-and-a-half years ago; ever since I scouted high and low throughout the region and found that no such public playground existed. I had traveled to many other communities and had seen exactly the type of play structures that I was hoping to see built at Keizer Rap- ids: communities such Lincoln City, Astoria, Sandy and McMinnville in Oregon and Oak Harbor and Lang- ley in Washington state. It turns out that all of these playgrounds had one thing in common; they were all community built projects de- signed and built under the guidance of Albany, New York-based Leathers and Associates, the very consultant fi rm hired by Keizer to design the Big Toy. After learning about Leathers, I became an early proponent of us- ing such a fi rm to help guide us through the community build pro- cess. Community build, of course, means fi nancial support from local businesses and it has been gratifying to see several individuals and orga- nizations pledge and donate money towards larger ticket items for the Big Toy project. This includes the commitment recently made by Vol- canoes baseball team owner, Jerry Walker. While I was excited to hear of Mr. Walker’s pledge of support for a volcano in- spired slide, I am deeply troubled by the proposed de- sign that would include the Crater mascot or one that would otherwise be painted like the Salem/Keizer Volcanoes logo. It makes me ask the question, “Do we really need to turn our children’s playground into a billboard?” While the corporatization of public spaces has become common place, public playgrounds should be off limits. Such practices should be limited to sports complexes, convention cen- ters and concert areas. While it is of course fi tting and expected to rec- ognize a donor on a centralized ki- osk or even with a plaque on a piece of equipment, it is inappropriate to turn a playground in a public park into advertising space. The last thing that I would want to see is for Mr. Walker to pull his support for the playground. I do believe that a volcano inspired slide is a great idea but does it need to be emblazoned with a mascot and logo? Let us include a volcano slide in the Big Toy design because we live in the land of volcanoes such as Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and even Mt. Tabor and not because it is the name of our local ball club. Paper has bias against the right every one of you for your generous sup- port of Knight of Arts 2015. This was a record breaking year for us, and none of it would have been possible without your help. Because of the hard work and generosity of donors, parents, guests, and volunteers we ex- ceeded our goal of $30,000 we had set for the night. While our numbers are still being fi nalized, we know we made approximately $35,000 for McNary Fine Arts Programs. This is a huge fi rst step toward up- dating our technology in Ken Col- lins Theater for future events. Thank you, parents, family and friends! Thank you, Keizer. Leah Garro McNary Fine Arts Board To the Editor: I was very surprised reading the editorial titled “Do not be goaded into war.” Your prejudice toward any con- servative positions is quite apparent. The fi rst statement I object to is that “conservative politicans do not sup- port food stamps, unemployment benefi ts, clean air and water.” Con- servatives do support these programs but not when they are abused. This opinion piece goes downhill from there. If I wanted to read the Wash- ington Post I would subscribe to it. I don’t need this subscription which appears to reject any views that do not align with the liberal left. Jim Keller Keizer Knight of Arts a grand success To the Editor: On behalf of the McNary Fine Arts Board, thank you to each and guest opinion (R. William Stitt lives in Keizer.) letters Send a letter to the editor (300 words) to the Keizertimes. Deadline for submissons is noon each Tuesday. E-mail to: publisher@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com Lyndon A. Zaitz, Editor & Publisher POSTMASTER SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 Send address changes to: Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon Negotiating from weakness By MICHAEL GERSON Over the years, President Obama has been criticized and praised— but mainly praised—for lacking a driving foreign policy ideology. It seemed to be one of the “childish things” he promised to set aside as he launched his presidency in 2009. America’s conduct in the world would be characterized by outreach, consultation, fl exibility and a pru- dent recognition of limits. Now comes the prospect of a nu- clear deal with Iran, forcing a revised assessment from future presidential historians. Obama is contemplating what Michael Doran of the Hudson In- stitute calls “a revolution in the conception of America’s role in the region.” Since the Carter adminis- tration—which saw the Soviet in- vasion of Afghanistan, the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Iranian revolution—American presidents have pledged to prevent any hostile power from controlling the Persian Gulf. A series of alliances and relationships were established and maintained, sometimes with dif- fi cult or shady partners, to enforce the Carter Doctrine. Now Obama is offering Iran the prospect of being, in his words, “a very successful regional power” in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. Across the board, the ad- ministration emphasizes common interests with Iran in the defeat of the Islamic State. So the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mar- tin Dempsey, recently argued that Iran’s direct military intervention in Iraq may be a “positive thing.” A sort of offer to Iran was al- ways on the table, at least during the George W. Bush years, if the regime would: (1) abandon its nuclear am- bitions, (2) respect human rights and (3) end support for terrorism. Iran, in essence, could be treat- ed as a normal nation if it ac- tually became a normal nation. Obama has now narrowed American demands entirely to the fi rst category, the nu- clear fi le. Concessions in this area— perhaps even temporary concessions —will allow Iran to escape sanctions, rejoin the global community and even become a partner in defeating Sunni extremism. It is, presumably, an offer the Iranians can’t refuse. This was the context for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan- yahu’s speech to Congress. He was attempting to reconnect Iranian nuclear ambitions to its broader conduct, ideology and ambitions. In the process, the leader of a Jewish state became a credible spokesman for America’s Gulf State allies, who fear that America is overturning old promises and relationships. This is happening. In its bold at- tempt at an Iranian opening, the Obama administration views Ne- tanyahu, AIPAC, the Gulf States, Congress and, perhaps, Ayatollah Khamenei as obstacles. Its partners are Iranian President Hassan Rou- hani and Foreign Minister Moham- mad Javad Zarif. Obama and a small knot of advisers believe this deal could be the defi ning foreign policy moment of the second term—the Cuba opening, times 100. This driving vision has already distorted American policy in a va- riety of ways. Obama could not take forceful action against Iran’s proxy, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, for fear of undermining nuclear negotiations. The adminis- other views tration has downplayed the issue of human rights in Iran for the same reason. America has now blessed the operation of Iranian-dominated militias within Iraq —particularly in the liberation of Tikrit—raising the prospect of Iranian control over Iraq’s security and oil sectors. Iranian military forces and proxies now op- erate freely from Baghdad to Beirut, seemingly tolerated in the overarch- ing strategic goal of defeating the Islamic State. As Obama has avoided direct confrontation with Iran to preserve the viability of nuclear talks, Iran has been busy destabilizing the Middle East, replacing us as the major power and threatening our allies. And those allies have taken note. All these risks and compromises make sense only if Obama reaches his transformational agreement with Iran. But Iran knows this as well, which puts America in a poor ne- gotiating position. American weak- ness has already been advertised. The original goal of the group of six— enshrined in three United Nations Security Council resolutions—was for Iran to stop all enrichment and reprocessing. Obama gave up this demand at the beginning of negotia- tions, instead of (perhaps) conceding minimal enrichment at the end. The likely result? A bad deal, leav- ing Iranians with substantial nuclear capability and infrastructure, begin- ning a mad rush to lift sanctions, and essentially accommodating Iranian aggression across the region. If, as the Obama administration will cer- tainly argue, there is no alternative to accepting this agreement, it is be- cause it has worked for none and left none. (Washington Post Writers Group) Israeli election could determine future Next week, specifi cally March 17, will prove a most monumentally- important day in U.S.-Israeli rela- tions. It’s the day the Israeli voters decide whether they want Benjamin Netanyahu, who came here to indeli- cately kick our duly-elected president and our nation’s foreign policy, to continue as that nation’s prime min- ister. Or, choose Isaac Herzog, who commented about Netanyahu’s visit as “a very harsh wound to Israel-U.S. relations” and “will only widen the rift with Israel’s ally and strategic partner.” What I felt was gut-wrench- ing anger while watching Con- gress cheer ecstatically as Netan- yahu trashed President Obama as foolish and duped with what he and his advisors have developed as our na- tion’s foreign policy. Then there was the sickeningly impudent action of U.S. House of Representatives Speak- er John Boehner to interject us into an Israeli election campaign. Shouldn’t the Democrats follow the suit-happy Republicans and sue Boehner? Now, the clown car of U.S. Senate Republi- cans has written to Iran’s leadership to discourage any deal with us. Netanyahu’s referencing what our commander-in-chief seeks to ac- complish with Iran as the same as ap- peasement of the Nazis that led to the holocaust is hyperbole of the highest order. Incidentally, comparing Presi- dent Obama to Neville Chamberlain makes it reasonable to compare Prime Minister Netanyahu to Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Whatever the case, Netanyahu urged the U.S. “not to sacrifi ce the future for the present” and “not to ig- nore aggression in the hopes of gaining an illu- sionary peace.” At stake, real- ly, are two risks. On our side is a deal that will not allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb for another 10 years because there will be regular inspec- tions and other limits imposed. Ne- tanyahu wants the negotiations to end now because absolute guarantees in a foolproof agreement are not included. Sure, the deal we are trying to reach with Iran does not mean that Iran will never have the bomb. What Netan- yahu wants is an end to talks and a preemptive attack on Iran by two nu- clear powers that will result in more warring in the Middle East, an end to any chance of peace, and many more people hating us as a nation of people whose answer to every problem is war. President Obama and his team of advi- sors see that the talks afford us and Iran the best chance possible of encouraging a peaceful evo- lution in Iran by the average Iranian who is no more war- minded than the typical American. gene h. mcintyre Walking away from negotiations is a sure way to keep things rather crazy there. To a signifi cant extent, the fate of the world is in the hands of Israeli voters next week. If they re-elect the hot-headed Netanyahu then he will continue to build fi res for immi- nent war. We’ll soon know whether Israeli voters want to try to keep the peace or join some of the Republi- can hawks, no matter the consequenc- es. After all, our hawks are pawns of the U.S. military-industrialists who earn big profi ts making war ma- chines and munitions and demand sup- port from those in Congress whose campaign costs they pay. These are the same folks who make gobs of money also selling their war-making materials to Israel. (Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap- pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)