PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 31, 2015
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Use signs to promote local events
Keizer needs two central elec-
tronic signs that continually an-
nounce all the events and activites
that happen every week in our town
these days.
Not all sets of eyes are on the
same website or same media. Two
sizable signs on River Road, one at
Chemawa Road, the other at Lock-
haven Drive, would be seen by a vast
percentage of drivers and pedestri-
ans.
Community, school, youth sports
and other events would be an-
nounced on a rotating basis, all day
and all night long. There are plenty
of fairs, auctions, tournaments and
such happening all the time now
that a central communication tool is
needed. The message should be text
only with the pertinent informa-
tion—event, date and location.
An LED sign on a post when
erected at the corner of each men-
tioned intersection to have the best
impact. With the sign operating
around the clock there would no
shortage of ‘space’ to promote the
varied events that take place in our
seven square miles.
Technology would allow for all
events to be entered into a computer
with a start and end date. After the
initial entry of events it would take
little time to update as new events
are registered.
Who would be responsible for
keeping the information updated?
That is a duty that can be shared by
the city and the organization that
promotes Keizer, the Chamber of
Commerce comes to mind.
Being a public sign, private sector
advertising would not be allowed.
However, if a local church is holding
a large community party or event,
that should be allowed as long as it
did not include religious messages.
There are many worthy events
that happen in Keizer, not all will
appeal to everyone, but we, as a com-
munity, have a stake in promoting all
of them. With the busy schedules of
today’s households, focused on their
interests, centralized community
event signs would be a boon to the
organizers and backers of festivals,
fairs and other events that need the
community to attend and support.
These public event communica-
tion signs would have to built with
a waiver to the Keizer sign code, but
that is a small step in a journey to
give every organization in promot-
ing themselves to Keizer’s residents.
—LAZ
Doing justice means free speech
By MATT CHAPPELL
I am appalled by some of
the things that I see going on
in our nation, but after years
of experience I have come
to realize that many of the
things which go on have the
design of turning me against
my own country. But I realize that
they are not my views and not what
the United States was designed to be
by our Founding Fathers. Rather, I re-
alize that there is a deliberate attempt
to undermine the American system as
a whole.
Whether it be by those who feel
things are working or not, the Ameri-
can system has achieved broad accom-
plishments in world history which is
why it has been heralded as the fore-
runner of a whole new world. Some
say that that hasn’t been realized yet,
while others are losing faith and want-
ing to return to the way things were
before there ever was an America.
Others may not have any faith at all.
That’s textbook. But there cannot be a
whole new world without the vision
of those generations who created this
country in the fi rst place.
This just tells me that the whole
idea is to subvert and do away with
the United States as we know it, and
being that the United States (its citi-
zens) have undeniably earned a strong
reputation in the past as a Christian
nation, are trying to erase a world
where the existence of Jesus ever ex-
isted. This just simply means that there
are many attempts to malign it’s repu-
tation, and that’s textbook as well.
On the topic of marriage, because
of the importance that our citizens
have traditionally placed on it, with
the ideals of independence and re-
sponsibility as well as the protection
and dignity of human life, it is natu-
ral that this God-blessed institution of
productivity, and what it means to de-
fi ne the existence of our lives, would
be under attack as well.
It is offensive to the
very process of our bi-
ology that such a vital
thing as marriage should
be demeaned by pro-
cesses which serve only
to stunt and blunt the
means by which human-
ity has been able to survive to this
very day. Marriage between a man and
a woman is set-part in a whole other
category of it’s own. The whole idea
of changing it’s defi nition is illogical
and ludicrous, as it is the only means
by which men and women have their
existence, and you can never replace
the presence of a mommy and daddy.
Just ask the orphans.
To call marriage by any other
name cannot be interpreted by any
other means accept that of a cry of
deep insecurity and a sense of little
self worth. In that sense I say let God
be the judge. But let men and women
everywhere judge themselves as to
the preservation of their own human
life and welfare. For we all understand
what love is and where we have come
from whether we believe in God or
not.
Therefore free speech in regards to
such things are not out of the ordinary
but are a natural part of our existence
and ingrained in the common sense of
our human language. Any attempt to
subvert marriage is intolerant to the
witnesses of humanity past, present,
and future.
If not God, let humanity judge it-
self. But how can humanity have the
value of God with such a low regard
for it’s own self worth? Let God then
be the judge. If that’s the case then let
God be found true and every man a
liar. After all, if human institutions (i.e.
its people) will not do justice, then so
much as there is a God, they will be
held accountable to a higher standard.
The value of human life must be pre-
served.
Can’t beat ‘em
Make any lift-
ing of sanctions
be
contingent
upon unlimited
access to possible
nuclear weap-
ons sites; and
perhaps make this preventing of nu-
clear weapons go on for more than
10 years. (Maybe there should even
be a provision against Iran exporting
weapons.)
Alex Sokolow
Santa Monica, CA
guest
column
To the Editor:
It has fi nally dawned on me, the
National Rifl e Association (gun nuts)
have won. With almost no chance
for meaningful gun control legisla-
tion, the only opportunity left for
people to obtain even a semblance of
protection is to buy a gun and a Kev-
lar vest and wear them all of the time.
Might as well join the NRA, too.
Art Burr
Keizer
Iran nuclear deal
To the Editor:
The Iran deal will make the world
a more dangerous place, unless we
write to our elected offi cials to mod-
ify it a follows:
(Matt Chappell lives in Keizer.)
letters
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Americans polarized but ambivalent
By E.J. DIONNE JR.
So accustomed are we to highlight-
ing the polarized nature of our politics
that we often forget how many Amer-
icans decline to be painted in bright
reds or bright blues. Among us, there
are pinks and turquoises and even
purples. And these voters will matter
a great deal to the elections in 2016
and beyond.
To understand a rather strange mo-
ment during which Donald Trump
exercises a hypnotic control over the
media (I’m as guilty as the next per-
son), it’s important to keep two seem-
ingly contradictory ideas in our heads
at the same time.
On the one hand, polarization is
real. It’s not an invention of the elites.
The sharp partisan divide affects a ma-
jority of the country, and it’s especially
powerful among Americans most like-
ly to vote and to be active in politics.
On the other hand, a very large
share of us (including some staunch
Democrats and Republicans) hold nu-
anced views on many questions. There
are a lot of “yes, but” and “both/and”
voters out there.
Since elections are won by a com-
bination of mobilizing committed
partisans and persuading the now rela-
tively small number of moveable vot-
ers, forgetting either of these realities
can be politically fatal.
Taken together, three studies pub-
lished last week brought home the
subtleties of our collective attitudes.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll
found that 52 percent of Americans
support the Supreme Court’s recent
ruling legalizing
same-sex mar-
riage while 44
percent oppose
it. There is no
question
that
the long-term
trend in opinion
is dramatically in favor of marriage
equality and of gay and lesbian rights.
But when asked how they felt
about “the country’s overall direction
on social issues these days,” a majority
expressed discomfort: 42 percent were
“strongly uncomfortable,” 21 percent
were “somewhat uncomfortable,” 21
percent were “somewhat comfort-
able,” and 14 percent were “strongly
comfortable.”
Peyton Craighill, the Post’s polling
director, provided me with more addi-
tional detail. It’s clear that the “strong-
ly uncomfortable” group is, compared
to the country as a whole, dispropor-
tionately older, more conservative and
more Republican.
The group to watch: the “some-
what uncomfortables.” They are sig-
nifi cantly more likely to describe
themselves as politically moderate and
include a disproportionate number of
African-Americans and Latinos. These
Americans cannot be classifi ed as hos-
tile to changes on “social issues”—a
term that, it should be said, is open to
a variety of interpretations—but they
do need reassurance. There are lessons
here for both liberals (further social
progress requires sensitivity to those
whose feelings are torn) and conserva-
tives (a hard-line insistence on rolling
other
views
back social change will turn off large
numbers of Americans).
Meanwhile, the Pew Research
Center released fi ndings that should
alarm Republicans. Its survey found
that only 32 percent of Americans
had a favorable view of the Repub-
lican Party—down nine points since
January—while 60 percent had an
unfavorable view. For Democrats, the
numbers were 48 percent favorable
(up two points) and 47 percent unfa-
vorable.
The 16-point favorability gap
shows what the GOP is up against,
and why Hillary Clinton has main-
tained a lead in the national polls—by
six points over Jeb Bush in the latest
Post/ABC News poll, for example.
And when Pew broke down these
numbers at my request, the polariza-
tion in the electorate across so many
demographic lines was sharp: Those
with favorable opinions about of the
Republicans were overwhelmingly
white (72 percent) and tilted conser-
vative (52 percent). Those favorable
toward the Democrats were more ra-
cially and ethnically diverse (only 55
percent white) and less likely to be
conservative (20 percent).
And a hint about the source of
Trump’s surge: Among the 26 per-
cent who see both parties unfavorably,
conservatives outnumbered liberals by
almost 3-to-1.
But the third study, a joint product
of the Democratic Strategist website
and Washington Monthly magazine,
points to the work Democrats need
to do with white working-class voters.
One key fi nding, from pollster Stan
Greenberg: Such voters are “open to
an expansive Democratic economic
agenda” but “are only ready to listen
when they think that Democrats un-
derstand their deeply held belief that
politics has been corrupted and gov-
ernment has failed.” This calls for not
only “populist measures to reduce the
control of big money and corruption”
but also, as Mark Schmitt of the New
America Foundation argued, “high-
profi le efforts to show that govern-
ment can be innovative, accessible and
responsive.”
This ambivalent feeling about gov-
ernment is the most important “yes,
but” impulse in the American elec-
torate, and the party that masters this
blend of hope and skepticism will win
the 2016 election.
(Washington Post Writers Group)
Trump setting the wrong tone for 2016
The only known GOP hopeful to
have come to Donald Trump’s defense
is Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). How-
ever, even he apparently has had some
second thoughts about The Donald
after Trump’s critical comments sev-
eral days ago regarding Senator John
McCain (R-Arizona).
At Iowa’s Family Leadership Sum-
mit. Trump, as we know, was annoyed
with McCain who put down as “cra-
zies” the crowd that turned out to
hear him speak in Phoenix. Trump
seized his chance to settle the score
with McCain by attacking McCain’s
war record.
Moderator Frank Lutz tried to
stop Trump, reminding him that Mc-
Cain is considered a war hero. Trump
was obviously compelled to proceed
wherein he rejected McCain’s widely
recognized reputation, saying “He’s
not a war hero.” Without losing a
beat, Trump continued, “He’s a war
hero because he was captured? I like
people who weren’t captured.”
As was predicable from the mo-
ment Trump fi nished his tirade, there
was a virtual storm of protest across the
nation that was led by former Florida
governor and presidential candidate,
Jeb Bush, who condemned Trump’s
comments assessment of McCain as
“slanderous attacks.” Not to be out-
done and in need of attention like the
other 15 GOP contestants, former
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, wanted Trump
to apologize immediately and quit his
bid for the White House. Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal told Trump that
he would need to spend six years in a
POW camp before he had the right to
say such things.
Of course, Trump only steps up his
rhetoric when criticized. He simply
took the occasion to double down on
any competitor with the temerity to
question him. Thereafter he added in-
sult to injury by saying that McCain is
a “dummy” which, Trump went on to
say, is proven by the fact that McCain
graduated last in his Naval Academy
class. Further, he referred to McCain
as “a loser” and that he, Trump, does
not like losers exampled by McCain’s
loss in the 2008 presidential sweep-
stakes and his inability to help other
veterans.
I do recognize and honor his ser-
vice to country and the fact that he
chose to stay with his fellow prisoners
in the so-called Hanoi Hilton when
he was offered
a chance to go
home while the
other American
captives
were
not given that
chance.
McCain
is
not above reproach; to the contrary,
he’s fair game like everyone else who
enters the political arena. Then there’s
the question of what took so long for
those who seek the White House to
respond to other insults delivered by
The Donald. Hardly a word of pro-
test was heard from that group when
Trump unburdened his sentiments
about Hispanics as illegal immigrants
but about which Congress has failed
to take action against the U.S. employ-
ers who, in huge numbers, hire them.
I’m not blind to Obama’s short-
comings, specifi cally of late when he
has been trying to get Congress to
approve the proposed Trans Pacifi c
Partnership that sends more Ameri-
can jobs overseas and reduces wages
here and to allow Shell Oil to drill
in the Arctic. However, the unre-
lenting “birthers” attacks on him led
mainly by Trump against a guy who’s
certifi ed born in Hawaii, is impres-
sively credentialed and devoted to his
wife and daughters, and whose ability
to compete successfully earned him
the duly-elected status of president of
the United States. But when Trump
insults a white man, all the stops are
removed.
gene h.
mcintyre
Let’s not overlook, too, the hy-
pocrisy of it all. Republicans took
considerable glee in sliming war
hero John Kerry when he made his
run for the White House: No dirty
trick went unused in that despicable
tirade against a man who has served
his country quite well, thank you, in
war and peace. But that sordid history
went ignored when the Republicans
went nuts over McCain who had to
know that when he used “crazies” to
describe Trump’s fans it would not go
unanswered by The Donald.
Trump has been the way he is for
years, probably all his life. The huge
mistake the Republicans made was
not to stand up to and, to a member,
discourage him when he went after
Obama, presuming he would nev-
er turn on his own kind. Whoops!
Now he’s morphed into Godzilla, a
monster they cannot stop and who
gets abusive with every negative com-
ment directed at him by other GOP
presidential wannabees. Meanwhile,
he’s climbed to the top in some polls.
Further, they should give up the
name-calling as Trump will not only
return it in like kind, adding a stick of
dynamite as he has devastatingly done
to several already who’ve accepted the
bait only to end up as fl ounder fi l-
lets. As it turns out, there’s apparently
nothing Trump enjoys more than ele-
phant-sized fi sh fries.
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)