PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 26, 2016
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Privacy vs. security
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
is ordering Apple to break into the
cell phone of the San Bernandino
shooters to get what
could be vital information.
The information that is
now locked away inside
that iPhone could reveal
important data that would
help authorities get a
clearer
understanding
of the movements and
contacts of Syed Rizwan Farook and
his wife Tashfeen Malik. The couple
killed 14 people and injured 22 others
in December.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said
that hacking into that phone would
set a dangerous precedent involving
issues of privacy rights.
The situation has drawn battle lines
between those who say that citizens
privacy rights are paramount against
those who say that hacking one cell
phone in the battle against terror is
not the fi rst step on a slippery slope
of widespread and random hacking of
phones of American citizens.
If pressed, most people would say
that the number one job of the U.S.
government is to protect Americans.
For a government that has gathered
billions of phone messages after Sept.
11 as well as surveil communications
from around the globe, hacking into
the phone of a terrorist would seem
to be child’s play.
In a world in danger
from lone wolf terrorists
and terrorist organizations,
any weapon that allows
us to get in front of any
terrorist threat—foreign or
domestic—should be used.
There should be no
open season on the feds
getting their hands on information
from any phone or computer.
Harvesting the information from
Farook’s iPhone should be done with
the full participation of Apple, the
FBI, the National Security Agency
and the ACLU.
There should be an iron-clad
agreement that this would be a one-
and-done operation. The American
people want to be safe but they also
want their privacy rights secure.
The phone’s information should
be gathered but it should not be an
invitation for the government to use
as a fi rst step to tap into anyone’s
phone at any time.
Given a choice between privacy in
a time of social media and stopping
another terrorist attack most people
would rather be safe.
—LAZ
editorial
Short session plus one party control
If you have been following this portant issues that need time to vet
“short” legislative session in the news and to understand and 35 days is not
enough time.
over the past few weeks,
I love it when you visit
you may have seen con-
and
involved. This is
fl icting reports on what
from the your get building,
and your
has transpired. I can tell
you one thing, the pace
capitol process and our nation
suffers when people like
of this session is incredible
By BILL POST
you give up expressing
and even longtime legisla-
deeply held beliefs. So
tors, lobbyists and staff in
thank you. I know you
the building have said so. I
am honored to represent you in the have busy lives and you have to work
legislature, but I have grave reserva- and take care of your families, but I
tions about what is happening here. want you to know how much I ap-
In 2010, the people of Oregon preciate your involvement.
I wish I could say that the testi-
voted to approve the legislature’s
suggestion to have “short sessions.” mony of these involved citizens has
Both in the ballot explanation as impacted the legislation that is pass-
well as in the resolution that formed ing out of this session. Sadly, these
the ballot measure, it is clear that the “short” sessions have turned into
purpose of the short session was to political grandstanding as they are in
deal with emergencies in the budget an election year. Many people here
and any other fi xes needed to previ- fondly remember the 2011 and 2012
sessions when the House of Repre-
ously passed legislation.
As you can see, that’s not what has sentatives was split with 30 Demo-
been happening here, as we are vot- crats and 30 Republicans. That was
ing on very complicated and con- a session where people had to come
troversial bills. In spite of all that, I to a consensus to get anything done.
want to tell you how proud I am of Middle ground had to be achieved.
Keizer. I can’t tell you how many No matter which party it is, the state
Keizer residents have come down as a whole suffers when that one
here to the Capitol multiple times, party has complete control. When
to share their thoughts and opinions one party controls all the commit-
on these important topics. Business tees, all the bills and all the processes,
owners have come down to explain Oregon is not being properly repre-
how the proposed minimum wage sented.
(Bill Post represents House Disd
increase will impact their business-
es, farmers have testifi ed about seed trict 25. He can be reached at 503d
or via email at rep.billd
regulations and how minimum wage 986d1425
post@state.or.us.)
will affect them. These are very im-
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Trump and the Megyn Kelly effect
By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS
During a recent CNN town
hall Donald Trump offered up that
he probably works too hard and if
he had worked “a little bit less,” he
“probably wouldn’t have had two
marriages that didn’t work out.”
Moderator Anderson Cooper then
thanked Trump for participating in
the event, and the last town hall be-
fore South Carolina Republicans hit
voting booths was over. There were
no follow-up questions about the
role of Trump’s—so public it was
front-page news—affair with second
wife, Marla Maples, in the breakup of
his fi rst marriage.
I understand CNN’s rationale for
staging one-on-one interviews in
lieu of a debate to give the public
a peek at the more personal side of
each GOP hopeful. As a journalist,
I appreciate the delicate balancing
act of trying to ask probing ques-
tions without being so confronta-
tional that you become part of the
story. But Cooper shouldn’t have let
Trump turn his airtime into an in-
fomercial.
I sympathize with the plight of
any journalist who interviews the
reality TV star. Trump tells so many
whoppers that the relentless modera-
tor would have to challenge practi-
cally everything he says. On Sunday,
I watched CNN’s Jake Tapper and
Fox News’ Chris Wallace ask Trump
about
some-
thing he said at
the CNN town
hall: “I like
the mandate,”
Trump had said,
even though he
wants to repeal
Obamacare. That Sunday, Trump ran
from that quote, saying that he and
Cooper were talking at the same
time. “There’s no mandate, no man-
datory anything,” Trump told Tapper.
In fact, Trump had volunteered to
Cooper that he supported the man-
date, because he supports health care
for all.
Tapper and Wallace are no push-
overs, but eventually they let it slide
and moved on. That’s how Trump
gets away with his endless fabrica-
tions. He is such a constant and
shameless liar that there’s no way to
pin him down without throwing out
interview decorum.
In South Carolina on Friday,
Trump told the story of an American
general who is said to have captured
50 Muslim prisoners and ordered his
troops to shoot 49 of them. The gen-
eral told the 50th, “Go back to your
people and you tell them what hap-
pened.” There were no problems for
25 years, Trump concluded.
That seems to be the template for
his strategy with TV news. Trump fa-
mously went after Fox News’ Megyn
other
views
Kelly for asking him about com-
ments —fat pigs, dogs, slobs—which
“The Donald” made about women.
To retaliate against Kelly for report-
ing what he said, Trump waged a
Twitter war, boycotted her Fox News
show and even passed on a later de-
bate because Kelly was a moderator.
Watch other shows and you see
the “Megyn Kelly Effect.” It sure
seems as though some TV newsers
shrink from pinning down Trump
because they fear his fi re, while oth-
ers play up to Trump to boost their
ratings. “Le Show’s” Harry Shearer
aired audio of off-air banter in which
Trump teased “Morning Joe” hosts
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzez-
inski: “You get all the ratings and a
raise. Me, I get nothing.” Actually, he
gets guests and hosts who marvel at
his ability to break the rules without
breaking his campaign.
I think back to the 2008 media
feeding frenzy that bloodied GOP
runningmate Sarah Palin. She didn’t
have the gravitas to be on the ticket,
critics asserted. It was the media’s job
to expose her shortcomings for the
good of the country. Where she was
greeted with disdain, Trump enjoys
accolades. It turns out Palin’s biggest
weakness was not that she was un-
worthy, but that she wasn’t as good as
Trump at kicking back.
(Creators Syndicate)
Which candidate can allay our fears?
Is there anything to worry about
today in the United States? There
just may be a few reasons to feel
some fear.
President Obama is a silver-
tongued orator but has let us down
in so many ways from what we
thought he would do. Sure, he’s put
some Americans back to work as
there are more now tossing burgers,
baking pizzas, and growing/selling
marijuana.
But what about the drugs that
keep fl owing in from Mexico; the
family wage jobs that have gone
overseas; companies that have taken
them there and pay no U.S. taxes;
threats from North Korea that could
become real any day; the promise of
the Affordable Care Act that serves a
few Americans but has become too
expensive for the families it was in-
tended to help.
Among so many letdowns, Wall
Street and investment fi rms all over
the land can any day now return us
to the Great Recession from which
we’ve never fully recovered while
not one of the perpetrators has gone
to jail.
We could put more of our citi-
zens to work in living-wage jobs.
For example, in public infrastruc-
ture projects, if we didn’t continue
to fi ght winless battles in the Middle
East while our national debt contin-
ues into the stratosphere. Too often
our military members come back
in coffi ns or so destroyed mentally
and physically that they can only sit
and wish they hadn’t gone to “free”
Iraqis, Syrians and others who want
no American-style freedom.
Too many Arabs only want more
Sharia law imposed and when our
mindless politicians allow too many
of them to enter the U.S. they break
our laws with impunity, eschew our
customs and traditions, practice fe-
male genital mutilation and have no
interest in becoming Americans like
immigrants of yesteryear.
Our military has proven it can-
not defeat these religious zealots but
is directed by war-hungry American
politicians to do more of the same,
guaranteeing more failure. Obama
made promises about getting us
out of these
never-ending
commitments
but has ap-
parently lost
his way or
simply can’t
say no to the
war
hawks.
Banging on the White House door
are a set of candidates who promise
as the Commander-in-Chief, most
poignantly Ted Cruz and Marco
Rubio, to carpet bomb the Middle
East, killing everyone in sight. Are
any of the GOP candidates for presi-
dent mature enough to act rationally?
The race to replace Obama is un-
derway. Senator Bernie Sanders does
not appear to be the sort of Com-
mander-in-Chief who’d do more
than talk a lot and utter vague threats
to our adversaries. The Bern, as he’s
fondly called, promises to provide
qualifi ed American youth with a free
college education and no-cost health
insurance for all Americans. How-
ever, we Americans do not appreciate
a nation where those with the means
to accumulate considerable wealth
are willing to share in the costs of
what he promises by paying their fair
share in taxes. This means that if the
Bern’s plans were to take living form,
the costs would be laid on the backs
of the shrinking number of members
of the middle class. Under the terms
of the American reality that those
who vote for the Bern will be let
down like those in the past who’ve
been promised big this and that, nev-
er to see such things come true fol-
lowed by wholesale disillusionments.
As for The Donald, Trump’s re-
sounding position among a crowded
fi eld of more experienced and ac-
complished candidates is a stunning
turn of events for a party that vowed
four years ago to be more inclusive
after failing to unseat Obama in
2012. The Donald cannot specify in
any detail how he will fulfi ll all that
gene h.
mcintyre
he says he will do. If elected, those
items on which he promises to act are
only vaguely known and most likely
will not materialize unless Trump
can become a dictator, doing away
with the Constitution. What arouses
interest, though, is why so many of
U.S. super rich want Trump stopped?
Is the obvious answer that when they
can’t buy a president to do their bid-
ding they are terrifi ed he’d choose
his own agenda, leaving them to fend
for themselves.
There are other GOP candidates
running to be our president who
do no better than Trump. John Ka-
sich tries to make himself into a per-
son who’s folksy. Ben Carson should
try to get a “clue” on what’s real
outside an operating theatre. Ted
Cruz and Marco Rubio with re-
cords of accomplishments that are
short and weak, a person has to ask
whether these guys lacking relevant
experience would do any better than
“shorfall” Obama has done.
Fear abounds in these United
States not unlike those fears that
have faced Americans over the past
two centuries. However, one won-
ders nervously whether we’ll survive
intact this time what with North
Korea promising to send us hydro-
gen bombs, ISIS cancer spread-
ing throughout a huge chunk of
the world while promising to visit
the U.S. destructively, the number
of Americans on addictive drugs, a
Congress that’s stalemated into near
total dysfunction, bands of anti-gov-
ernment Americans in lawless mili-
tias ready to spring into taking over
federal property and shooting any
other American who gets in their
way, and many a wealthy American
who wants to use the riches accu-
mulated from the freedoms afforded
them in this nation to destroy all
vestiges of this nation’s 235-year ex-
periment to establish and maintain a
democracy.
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column apd
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)