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PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 3, 2017 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM Divergent paths Sixty is the new forty. Sixty-eight is not. It’s just old. I am still younger than our newly elected President. It is a time for introspection. How is it that Donald Trump became a self- professed billionaire president instead of me? It is petty of me to point out that he had a several million dollar head start. As last born of my parents’ four children they had without complaint taken on three jobs between them by the time I was judged old enough not to do dangerously stupid things, left unsupervised. That enabled us to enjoy a princely lower middle class existence. That I started with less cannot be used as an ex- cuse. We all know that America is the land of opportunity and anyone with a good idea, a will to work hard, and total disregard for other’s welfare can become fabulously wealthy. It can’t be helped that thou- sands of people must be content to work at the poverty level in order to support each millionaire’s lifestyle. I accept that. Mr. Trump and I each had the chance to go to college. I only lasted the fi rst year at University of Wash- ington before the siren call of wan- nabe rock and roll hero drew me away. Another strike against me—he is well educated and I learned that I was not rock and roll star material. Well, it was really fun. We each had some business set- backs. As a partner I contributed much toward bankrupting a restaurant in Spokane. Again I am just a piker in the business failure arena when com- pared with Donald Trump. Nobody would ever have extended to me loans necessary to accumulating a billion dollars in debt. It’s not easy to become too big to fail. Mr. Trump has turned his name into a brand that sells board games, steaks, cologne, vodka, furniture, menswear, hotels, beauty pageants, and even a university. I have yet to create any branded product boasting my name. Maybe it’s not too late for me to seek funding for Vowell Cheese Spread or Vowell budget motels. Or I could, with hostility, take over the Or- egon Dairy Princess Pageant and jazz it up a little. Onstage milking contest and cow trivia. If I understood Twitter I could then mock the losers. And the winners. Like Mr. Trump I came late to the political battle- ground. He clearly had far more of the strength and savvy needed to run a successful campaign. In my failed campaigns to become your mayor I had the mistaken notion that it would be bad to say something that wasn’t true. I may have even admitted that I was demonstrably less qualifi ed than the candidates I ran against. I deserved the losses. Mr. Trump has revolutionized America’s election process. Born with more cash than working class Ameri- cans will earn in a lifetime of labor, he has sold himself as their champion. Carrying that logic to its inevitable extreme, he has appointed a Cabinet full of billionaires who, having read that some citizens are not billionaires, are ready to fi ght for working class Americans. You should get fl otation devices now for all the trickling down that their increasing wealth must sure- ly produce. I am sixty-eight. Is it too late for me to be a billionaire President? It doesn’t matter. I like living here in Keizer. It is enough to have a really great column which is read in print and online by more Americans than any other column ever in the history of earth. Protect Medicare Advantage active lifestyle, leading to a better overall quality of life. Despite this, almost every year Congress pro- poses new cuts to Medi- care Advantage, threat- ening the very programs that help take care of and promote healthy lifestyles for 348,000 Oregon seniors. More and more seniors are relying on the program, yet it contin- ues to face possible budget cuts at the hands of our legislators. I am so grateful for the support Reps. Greg Walden, Kurt Schrader and Earl Blumenauer, who have al- ready voiced for the program and sincerely urge Oregon’s other mem- bers of Congress, and the other se- niors relying on Medicare Advantage, to stand up to Congress, let them know how valuable the program is, and tell them to stop cutting funding to Medicare Advantage. Virginia Gates Brooks a box of soap (Don Vowell gets on his soapbox regularly in the Keizertimes.) letters To the Editor: I am writing to you as an Oregonian and senior. I am one of over 348,000 Oregonians that benefi t from having a Medicare Advantage health care plan. While many people have heard of Medicare and Medicaid, not as many people have heard about Medicare Advan- tage or know just how benefi cial it is for seniors. For myself and every senior on Medicare Advantage, the health plan provides many more options to live a healthy lifestyle, including preven- tative screenings, routine checkups, the Silver & Fit and Silver & Strong fi tness programs, and a gym mem- bership among others. These aspects, which are not often available under traditional Medicare, truly have been a tremendous blessing for me. The program further helps encourage an A picture of American shame By MICHAEL GERSON The image of President Donald Trump, fl anked by Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis, signing an executive order that (among other things) ex- cludes Syrian refugees from America, is indelible. Three powerful American leaders, targeting and dehumanizing some of the most vulner- able people on earth. A picture of bullying. A pic- ture of cruelty. A picture of national shame. It sits in my head beside images of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, bewildered by the loss of their old lives, assets de- pleted, living (in some cases) eight to a room, exploited by human traffi ckers. Many families feel compelled to put their boys to work and their girls into early, forced marriages. “My home is all broken in Syria,” a girl of 6 told me while coloring a kinetic picture of helicopters and bombs. Trump is a champion at punching down, but sel- dom this far. This executive order is a security measure that very few actual security professionals would prioritize, given that refugees are some of the most carefully vetted people who enter the country. Meanwhile, the downside of (in effect) targeting foreigners by their religion is immediate and consider- able—worrying American Muslims and embarrassing America’s Muslim friends and allies in the world. When some radical cleric in, say, Central Asia, says, “The new American presi- dent hates Islam,” he does not require a conspiracy theory to support his claim. And all of this may have been done with no security upside at all, given the utter incompetence with which the order was drafted, and the likelihood that the courts will prevent its implementation. Trump came to power promis- ing that masterful leadership would replace the “stupid” kind. This action was malicious, counterproductive and inept—the half-baked work of ama- teurs who know little about security, little about immigration law, and nothing about compassion. There is more systematic thought, however, behind Trump’s attempt to recast America’s global role— presumably the guiding in- fl uence of adviser Stephen Bannon. In his inaugural address, Trump asserted the “right of all nations to put their own interests fi rst” and promised, “We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone.” Trump’s version of America is a nor- mal nation, like Holland or Ghana, concerned with its own borders and business, and generally indifferent to the “way of life” chosen by others. Our national identity, like for other nations, is ethnic and cultural. Trump’s America is vaguely Christian. Vaguely 1950s. Vividly white. A number of policies emerge from these convictions: a walled country, a closed economy and highly restricted immigration. Traditional American commitments—to the special re- lationship with Britain, to a strong and growing NATO and European Union, to America’s Pacifi c security umbrella—seem up for grabs. The trumpet always calls retreat. Every American president since World War II has disagreed with the stunted and self-defeating view of the country now held by Trump. Over the last century the United States other views Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY ADVERTISING Publication No: USPS 679-430 Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: PRODUCTION MANAGER Andrew Jackson Keizertimes Circulation graphics@keizertimes.com 142 Chemawa Road N. LEGAL NOTICES Keizer, OR 97303 legals@keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Laurie Painter billing@keizertimes.com Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon RECEPTION Lori Beyeler facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes (Washington Post Writers Group) Early impressions shaky Granted, it’s early to make conclu- sions about our new president and his cabinet. Nevertheless, there are a cou- ple of serious concerns here that have already come up in the past two weeks. The U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and political traditions have established freedoms that have not been seen, even considered, in many parts of the world. They are (1) a free and fair vote and (2) a free and respected press. These are two premises upon which our American society, its values and standards, has been built and have endured the tests of time for more than two hundred years. President Donald J. Trump now insists, regarding the last election, the one that elected him, that there were three to fi ve million who voted illegally and, further, that these fraudu- lent voters cast their ballots for his op- ponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton: This proven would enable Trump—who won the Electoral College vote—to claim the popular vote which every pertinent fact on the subject has de- nied him so far. He demands that an investigation take place even though there is a to- tal lack of evidence to back up his as- sertion while a universal conclusion has been reached that there was no fraud. When Trump makes charges of this kind he reinforces the prejudic- es of his true believers, who apparently believe, without question, everything he says, while, in doing so, they un- dermine confi dence in our democ- racy which, as we know from history, is a fragile condition. Another matter that confounds is Trump’s assault on the free press. He calls reporters the most dishonest people on earth and persons who lied about his inauguration turnout num- bers. He also has made a huge effort to disagree with the numbers who showed up in cities all over the na- tion to advocate for the protection of women’s rights and to denounce him as president. Photos of the two events, the in- auguration and march on Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, cannot lie but Trump says they do, caus- ing one to wonder wheth- er a reputable ophthalmol- ogist should be brought in. Of course, America’s press is human and has made mistakes; yet, to ac- cuse all the press as willfully practicing mendacity is silly, sad and subversive. Though I want to know more about how he will ultimately deal with immigration, trade agreements and treaties, Social Security and Medi- gene h. mcintyre Keizertimes has been a cheerfully abnormal na- tion. American identity (in this view) is not based mainly on blood or soil, but rather on the patriotic acceptance of a unifying creed. American leaders, Democratic and Republican, have be- lieved that a world where the realm of freedom is growing is more prosper- ous and secure; a world where free- dom is retreating is more dangerous. The reason is not mystical. Dictators tend to be belligerent. Governments accountable to their people are gener- ally more peaceful. It is the lesson of hard experience. America found that it could not avoid the bloody disorders of Europe by ig- noring them. It found that a Pacifi c dominated by a single, hostile power is a direct threat to its economy and security. It found that Russian aggres- sion in Europe is like Newton’s First Law—moving until some force stops it. And America has often accepted refugees, refl ecting its deepest values and building reserves of trust and re- spect. The Soviet Union or Cuba un- der Fidel Castro were not working out unique and special “ways of life.” They were producing fl eeing victims who would be imprisoned or murdered at home. It is in America’s nature to of- fer at least some of them a home and refuge. The same should be true for Bashar Assad’s victims, including the children of a broken country. This is the difference a creed can make: When Ronald Reagan spoke on foreign policy, tyrants sat uneasy on their thrones and dissidents and refu- gees took heart. When Donald Trump speaks on foreign policy, tyrants rest easier and dissidents and refugees lose hope. care, “the Wall,” the Affordable Care Act’s replacement, the appointment of a Supreme Court justice, voting rights, sanctions against the Russians, NATO, and other urgent and pressing domes- tic and foreign matters, my immedi- ate concern is the effort on his part to deny voting rights and dictate what reporters write and say about him. We want change that fi nancially benefi ts all Americans, improves all facets of our infrastructure, and keeps us safe from harm as much as possible. However, to improve on some condi- tions of life in these United States does not mean one favors a totalitarian state, a dictatorship, tyranny or a fascist gov- ernment to take the place of what we value, cherish and do not want to lose for the sake of any one man’s vanity, a need to make himself larger at free- dom’s expense. (Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap- pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)