AUGUST 11, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Words vs. war
Fire and fury like the world has never
seen. Those are decidedly not dip-
lomatic words—those are fi ghting
words. Words that President Trump
spoke about continued threats from
North Korea.
Trump said if Kim Jong-Un’s re-
gime persisted with its threats against
the United States, North Korea
would suffer the harshest military re-
action ever seen by mankind.
Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson walked back
Trump’s comments. He
said that Americans can
sleep easy at night, that
there is no credible threat
of a Korean ballistic nucle-
ar weapon hitting the U.S.
Those are the two sides
of the current American
foreign policy coin: tit for tat and
diplomacy. Trump threatens a rain of
military might while the nation’s top
diplomat seeks to lower the tension.
Unfortunately, Trump’s words ring
too much like the Soviet Union’s
Krushchev’s “We will bury you”
speech at the height of the cold war.
Secretary of State Tillerson tried to
calm the world upon his return from
a visit to Asia.
Though he was chosen to lead
the State Department due to his ex-
perience as a globe-trotting CEO of
Exxon Mobil, he does not have the
training, education or background
that delicate situations such as North
Korea need. Even with his limita-
tions, we prefer Tillerson’s diplomacy
over Trump’s bellicosity.
The West can believe that no man,
especially a leader, would ever take
the drastic step of starting a war of
nukes. The problem is that Kim Jong-
Un is an unknown quantity: would
he—could he—order a missle tipped
with a nuclear weapon be launched
against Guam or some point in the
western United States?
Until our intelligence sources can
say, without a doubt, that Jong-Un is
not the irrational child he appears to
be and does not have his fi nger poised
over the launch button, we need to
opt for safety and security.
After Trump’s ‘fi re and fury’ re-
marks the North Korea regime
threatened to hurl a missle at Guam’s
Andersen Air Force Base and its
6,000 military personnel.
The tit for tat bluster serves no
purpose. It is anyone’s guess which
audience Jong-Un is play-
ing to since he has so few
allies; he might be playing
to the hometown crowd.
Nothing whips up patri-
otic frenzy like warning
against an enemy. Trump
is playing to his base,
which doesn’t tend to shy
away from a fi ght. Words
matter and war-mongering words
matter more since they make other
countries in east Asia nervous and
uncertain which camp to gravitate to:
America and the West, or China.
Some decry the lack of results
from diplomacy, but as long as two
sides are talking to each other they
are not warring against each other.
The key is talking to each other, not
at each other. The United States sat
down at a table with a delegation
from North Vietnam for years at a
chateau outside Paris. Negotiations
eventually bore fruit, but it was an ar-
duous journey.
In the early 1970s American dip-
lomats purposely portrayed President
Richard Nixon as a madman who
was capable of anything so the Sovi-
ets and Vietnamese better deal with
him before he did something rash.
That strategy worked partly because
both the Soviets and Chinese need-
ed something from the U.S. North
Korea needs nothing from America
except respect and a promise not to
invade. That seems an easy program
to follow. It’s better than the unfath-
omable alternative.
—LAZ
Writer gets
inclusion right
people say you can’t leg-
islate behavior. But we
do that all the time with
laws regulating driv-
ing, drinking and smok-
ing, and other abusive or
dangerous behaviors. As
you pointed out, words
matter. Laws, policies and leadership
matter. I believe we can make a dif-
ference day by day, person by person,
by treating our neighbors and even
strangers in the community with re-
spect and consideration. Thank you
for setting a great example.
Kathy Lincoln
Keizer
our
opinion
letters
To the Editor:
Thank you Eric How-
ald for your thoughtful,
compassionate and well
written column (Why in-
clusivity matters) in the Aug. 4th is-
sue of the Keizertimes. It was in stark
contrast to the guest opinion of L.
Brent Bozell, III and Tim Graham,
right next to it.
And thank you for all the ways you
are obviously contributing to make
our community more welcoming
and comfortable for everyone. Some
Rex Tillerson ineffectual at State
By MICHAEL GERSON
If Cabinet members are to be
judged by the gap between expecta-
tion and performance, Rex Tillerson
is among the worst. He was supposed
to be one of the adults in
the room, a steadying force.
But Tillerson has managed
to be both ineffectual and
destabilizing—unfamil-
iar with the workings of
government, unwilling to
provide inspirational lead-
ership, disconnected from
American values and seemingly hos-
tile to the department in his care.
Who would want to be known as
the secretary of state who retreated
from the promotion of justice and de-
mocracy? Yet this is exactly what Til-
lerson seems to desire.
To a certain kind of corporate
mind, a statement of organizational
purpose—following a bottom-up,
360-degree, consultant-driven review
process—is a big deal. The one cur-
rently under consideration at the State
Department (according to an internal
email obtained by my fellow Washing-
ton Post columnist Josh Rogin): “We
promote the security, prosperity and
interests of the American people glob-
ally.” In contrast, the previous version
called for “a peaceful, prosperous, just
and democratic world.”
Let’s set aside the offensive clunki-
ness of the new statement. No, let’s not.
Organizations like corporations have
statements of purpose. Institutions like
the State Department have traditions,
values and missions. Tillerson’s new
purpose statement could be adopted
by any country in the world with the
change of one adjective—the “Rus-
sian” people or the “Belgian” people.
This involves a crude reductionism.
Exxon Mobil may measure its success
in interests and profi ts. But America
is a nation dedicated to the principle
that all are created equal. If our coun-
try does not stand for a
“just and democratic”
world, who will?
This sad and serious
shift—begun in Donald
Trump’s inaugural ad-
dress—has been carried
forward by Tillerson. In
his fi rst remarks to State
Department employees, the new sec-
retary of state said that the promotion
of American values “creates obstacles”
in pursuit of American interests. The
administration’s proposed budget es-
sentially zeroes out democracy pro-
motion funding. Tillerson refused
(against tradition) to personally unveil
the State Department’s annual hu-
man rights report. The impression that
America no longer cares about human
rights has fi ltered down to third-rate
despots everywhere.
Every American president since
World War II has believed that our
nation benefi ts from the spread of
economic and political freedom. Op-
pressive regimes are more likely to
seek destabilizing weapons and to
harbor terrorists. Democratic nations
are more peaceful and more likely to
engage in trade. Democratization (for
the most part) cannot be imposed, but
it can be encouraged, unless that great,
defi ning national mission doesn’t fi t in
the PowerPoint presentation.
Meanwhile, Tillerson’s organiza-
tional review has been employed as
an excuse to avoid making key hires.
He complains that the government
is “not a highly disciplined organi-
other
views
zation.” And surely there is room to
consolidate proliferating State De-
partment bureaus and to rationalize
management structures. But under
what theory of reorganization would
the State Department not have assis-
tant secretaries covering Europe, East
Asia, Latin America and the rest? Not
a single assistant secretary position has
been permanently fi lled.
Tillerson’s aloofness, his public
criticisms of the department and his
support for drastic budget cuts (in-
cluding for embassy security) have
naturally had an effect on morale. And
why is morale valuable? As secretary
of state, George Shultz motivated
(much of) a naturally skeptical depart-
ment to implement Ronald Reagan’s
foreign policy vision. As secretary of
state, Condoleezza Rice motivated
(much of) a naturally skeptical depart-
ment to support President George W.
Bush’s freedom agenda.
If the Trump administration con-
tinues to treat professional staff as the
“deep state” enemy, the department
will be in a mix of despair and revolt.
Bureaucracies cannot be reorganized
or threatened into effectiveness. They
must be led and inspired. People must
know that loyalty goes both ways.
They must believe that the ultimate
goal is to strengthen, not undermine,
the institution they have dedicated
their lives to serve.
As of now, there is no reason for
State Department employees to be-
lieve this. In Trump world, tearing
down institutions is a mark of virtue.
This type of radicalism was once fa-
miliar on the hard left (“burn, baby,
burn”). It may be more effective in the
hands of a bland capitalist.
(Washington Post Writers Group)
Worried for the United States
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By GENE H. McINTYRE
Millions of American voters were
willing to forgive Donald J. Trump
for all they knew about him before
he was a candidate, yet, they voted for
him anyway. Hope can spring eternal
but the evidence from the views of
Trump and his advisors over his six
month tenure leaves those trying to
remain objective about him with dis-
may, as the Oval Offi ce has become a
“black hole” of credibility crises that
worsens nearly every
hour of every day.
Most recently, former
Press Secretary Sean Spic-
er denied he was aware of
the retracted Fox News
story on slain Demo-
cratic National Com-
mittee staffer Seth Rich
even though it was well
known that he attended a meeting on
the subject. President Trump’s lawyer,
Jay Sekulow, denied that the president
was involved in the writing of Donald
Trump Junior’s statement on Russia
(while we now know that the presi-
dent dictated every word of it). Presi-
dent Trump claims that he received
a call from the leader of the Boy
Scouts praising his speech to the Boy
Scouts at their jamboree—a matter
even the White House soon refuted.
Since President Trump and his in-
ner circle of advisors continue daily to
mislead the American public about ev-
erything from crowd sizes to campaign
meetings to what was said by the Boy
Scout leadership, announce totally
untrue and proven untrue claims like
the one about “Obama wiretapped
my phones” and 3 million illegal im-
migrants voted for Hillary Clinton,
and then blast reporters for so-called
“fake news” explained by “alternative
facts” then why should any American
believe anything coming directly from
the president or those he requires to
carry his unfounded and mendacious
messages to the public?
President Trump has accumulat-
ed a virtual mountain of pernicious
comments he’s delivered to Ameri-
cans as well as other per-
sons throughout the world.
Hence, this writer is not con-
fi dent in the state of Trump’s
mental health. It was hoped
that once he assumed the
responsibilities of president
he would adopt the related
responsibilities; unfortunate-
ly, a fully functioning, stable
and steady-course mind continues to
elude him.
What worries this writer is the fate
of my na-
tion
with
Trump hold-
ing its high-
est
public
offi ce. At his
job as presi-
dent, Trump
continuously
lies by set-
ting the most
horrible of
examples but
also using his
authority as
president to
require obe-
guest
column
dience through pledges and acts of
loyalty to him rather than the nation.
Thereby, persons under him must sus-
pend their beliefs and values while a
sustained democracy with truth at its
core and an informed citizenry be-
comes a national casualty.
The hitch is that what is now going
on at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is fun-
damentally unhealthy and increasing-
ly contrary to a freedom-loving peo-
ple who, by increasing numbers, don’t
trust government any more. Mendac-
ity must be recognized as bad, evil and
destructive to a nation’s wherewithal
and ability to survive intact with a
viable future. What’s going on is that
Trump is not just lying to the press
but lying through it, creating an au-
thoritarian regime where the people
are fed misinformation they know is
not true as we move ever in the di-
rection of those countries we held in
contempt, laughing at its awful she-
nanigans and death throes.
(Gene McIntyre lives in Keizer.