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NOVEMBER 10, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM Hooray for Hollywood By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS What does Donald Trump have that former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, TV newsman Mark Hal- perin and actor Kevin Spacey don’t? A job. All four men have been the sub- ject of multiple accusations that they sexually harassed their subordinates. Many of the accounts go back de- cades. Some involve predatory assaults to which the accuser did not consent. Years later, many of the objects of their intentions still feel violated. The volume and graphic nature of the charges have driven Weinstein, Halperin and Spacey from their precious perches. Not Trump, he won a promotion. After a swarm of ugly allegations about Trump kissing and groping unwilling women, American voters sent him to the White House. In October 2016, The Washington Post reported on an outtake from a 2005 “Access Hollywood” interview with Billy Bush. Trump now famously said that when you’re a star, “you can do anything” to women—even grab their crotches. Trump claimed that he did not be- have the way he talked to Bush and dismissed his chatter as meaningless “locker room talk.” When a number of women then came forward to accuse Trump of kissing and/or pawing them, he countered that the stories were “to- tally fake news” and “made-up stuff.” One head did roll. NBC fi red Bush, who was a “Today” show host in 2016. His offense? Eleven years ear- lier, he had chuckled at Trump’s crude remarks. GOP strategist and CNN con- tributor Alice Stewart doesn’t think it’s accurate to lump the claims made against Trump in with the more egre- gious allegations made about Wein- stein and Spacey. Stewart also noted that in one sense, there is a higher bar for TV — where advertisers don’t want to be tainted with creepy guys—than elect- ed offi ce. Trump voters know he has faults, but they were looking for someone to drain the swamp and shake up the beltway. Voters were looking for a fi ghter, Stewart said. Besides, Trump never ran as a “family values” candi- date. Hoover Institution research fellow Bill Whalen compared Trump to an- other candidate who won offi ce af- ter a large number of women accused him of crude behavior—former Cali- fornia Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “This is one of the benefi ts of jumping into politics from a (nonpo- litical) background like Schwarzeneg- ger or Trump,” said Whalen. “Voters are supporting you because they want to buck the system.” Another factor: Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan, was deployed “like a human shield” to vouch for the action hero’s character. Melania Trump also vouched for her husband after the “Access Holly- wood” tape went viral. In the entertainment world, there has been a stampede away from Wein- stein, Spacey and Halperin. Weinstein’s wife left him after The New York Times reported on his cast- ing couch maneuvers. His brother helped oust him from the business they founded. After actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually assaulting him when he was 14, eight current and former House of Cards crew members accused Spacey, who played jaded President Frank Underwood, of cre- ating a “toxic” atmosphere. The production’s fi nal season was suspended. His publicist and agent parted ways with him. The fi ctional president seems fated to be felled by reality. John Heilemann, who co-wrote two books with Halperin and was working on a third, told The New York Times that accounts of Halperin’s behavior do not match the man he knows as his collaborator of the last decade. Heilemann said, “Mark was my friend. I cared about him then, and I care about him now. It’s also the case Mark wasn’t in my closest circle of friends.” There’s another element starkly missing after accusations have been directed toward others in the enter- tainment orbit -- the conviction that the burden falls on the accuser, not the accused. Politics appear warm and fuzzy in comparison. In politics, there al- ways are loyal partisans ready to stand up for someone whom they believe should not be a target—especially if they suspect the timing of a story is politically motivated. Whalen believes President Bill Clinton, by fi ghting back when it had been reported that he had been involved with a White House intern, paved the way for Trump. Clinton’s fi rst instinct was to deny, not apolo- gize, and fi ght back. He survived. Hillary Clinton’s defense of her husband hobbled her own presiden- tial campaign in 2016. “How can she attack Donald Trump for bad behav- ior when she in fact turned a blind eye to her husband’s own behavior?” Whalen asked. Here’s an odd twist. Actress Amber Tamblyn has a theory on how Trump’s election led to Weinstein’s demise. She told Cosmopolitan, “Honestly, I trace everything back to the election of Donald Trump. I think that without him being elected, if it had been Hill- ary Clinton, this would’ve never hap- pened to Harvey Weinstein.” Tamblyn said she understands that though not all women see Trump as she does, she believes his victory was a signal that women don’t matter. “And so within that single vote, it sort of was like a switch was fl ipped on and every woman just went, I’m done. It’s as simple as that: I’m done.” A Hollywood ending? In backing a candidate who does not back down, Trump voters gained a fi ghter -- and from his victory, Hollywood tasted its vaunted values. debra j. saunders (Creators Syndicate) School district bond should include new McNary orchestra space Twenty years ago, a bond mea- sure was passed that was responsible for the creation of a dedicated music wing at McNary High School. This new music wing included new, spa- cious rehearsal areas for both band and choir. However, the intended or- chestra room was inadequate for the needs of four full orchestras now in the program, and will only increase in size as the next generation of string musi- cians come in. The “En- semble Room” has unfor- tunately been relegated to being only a storage space for instruments and a prac- tice room for small groups, because of the size of each of the four ensembles. Consequently, the orchestra pro- gram has resorted to sharing space in the dedicated choir room, but the choir program has more than 250 stu- dents that often come and go during instructional time. This has created issues with both the choir and the orchestra interrupting each other’s rehearsals. Not only do they share a space with one another during the school day, but the room is often overbooked by multiple ensembles for their rehearsals, section practices, and faculty meetings after school. Additionally, preparing the choir room rehearsals everyday means set- ting up music stands and chairs, as well as tearing down after practice, which takes up precious class time. This issue has also been responsible for the delay of the next class that takes place in the room and often causes students to be rushing to their next class. One choir student, Camryn Ron- now, stated that “Having to share the choir room with the orchestra stu- dents has resulted in many confl icts regarding space. Every pe- riod that there isn’t a choir class there is an orchestra class, limiting growth for both departments. Having an orchestra room would benefi t both the choir and orchestra departments and allow for more students to be in- volved in the programs which is the ultimate goal here at McNary High School.” The choir teacher, Joshua Rist, agrees. “Right now our ability to grow is capped by the limited space. I’m happy to share my room with a colleague as generous and kind as Mr. Williams, but both programs can’t grow when all the periods are used up by ensembles.” The orchestra program would not be the only recipient that would ben- efi t from an orchestra room. Having another room in the music wing spe- cifi cally meant for the orchestra pro- gram is very important for future stu- dents and their parents. It will benefi t students and staff in the other music letters Let’s not invite the world’s refugees By GENE H. McINTYRE The word empathy is a relatively short word with a long meaning. I didn’t know the word as a child but learned its meaning most compas- sionately at an early age by way of my parents and others in the community. Informally defi ned it stands for caring about other people enough to take helpful action on their behalf when needs arise. What I learned, you might say, ‘in kindergarten,’ has stuck with me for a lifetime. At the same time, during my formative years, I was impressed by the consideration of moderation in all things. And that op- erational paradigm is what’s been equally important to me during my life. The thought of moderation occurred to me most recently in the Keizertimes October 27 edition where it was an- nounced that a couple, affi liated with the Christian Missionary Alliance, will work to bring refugees to Salem and Keizer. Since refugees, and newcomers of all kinds, are at least controversial, let me clarify my view on persons not born here but arriving with intent to stay, not just visit. I do not throw a blanket of objection over these people where I want no one new to be allowed to enter. My position may deserve a degree of attention, considering that it’s shared by most modern day nations: those persons who have acceptably completed the required applications to apply for en- try under strict ratio numbers—most important to a safe and viable U.S. future—have been thoroughly, ex- haustively vetted, are seriously con- sidered. Otherwise, though it will strike some as hard-nosed, I resent and do not in any way support the ef- fort to bring refugees to Oregon or anywhere else in my country. What these and so many other well-mean- ing, but overly intrusive Americans, do through their churches and sec- ular organizations is to bring refu- gees in, but too often, provide them with some help to get settled and, then, without much further fanfare, leave them for local taxpay- ers to absorb for all services, including schools, medi- cal assistance, food, housing, employment and, among a lengthy list for now and interminably, all material things for their survival. The related issues speak volumes. Most people from any- where else in the world, born there and acculturated from birth, want to stay where they were born and raised. They’ve typically acquired the language, the way of life, the reli- gion and the culture. They truly do not want to leave “home” and will only do so under extreme duress. So here’s a plan: Instead of using ev- ery angle to bring them to America, they should go instead to the refu- gee camps and help refugees there to cope well enough to survive war or whatever caused them to fl ee home base and ready them to reoc- cupy their homes and villages upon ceasefi re and civility return. Furthermore, during the same week that the work of the refugees couple made local news, local me- dia provided news articles and docu- mentaries regarding the alarmingly huge and ever-growing number of homeless Americans, including ba- bies, small children and school-age guest column Share your opinion The Keizertimes’ Opinion page accepts all viewpoints. It is a forum for the community to discuss topics that are important to Keizer. Email a letter to the editor (300 words) by noon Tuesday. Email 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 Send address changes to: SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon departments, as well. Nicholas Weathers said, “If there was an added Orchestra room then everyone in the music department would have more space to practice, and use more space effi ciently, to overall get a lot better and just be fan- tastic!” McNary and the Salem-Keizer school district take pride in their ex- cellent music programs. Performanc- es and after-school events bring the community together. A new room for the orchestra will improve the music education for the future gen- erations of musicians. It seems right for an orchestra that placed in the top fi ve at state to have their own room at McNary. This coming Monday, Nov. 13th, at McNary High School is an opportunity for people to listen and contribute to discussions that can change the community. Starting at 6 p.m. Monday evening is a meeting to propose what can be done with the money that the bond promises for our district. Already on the table are new science classrooms and ex- tra parking space. We believe that the community should be informed of this chance, and implore anyone with strong faith in the cultural prosperity of Salem-Keizer to attend and share their thoughts. Sincerely, The McNary Orchestra Outreach Committee SUBSCRIBE youth among them, without a roof overhead, warm meals or food at all, and safe shelter. Why, oh why are we opening our community here to refugees when we have not found the ways and means to address the homeless in our midst. Meanwhile, there are those among the refugees who seek to over- throw our government and take con- trol of western democracies where liberty and freedom are valued and practiced. There’s no guarantee how refugees will behave while we know that some among them seek an op- portunity to scream “Allah Akbar” in the name of Mohammed and the Muslim faith to kill infi dels or any- one not a Muslim. Terrorists among the Muslims are dedicated to getting to America in numbers suffi cient to destroy the United States of America, establish a caliphate here, and in- voke Sharia law. The Keizertimes article reported that in just the last couple of years, Catholic charities and Lutheran Community Services Northwest have re-settled in Salem and Keizer 160 refugees from nine countries, primarily from the Middle East and Africa and are busy gather- ing up others to place here. These cases are known as “free cases” be- cause they have no connections here. Some of these strangers want to be here, some don’t. Others are happy at fi rst and become disillusioned later. Some call Muslim friends for support while others answer a call from ISIS. Your path and my path may or may not cross any refugee’s path; then, again, my path, your path may only cross one of theirs when a scream in Arabic of “Allah Akbar” is heard for one’s fi rst and last time. (Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.) 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