Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2018)
FEBRUARY 16, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM Yet another conversation Here we go again. A community conversation, co-sponsored by the Keizer Chamber of Commerce and the city’s Community Development Department, will be Wednesday, Feb. 28 to discuss the future of River Road. We’ve been here be- fore. The last time was the River Road Renais- sance Advisory Com- mittee in 2012, led by a high-priced consulting fi rm out of Portland. What came out of that endeavor was the cre- ation of fi ve districts along River Road. From that came a short-lived project of beautifi ca- tion, adding meandering sidewalks, bioswales and native plants. Unfor- tunately, the Renaissance Project was stopped short when the Urban Renewal District funds were used to pay off construction overruns of Keizer Civic Center and making up for shortfalls at Keizer Station. The 43-page report from the ini- tial River Road Renaissance discus- sions haven’t been sitting on a shelf for six years. The report gets perused from time to time. It is one of two reports about Keizer that gather more dust than attention. The other is the Keizer Compass report, a com- munity project that set out to design what the city should look like in the 2020s. Yet, here we are, getting ready for another discussion about Riv- er Road. If you are talking about something you can say you’re doing something. Not in our book. Talk is cheap, we’ve talked and talked be- fore. Let’s implement. We urge the facilitators of the up- coming Community Conversation to keep the discussion on track and not let it turn into a bitch session about what the city is doing wrong. If there must be another conversa- tion about River Road let it be one that answers the primary question: what kind of city/River Road corri- dor do the residents of Keizer want? It is a basic question, one that needs to be answered before a shovel of dirt is turned or a zone is changed. If the majority of people do not want to ex- pend public money to turn Keizer in general and Riv- er Road specifi cally into a dense, commercial center, then the conversation ends and we should move on. It is important to re- member that iterations of reports about the future of Keizer were the work of a very small number of resi- dents. To make credible policy one should rely on more than the opin- ions of less than 1 percent of the citi- zenry. When having a conversation about River Road specifi cally, though, it is important to have all those affected. That includes not only the people who own a business along the city’s main thoroughfare but the people who own the properties. A lessor has only so much leeway to make major structural or landscape changes. If we’re going to talk, let’s be sure all the players are at the table. The community conversation about River Road may very well hinge on a few narrow topics such as sign and landscape codes. We can have that conversation but the city and its people will be best served if a consensus is reached to give the Chamber of Commerce and the city a direction. After this discussion we want to see action, as do most of the people interested. —LAZ our opinion Their words still resonate Millions of Americans will have a holiday on Monday, Feb. 19, known as President’s Day—to honor both Abraham Lincoln and George Wash- ington. They and millions of their fel- low American residents will use that day to sleep in, enjoy a hobby or go shopping. As with any holiday that honors a person, we hope that at least a bit of time is spent to think about Lincoln and Washington, specially, what they said. Lincoln was our most quotable president; what he said resonates to this day. Some of his nuggets: “Whatever you are, be a good one.” “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” Our fi rst president, George Wash- ington, had his own set of quotes that live on through the ages and are as relevant today as in the 18th century: “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserv- ing peace.” “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” “Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individu- als.” The world is a different place than it was 200 years ago. People are the same, as they have been through mil- lenia. The lessons of our forebears ring true in the 21st century. —LAZ Only the comfortable can retreat from justice By MICHAEL GERSON For some years, the main politi- cal project of the right has been to take control of the government while denigrating the government. Donald Trump drew this strategy to its logi- cal conclusion during his presidential campaign, asserting as a kind of re- frain: “Our politicians are stupid.” Which came to mind following the revelation that chief of staff John Kelly had kept Rob Porter in a sen- sitive position (White House staff secretary) after being in- formed by the FBI that there was a protective order against him. As it came to mind when Mi- chael Flynn was elevated to national security ad- viser following repeated FBI warnings that he might be compromised by the Russians. As it came to mind after the elevation of Anthony Scaramucci to, well, any po- sition of public trust. I have to admit that the Trump ad- ministration has acted with a certain consistency in these matters. Trump and his team accused the government of being corrupt—and have proved it beyond reasonable doubt. They al- leged that the government was brim- ming with stupidity—and took it as a kind of recruiting challenge. Across the executive branch, it is a golden age for the unqualifi ed and unfi t. This is the natural outcome of contempt for professional experience, contempt for governing skill, contempt for gov- ernment itself. Democrats seeking to take control of the House and deny re-election to the president—along with the con- servatives resisting Trump—will be sorely tempted to run with the theme: Trump and his political allies are stupid. This would be a variant of Trump’s strategy to win power by promoting contempt for those who hold pow- er. It might lead to a shift in partisan control. It would do little to recover our national spirit. Someone, from left or right, must restore respect for the enterprise of governing as a source of national unity and moral aspiration. Is this even remotely possible in our fractured republic? As a home- work assignment, prospec- tive leaders might read the speeches of Robert F. Ken- nedy. The late 1960s were a time not only of division but of political violence. Ken- nedy accurately described Americans as inhabiting dif- ferent, unconnected islands. His response? During his (tragically brief) presidential campaign, Kennedy urged Ameri- cans to look beyond mere economic measures of national success and to focus on cultural and spiritual excel- lence—on “the intelligence of our public debate,” on the “integrity of our public offi cials,” on our “cour- age,” “compassion” and “devotion to our country.” He challenged tradi- tional ideological divisions, calling for a “better liberalism” that “knows the answer to all problems is not spending money” and a “better conservatism” that “recognizes the urgent need to bring opportunity to all citizens.” And he confronted a politics premised on confl ict. “Some look for scapegoats,” Kennedy said. “Others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: Violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleaning of our whole society can remove this other opinions sickness from our soul.” Kennedy talked of politics as the realm of urgency and necessity. At any given moment in a democracy, great issues of justice and morality are at stake. The claim that politics is dirty and irrelevant is an argument only comfortable people can make. If you were to live in a neighborhood plagued by poverty, dominated by gangs and served by failing schools, the effectiveness of government would matter greatly to you. Retreat- ing from the cause of justice is only conceivable for those who have few needs for justice themselves. Kennedy also talked of politics as the realm of nobility. At its best, gov- ernment is about the right ordering of our lives together. It can’t be unim- portant because justice is never unim- portant. Political rhetoric and ideals can raise the moral sights of a nation and point men and women to respon- sibilities beyond the narrow bounds of self and family. And Kennedy understood that criticizing the corruption and stupid- ity of those in power is not a politics suffi cient to a great country. “We can perhaps remember,” he said, “if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life. ... Surely this bond of common fate, surely this bond of common goals, can begin to teach us some- thing. Surely we can learn, at the least, to look around at those of us, of our fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our hearts brothers and countrymen once again.” (Washington Post Writers Group) Trump should forgo military parade Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 Phone: 503.390.1051 • www.keizertimes.com MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR SUBSCRIPTIONS Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com ADVERTISING Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: LEGAL NOTICES legals@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Circulation BUSINESS MANAGER 142 Chemawa Road N. Laurie Painter Keizer, OR 97303 billing@keizertimes.com RECEPTION Lori Beyeler INTERN Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon Random Pendragon facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes On July 14, 2017, President Don- ald Trump was in Paris on Bastille Day to join French President Em- manuel Macron on his review- ing podium to observe representa- tions of that country’s military might. We Americans learned that Trump was deeply impressed and wants a similar military parade here on July 4 of this year. Bastille Day honors the thousands of Parisians who struck back against a monumentally cor- rupt Louis XVI, his fam- ily and friends after years of having their fellow Parisians thrown into a cesspool of a place whose name was the Bastille where they typically were beaten and tortured for transgressions such as stealing a loaf of bread. French men and women were fed up with their treat- ment and turned to revolution, in- cluding the beheading of their king and members of his court. We’ve now got tens of thou- sands of Americans whose fi nancial and general economic circumstances are so bad their living conditions have come to homelessness while thou- sands of others have mainly lost ev- erything, including health care for themselves and their children, about whom a threat continues that every fi nal safety net will be taken away and the last hope of avoiding destitu- tion will be lost. Although discontent represents a common view among these and other Americans, a full-blown revo- lution here appears unlikely now, but not unthinkable. Regardless of num- bers of Americans living wherever, President Trump wants a big military parade estimated to cost in the seven fi gures, delivered by U.S. armed forc- es in Washington,. This writer likes the idea of a parade but not one that glorifi es U.S. killing machines. A military parade would pay trib- ute to Trump while in fact he’s ad- vised to get a grip on where this na- tion’s people live and breath and cancel such an outlandish extrava- gance to advertise the U.S. military, a military that’s al- ready so large and bloated in manpower and materi- als that every other coun- try in the world knows full well it has no chance against it. Meanwhile, our military is rife with waste and corrupted by fi ghting unnecessary wars. Further, such a pa- rade will simply enrage and further upset those Americans who dire- ly struggle and those who’ve lost that struggle and now inhabit our side- walks, our parks and private property. No, instead, since large numbers of those Americans with excessive control over money, money that fi fty to sixty years ago was gener- ally more evenly spread throughout the American population, we should have a parade that recognizes them. So, the American version of a Bastille Day parade would simply show how disproportionately rich our wealthy have become. In a word, America’s “one percent” could display their collections of material goods. Their displays could include signs that inform the parade go- ers as to what amount they will re- ceive every year in future by way of the tax reform bill passed last month by Republicans in Congress and signed into law by President Trump. Also, miniatures or models of their many homes could be set gene h. mcintyre up on traditional fl oats like those in Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Then, too, their fl eets of super expensive domestic and foreign cars could be lined up behind fl oats driven by their private chauffeurs. President Trump could still re- ceive accolades by way of high praise and recognition for his wealth accu- mulations. Should he wish to do so he could wear a generalissimo uni- form and stand or sit at the head of the parade displaying fl oats with rep- licas of his New York City tower, his hotels, his private homes and his resort golf courses, as well as every achievement of his as a business deal maker. Oh, sure, of course, there could be a few M1 Abrams military tanks and LGM-30G ICBMs in the mix of fl oats. After all, we formerly were proud as a peaceful people intended to resemble ancient Athens, not en- tirely given over to a Sparta-look- alike! The result of the rich showing their wares? Perhaps the American people would awaken from their long slumber to vote persons into federal public offi ces who will keep their jobs because they design and pass legislation into laws that begin to help to address and reverse the de- mocracy-disabling disparities in U.S. pay and salaries, living standards, op- portunity, and chance to embrace the American dream. (Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.) Share your opinion Email a letter to the editor (300 words) by noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com
