PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 12, 2019
Opinion
Two and half summits
By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner,
President Donald Trump’s daughter
and son-in-law, both trusted White
House aides, crossed into North Korea
with Trump and strongman
Kim Jong-un last week.
And where was nation-
al security adviser John
Bolton?
The
foreign-policy
hawk was on his way to
Mongolia—which pret-
ty much explains the dy-
namics that led Trump to
become the fi rst sitting U.S. president
to set foot in the repressive Hermit
Kingdom, with a leader who system-
atically has starved his own people in
his quest to become a world nuclear
power. In return for what, exactly?
The big takeaway was a photo op,
after which Trump and Kim said the
two nations would resume negotia-
tions that began in June 2018 when
they met for the fi rst time in Singa-
pore. The art of the deal that Trump
hailed as culminating in “complete
denuclearization” of the Korean pen-
insula has morphed into the art of the
do-over.
To be clear, old-style negotiations
with the Democratic People’s Repub-
lic of Korea failed to deliver the de-
nuclearization that previous presidents
sought. So there is reason to ditch tra-
ditional diplomacy.
There is a faction within the ad-
ministration that wants a “small deal,”
because this rump sees a sweeping all-
or-nothing deal as unobtainable and
likely to end in failure. Trump certain-
ly has the right to give that viewpoint
a try, should he choose to do so.
But the Trump charm offensive
with Kim isn’t likely to lead to world
peace. The commander in chief looked
like a pushover when he declared vic-
tory at that fi rst summit in Singapore,
which produced a vague agreement
dropping language—“verifi able” and
“irreversible” denuclearization—that
had been standard American asks of
North Korea.
That fi rst summit elevated Kim on
the world stage. It was a gamble that
supporters and optimists framed as a
new beginning facilitated by Trump’s
willingness to break with convention
and meet with an Asian leader ahead
of staff negotiations in a nod to cultur-
al differences.
If it worked, the world would see
Pyongyang peel back its nuclear capa-
bility with an aim toward joining the
international community and creating
a modern economy.
But all Americans got
was a lousy T-shirt—a
postcard of a deal with
no deliverables, later
followed by the Hermit
Kingdom’s launch of
short-range missiles.
Trump’s decision to
cut short a second sum-
mit in Hanoi in Febru-
ary showed the world Trump had the
backbone to walk out of a bad deal.
Yaaay. But then his last-minute Twit-
ter invite to Kim to meet at the DMZ
—a gesture that led to the border
crossing—shows Trump’s hunger for
spectacle can be held at bay for only
so long. Many foreign policy wonks
are convinced that a good deal is more
likely to emerge from talks without
Trump than talks with him.
Trump does not seem to under-
stand the “true nature of the ma-
fi a-like” culture that has guided the
Kim family, David Maxwell of the
Foundation for Defense of Democra-
cies told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Perhaps the best example of
Trump’s willful blindness came from
Hanoi, where Trump told reporters
he did not think Kim was aware of
the torture infl icted on Otto Warm-
bier, a University of Virginia student
from Ohio whom the regime arrested
at Pyongyang International Airport
in 2016 and sentenced to 15 years of
hard labor after he was found guilty of
stealing a propaganda poster.
In 2017, Trump successfully prod-
ded the country to release Warmbier,
who by then was blind, unrespon-
sive and paralyzed after enduring 17
months in a North Korean prison.
The young man died six days later.
In Hanoi, Trump told reporters
he did not hold Kim responsible for
the 22-year-old’s suffering and death.
“I don’t believe he knew about it,”
Trump said. “He tells me that he
didn’t know about it, and I will take
him at his word.”
Imagine the likely reaction on the
right if President Barack Obama had
said that.
Traffi c
spills into
neighborhood
ple started driving
further south on the
back streets to avoid
River Road. When
you go this way you
need to get to a street
at a stop light at River
Road. So now Glyn-
brook Street is the last light and that
point you will soon be out of Keizer.
Even to get out on River Road you
need a stop light to make a left turn,
otherwise you’re taking your life into
your hands. The town is more about
things look nice than working right.
I had an epiphany and realized
that Keizer is the Ozarks of Oregon
but with a LA attitude.
Peter DeBeck
Keizer
guest
opinion
(Creators Syndicate)
letters
To the Editor:
The underlined problem
with increased traffi c is ob-
vious to me. You just need to look to
fi nd the culprit: River Road.
The increased traffi c on River
Road makes people look for oth-
er routes. I started to notice it years
ago when coming back from the dog
park in the early morning.
More people are using Wind-
sor Island Road, Shoreline Drive,
Rivercrest Drive and 5th Avenue in
the morning and in the afternoon.
Over the years as traffi c grew peo-
Celebrating victories but not character
By MICHAEL GERSON
The celebration of American in-
dependence is supposed to be a uni-
fying national ritual. But we are a
country with profound differences
over the meaning of nationhood it-
self.
People in more
typical countries —
such as Belgium, Ja-
pan or Russia—are at-
tached primarily to a
unique piece of earth,
a unique language, a
unique culture and
(perhaps) a unique
ethnicity. Their celebration of nation-
hood is the celebration of particular-
ity. One may become a naturalized
citizen of such a country, but it is less
clear what it means to become Bel-
gian, Japanese or Russian. If possible,
it would require total immersion in
national distinctiveness.
This is how the current American
president appears to view his native
land. President Trump’s Fourth of
July remarks did make reference to
the abstract promises of the Declara-
tion of Independence, but he main-
ly praised his nation as a place and a
power. Like in his inaugural address,
Trump presented America as a strong
country, but not a country with a
special historical role that grows out
of certain moral commitments. He
talked about the nation’s military
victories, but not much about the
nation’s character. He seems to love
America because it is his country and
a powerful country, but not because it
is a country with a calling.
Contrast this with the nation-
al story told by Ronald Reagan or
Franklin D. Roosevelt or John F. Ken-
nedy or George W. Bush. American
ideas —while growing out of a spe-
cifi c culture—are transcendent and
universal. Though military power is
essential, the nation advances on the
strength of democratic hopes. It wins
a global competition of ideals because
it accords most closely with the du-
rable dreams of humanity for liberty
and justice.
This differing emphasis
has dramatic implications.
If America is primarily a
normal nation, united by
a common culture, then it
is diluted by outsiders and
weakened by diversity. In
this circumstance, cultural
differences lead inexorably
to confl ict and disunity. A nation de-
fi ned primarily by culture or ethnici-
ty is a fortress to be defended.
But if America somehow embod-
ies the best and highest of human
aspirations—separate from culture
and ethnicity—then there is hope of
mutual progress. “America has nev-
er been united by blood or birth or
soil,” said George W. Bush in his fi rst
inaugural address. “We are bound
by ideals that move us beyond our
backgrounds, lift us above our inter-
ests and teach us what it means to be
citizens. Every child must be taught
these principles. Every citizen must
uphold them. And every immigrant,
by embracing these ideals, makes our
country more, not less, American.”
In this view, immigrants are not a
contagion. By embracing national as-
pirations they actually strengthen our
national identity.
These contrasting attitudes make a
large political difference in a coun-
try that is approximately 14 percent
foreign-born. This constitutes about
44 million people. If this historically
large number of migrants is seen as
a problem—bringing crime, threat-
ening national security and chang-
ing the nature of our country—then
other
voices
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(Washington Post Writers Group)
Age is a factor in presidential hopefuls
Should there be a gathering of
Americans including Bernie Sanders
(77 years old), Joe Biden (76), Don-
ald Trump (73), Elizabeth Warren (70)
and this opinion writer.
It’s argued that Keizertimes readers
would judge us to be a group of older
white guys who are close to the same
age.
Now that fact may be of
no importance to the read-
er, but it means a lot to me
for several reasons. I was
born without any problems,
grew to maturity without
physical or mental limita-
tions. I suffered through
the mumps, chicken pox
and many a winter cold but went to a
doctor to receive vaccinations against
small pox and measles. Since this writ-
er has no information on the others
in my age group—save their ages
and apparent ambulatory ability—I
assume they were also mentally and
physically healthy Americans during
their formative years.
I have reached a point through my
septuagenarian years where age has
resulted in limitations that slow me
physically, prevent a night’s sleep with-
out water closet visits, encourage rest
after strenuous activity, and discourage
sports like tackle football and sand lot
basketball with people half my age. It’s
presumed that my age-related con-
temporaries are likely going through
age changes with cautions and condi-
tions similar to my own.
Less physical activity in general
is common to the 70-plus set. Re-
search on older Americans has also
disclosed that cognitive abilities begin
to fray dramatically after the age of
70. Age-related factors mean declin-
ing skill at concept formation, abstract
thinking, mental agility, response time,
and creative thinking.
Septuagenarians practice self-de-
ception known as telling themselves
they are as good at everything as
they were when in their forties while
those with good pho-
ny-detectors
know
they are lying to them-
selves. They disguise
their mid-sections by
gut suck-ins to look
thinner and must work
diligently at good pos-
ture without slumping
their shoulders. Every
full day at activities brings fairly pro-
nounced fatigue by 4 p.m., the need
for a stiff drink, a soft chair and noise
abatement.
Besides my fi ctitious group gather-
ing of Biden, Sanders, Trump, Warren,
and me, there are others on the slip-
pery slope of 70, including Jay Inslee
(69), Marianne Williamson (66) and
John Hick-
enlooper (67)
who should
take a long,
hard look at
t h e m s e l ve s
and stop the
self-kidding.
Others
as-
piring to be
President of
the
Unit-
ed States are
in what this
opinion writ-
er views as
the prospect
gene h.
mcintyre
Keizertimes
it makes sense to cut immigration
(both legal and illegal), end Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals, slash
refugee admissions and build a wall
across a continent.
And if our main source of nation-
al unity is cultural, then the com-
position of America’s foreign-born
population would matter greatly.
According to Sen. Richard Durbin,
D-Ill., Trump expressed disdain for
immigrants from countries such as
Haiti and said, “We should have more
people from places like Norway.” It
is diffi cult to separate such statements
from their racial context. In this view,
a national culture largely shaped by
white European migrants is better
carried forward by white European
migrants.
This conception of nationhood
can descend quickly into dehuman-
ization. If Hispanic migrants are de-
fi ned as a threat to national security
and national identity, then it becomes
easier to separate crying children
from their parents. It becomes easier
to store migrants in overcrowded, un-
healthy conditions. And it becomes
easier—following the tragic drown-
ing of a father and daughter trying
to cross the Rio Grande—to blame
migrants for their own desperation.
A broader defi nition of American
identity does not require the decrim-
inalization of all border crossings, or
the abolition of the federal Immi-
gration and Customs Enforcement
agency. It does require the construc-
tion of a humane asylum system that
treats oppressed and frightened peo-
ple with respect. It forbids the dehu-
manization or cruel treatment of mi-
grants under any circumstance. And it
embodies the generosity of spirit on
which American greatness depends.
range where the body and mind have
experienced a lot but not enough to
drain them by the constant demands
of the presidency. Alphabetically or-
dered, my favorites are Michael Ben-
net (54), Cory Booker (50), Kamala
Harris (54), and Kirsten Gillibrand
(52).
We’re still months away from the
fi rst primary election in 2020, so
there’s a lot of time to listen and watch
in order to choose wisely. I do not
believe that any Democrat who ex-
pounds a full socialism menu can suc-
ceed at being elected at this time and
it would seem that most voters in this
country will be more leary of pie-in-
the-sky promises.
Encouraged is the candidate who
speaks with the Fireside Chat reas-
surances of a Franklin Roosevelt, the
“I’ll never lie to you” convictions of
a Jimmy Carter, and the charming,
while skillfully-delivered, humor of a
Ronald Reagan.
(Gene H. McIntyre shares his opin-
ion regularly in the Keizertimes.)