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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2021)
JANUARY 22, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 Public Square Public Square weclomes all points of view. Published submissions do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Keizertimes. Submit a guest opinion, column or letter to the editor to publisher@keizertimes.com. Democracy prevails Our democracy has prevailed. Jo- the citizens of the United States that seph R. Biden was inagurated as the he has the best interests of America 46th president of the United States and its people at heart. The Biden administration will without incident on January 20. The feared protests did not ma- deal with the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the messy terialize and mar America’s rollout of the coronavi- transfer of power; it was rus vaccines, an econo- peaceful. my reeling from months The new president’s inaguaral address was short editorial of business closures and inequality. The pres- but pointed: paraphrasing ident has a daunting Abraham Lincoln’s re- burden, which can be marks of 1863, he said “My lightened if Congress whole soul is in this.” He called for unity and said that not ev- works to be part of solutions. Biden’s call for national unity can ery disagreement is a call for fi ery battle.Regardless of how Americans seem like platitude but it is what is voted in the election, Joseph Biden needed. He said, “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, is president of the country now. The nation has turned the page rural versus urban, conservative ver- to a new administration. It faces sus liberal. We can do this if we open huge challenges few new presidents our souls instead of hardening our have had to confront. There will be, hearts.” He added that he will fi ght for no doubt, immediate sniping at the new president for his policies and all Americans including those who decisions. President Biden deserves did not vote for him. There is always the opportunity to demonstrate to a percentage of people who don’t accept a president as ‘their’ leader— that’s part of democracy. Yet every new president should be given the benefi t of the doubt. Americans have the ultimate power in the nation. They have made their voices heard when they do not support policies and decisions made by a president. If Biden overreaches and tries to push through initiatives that people believe are wrong, they will speak out. The new president is a decent man whose experience and back- ground will serve him well. He has enjoyed triumphs and and endured tragedies; his fi nest trait is that of empathy; he can relate to his fellow Americans in a way few presidents have. Joseph Biden’s’‘whole soul is in this.’ For the challenges America faces that may just be enough to be what we need. —LAZ Now, the left owns it all By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN on Sunday, rolling out Humvees, That mob that split off from the concertina wire and thousands of Donald Trump rally of Jan. 6 to in- National Guard troops clad in bat- vade the Capitol has proven a god- tlefi eld helmets to defend against send to the left. a possible onslaught of rioters The death of a Capitol cop has whipped up by the baseless claims enabled the left—which spent the of the American president. summer after George Floyd’s death “The assault never came. De- trashing “racist cops” and spite warnings from the shouting, “Defund the FBI and boasts from Police!”—to posture as armed, far-right ex- fi ghting allies of the men tremist groups, security other in blue. forces in every instance voices Liberals who implored outnumbered scattered us to understand the griev- groups of demonstra- ances of the rioters, looters tors, and there were no and arsonists last summer reports of violence.” have become sudden converts to the In anticipation of this week’s in- church of law and order. auguration, 25,000 National Guard Elites who had condoned the had been deployed in and around smashing of statues and monuments D.C. to defend against right-wing to Columbus, Washington, Jefferson mobs or would-be assassins. Three and Jackson as a needed cleansing or four times as many troops are of our hateful history have declared here in D.C. as there are U.S. troops themselves sickened that Trumpists in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria com- would desecrate the temple of de- bined. mocracy. Now, an ounce of prevention is Had it been antifa or BLM that worth a pound of cure. And better carried out the invasion, not one too much security than not enough. statue would have been left standing But even given the Jan. 6 outrage, in Statuary Hall, and we would have to arm our capital city as though been instructed that it was slaves Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates who had, after all, built the Capitol were going to march up Manassas building. Road and capture Abe Lincoln after The media is airing endless foot- the Union defeat at Bull Run seems age of the mob marauding inside a bit excessive. the Capitol. Purpose: to plant indel- Wednesday, Jan. 20 was a histor- ibly in the public mind the fi ction ic day. Trump wsas gone from the that this was the deliberate work of White House and national pow- Donald Trump and his people, and er and responsibility passed to the our elites are the real adversaries of Democratic Party. violent protest. Democrats took over the House, Indeed, to protect the nation Senate and White House. Virtual- from rightist uprisings in state cap- ly all major media will be in their itals, last weekend saw the wide- camp. They will be welcomed in a spread deployment of the National city that has never elected a Repub- Guard. lican mayor and has no Republicans Sunday was to be the day the on the city council, a city that vot- murderous violence of the right ed for Joe Biden 18-1 over Trump. would manifest itself. The 30,000 registered Republicans What happened? As The Wash- in D.C. are outnumbered 12-1 by Democrats. ington Post reported Monday: The government bureaucracies “Authorities in cities from coast to coast mobilized a military-style here are as deeply Democratic as the defense of state capitol complexes “deep state” that bedeviled Trump for four years. Biden’s Cabinet is the most racially and ethnically diverse ever; the majority of its members are women and people of color. Obama administration holdovers dominate the national security team. Most of America’s major cities —New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, D.C., Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis—are run by liberal Demo- crats, and, coincidentally, all experi- enced surges in shootings and kill- ings in 2020. While the fi gures on the crimi- nal perpetrators are rarely reported, it appears that not a great many of the violent and lethal crimes were the work of rogue cops or white su- premacists in MAGA hats. Other problems Trump failed to solve—the pandemic now killing 3,000 to 4,000 Americans a day, the failure to get vaccines into the arms of millions of more Americans—are now Joe’s problems. Calling Trump names will no longer cut it. Now, Democrats must decide whether to proceed with the im- peachment trial of Trump for incit- ing a riot that began on the Capitol steps as he was speaking a mile away, a riot planned long before the rally on the Mall. Now, Democrats can choose whether they will forego extract- ing their pound of fl esh as the fi rst order of business in the Senate and let Nancy Pelosi sit a while on her impeachment resolution. Now, Democrats have it all. If they wish, they can abolish the fi l- ibuster, pack the Supreme Court, make D.C. and Puerto Rico states, forgive all student debt, and vote for slavery reparations. One reads that a caravan of thou- sands is forming up in Honduras to pass through Guatemala in the hope of reaching and crossing the U.S. border when Biden becomes president. That, too, is Joe’s party’s problem now. houses going above and beyond market value in a highly competitive market. letters To the Editor: The second, noting Ju- The mental whiplash in ran’s assignment to a sub- the January 15 issue of the group focused on reducing Keizertimes demands not barriers to home own- only a “change in mind- ership in Keizer, quotes set,” but “focused” scrutiny of our city Councilor Juran: “This is something leadership. I’ve noticed with employees. Most of Compare the articles, Buckle Up: the entry level carpenters I have hired Homes in Keizer white hot, extremely make just above minimum wage and limited with new City Councilor Kyle have no expectation of ever owning Juran’s analysis of housing disparity a house. It’s very achievable, they just in, Groundwork laid for council’s future need to change their mindset, focus efforts. and make it a goal.” The fi rst highlights the less than 10 Setting aside the inherent conde- homes available for sale in Keizer, with scension in that quote, two facts: 1) a local real estate ad from Jan. 7, 2021: 1 bedroom, 1 bath home, $219,000. 2) Oregon minimum wage as of January 7: $12.75/hr. Does Mr. Juran hire at even $15/hour? That’s $31,200/year. It takes more than a mindset and focus to make even a one bedroom house affordable. Perhaps the Mayor should appoint Juran’s employees to the subgroup addressing housing disparity. It’s obvi- ous they have a fi rmer grasp of reality. Juran could also set a very achievable goal of apologizing to his employees for his own mindset and commit to changing it. It’s possible, with focus. Carolyn Homan Keizer Focus and mindset on housing (Creators Syndicate) Power lines down By JIM PARR Last week’s wind storm left a few Keizer neighborhoods without power for the better part of two nights and days, long enough to get one’s attention. After a few days and nights with- out power, you begin to adapt. Projects and chores that require light have to get done before sunset. You have to fi gure out ways to get all of your de- vices charged so that you can c o m mu n i c a t e. At night you fi nd yourself automatical- ly reaching for the light switch when enter- ing a dark room even though you know that the power is out. What and how will you eat? Don’t open the fridge, preserve the cold, and so on. Living without power can be good training. How is your battery supply? Do you have a way of pre- serving your cold storage food in case of a prolonged power outage? Is your battery-operated radio near- by? Sitting quietly in the dark you begin to realize what a luxury reli- able electric power really is. And as you sit out the quiet and dark, you might begin to wonder what was it like for early man who at night huddled in a cave perhaps with a small fi re dying out and un- able to sleep as he kept a nervous eye and ear out for what ever ene- my or predator might attack in the dark. Sunrise and light could not come soon enough. You might also wonder just how our electric power supply and dis- tribution system was constructed? What and who brought electricity to developing communities such as Keizer? Have you heard of the Rural Electrifi cation Act (REA)? Prior to the mid 1930s, 90% of rural Amer- ica, especially in the west, lived in darkness after sunset. The REA was passed by Congress in May 1936 as a way to improve life in much of America by bringing electricity to rural farms and communities. In 1949 the Act was authorized to bring telephone service to these same rural areas. The program oper- ated by providing low cost loans to cooperatives and utility districts that were formed and tasked with bring- ing power and telephone service to their areas of geographic responsi- bility. The REA was terminated in 1994 and it’s mission transferred to the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). It was and is one of our country’s great achievements. Our current sys- tem is an amazingly complex infrastruc- ture and service that exists because of the efforts of talented inventors, innova- tors, engineers, sci- entists, and an ex- pert work force that maintains the sys- tem. A work force that will, during outages, work day and night in dangerous conditions to get the power restored. Perhaps we too often take the existence of constant and reliable power for granted. It sure is exciting when the power is suddenly back on. For a short while it seems like a luxury. Despite the work of the REA and its successor, the RUS, there are still areas in the country that do not have electricity. For example, remote parts of the Navajo Indian Reservation are still without elec- tricity and running water and, with- out running water there are no sew- er systems. Perhaps these areas are so far beyond the “end of the line” that the economics of extension just don’t pencil out. Or perhaps the commitment to make it happen just isn’t there. Or perhaps it is by choice. Not everyone wants to live on the grid. Any or all of these pos- sibilities might exist but this doesn’t mean it can’t be done. The REA played a major role in the modernization of America. It bettered the lives of rural people throughout the country and was made possible by Congress and sup- portive presidents. It made possible the potential that a developed West could and would eventually bring to the country. ( Jim Parr lives in Keizer.) 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