OPINION
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D AILY A STORIAN
Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
SAMANTHA MCLAREN, Circulation Manager
Tribal initiative
deserves support
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n late January Indian tribes from Washington and Idaho took
an important preliminary step toward restoring salmon to
thousands of square miles of habitat north of Grand Coulee Dam.
Fish passage is one of those
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that excites enormous passion here
and blank stares in Washington,
D.C. Within this esoteric subject,
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than Grand Coulee — both literally
and politically.
Built during the depths of the
Great Depression, Grand Coulee is
civil and social engineering on the
grandest of scales.
Towering 550 feet, the advent
of Grand Coulee marked a
regional and national turning
point. World War II transformed
WKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW¶V ODUJHO\
agrarian economy, and Grand
Coulee was a pivotal engine of that
transition. Originally conceived
as a reclamation project — to
increase irrigable agriculture in
&HQWUDO :DVKLQJWRQ ² WKH GDP¶V
construction gained an urgency as a
power generator with the approach
of World War II. President Franklin
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construction in 1933 as Hitler
came to power, two years before
Congress would authorize the dam.
It generated massive kilowatts
IRU WKH UHJLRQ¶V QHZ VKLS\DUGV
that were building vessels for the
war, for aluminum plants that fed
aircraft manufacturing and for a
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what would become the Hanford
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After all these years, the dam
and reservoir continue irrigating a
vast acreage of prime agricultural
land, while producing electricity
LQDPDQQHUWKDWGRHVQ¶WKDUPWKH
atmosphere. However, salmon
were never included in the calculus
RI GDP FRVWV DQG EHQH¿WV$VNHG
DW WKH WLPH DERXW ¿VK ODGGHUV WKH
head of the U.S. Army Corps of
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SOD\QXUVHPDLGWRDEXQFKRI¿VK´
according to the &ROXPELD 5LYHU
*LOOQHWWHU magazine. Thankfully,
this attitude is a thing of the past.
As the *LOOQHWWHU observed
— with concurrence by tribal
¿VKHUPHQ ² WKH FDYDOLHU DWWLWXGH
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Coulee “wiped out 40 percent
of the entire Columbia River
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massacre, we forever lost the big
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sometimes reached 80 pounds) and
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restore salmon in the 100 river miles
between Grand Coulee and the
Canadian border. Salmon that make
it to the border would obviously
continue on — necessitating a
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DQG &DQDGLDQ ¿VK UHVWRUDWLRQ
VWUDWHJLHV ,W¶V DOVR XQFHUWDLQ ULJKW
now whether salmon would still
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dam.
The ongoing restoration of the
Elwha watershed on the Olympic
Peninsula following dam removal
provides room for optimism that
salmon — once provided a way
around Grand Coulee — would
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It is time we righted the injustice
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GHVWUXFWLRQ,W¶VJRRGWKHWULEHVDUH
leading this initiative. We should all
get on board.
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015
Heroes among the bystanders
and symbols of the human
7KLV \HDU ,¶P DIUDLG
capacity for evil.
something similar will hap
In the coming months,
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rhetoric about Auschwitz,
ne of the great heroes the world will also com
Armenia and World War
of the 20th century was memorate the 100th anni
,, DQG WKHQ ZH¶OO JR RQ
versary of the start of the Ar
$XVFKZLW] SULVRQHU 1R menian genocide — which,
shrugging at crimes against
who volunteered to be there.
humanity in Syria, Central
despite the outrage of Turk
African Republic, Sudan
:LWROG 3LOHFNL DQ RI¿FHU LQ WKH LVKRI¿FLDOVDWWKHWHUPZDV
and South Sudan, Myanmar
of
course,
a
genocide.
There,
3ROLVKUHVLVWDQFHWRWKH1D]LUHJLPH
and elsewhere.
too,
I
feel
a
connection
be
Nicholas
deliberately let himself be captured by
Darfur symbolizes our
cause my ancestors were
Kristof
the Germans in 1940 so that he could Armenian.
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JDWKHU LQIRUPDWLRQ DERXW +LWOHU¶V
peared from headlines, and
Then, in the summer,
concentration camps.
ZH¶OOREVHUYHWKHWKDQQLYHUVDU\RIWKH Sudan makes it almost impossible for
Inside Auschwitz, he set up resis end of World War II — an occasion for journalists to get there, but Human
tance cells — even as he almost died of recalling Japanese atrocities in China, Rights Watch reported a few days ago
starvation, torture and disease.
Korea, the Philippines and elsewhere. that the human rights situation in Sudan
Then Pilecki helped build a radio All this is likely to fuel more debates fo actually deteriorated in 2014.
transmitter, and, in 1942, he broadcast cused on the past. Should we honor Ar
Indeed, the Sudanese regime is now
to the outside world accounts of atroc menian genocide victims with a special engaging in mass atrocities not only in
LWLHVLQVLGH$XVFKZLW]²DVWKH1D]LV day? Should Japan apologize for enslav 'DUIXUEXWDOVRLQWKH1XED0RXQWDLQV
frantically searched the camp look LQJ³FRPIRUWZRPHQ´"
DQG%OXH1LOHUHJLRQV6XGDQERPEHG
ing for the transmitter. He
But, to me, the lesson DQDLGKRVSLWDOLQ-DQXDU\LQWKH1XED
ZRUNHGWRH[SRVHWKH1D]L
of history is that the best Mountains, and the Belgian branch of
gas chambers, brutal sex
way to honor past victims Doctors Without Borders has just an
7KHEHVW
ual experiments and sav
of atrocities is to stand up nounced the closure of operations in
ZD\WR
age camp punishments, in
to slaughter today. The Sudan because of government obstruc
hopes that the world would
most respectful way to tionism.
KRQRU
A decade ago, one of the most out
act.
honor Jewish, Armenian or
spoken
politicians on Darfur — harsh
Finally, in April 1943,
Rwandan
victims
of
geno
SDVW
he escaped from Aus
cide is not with a ceremony ly scolding President George W. Bush
FKZLW] EXOOHWV À\LQJ DIWHU YLFWLPVRI
or a day, but with efforts to for not doing more — was an Illinois
him, and wrote an eyewit
reduce mass atrocities cur senator, Barack Obama. Today, as pres
DWURFLWLHV rently underway.
ident of the United States, he is quiet.
ness report laying out the
horror of the extermina
The U.S. Holocaust 7KH8QLWHG1DWLRQVIRUFHLQ'DUIXUKDV
LVWRVWDQG Memorial Museum in been impotent.
tion camps. He then cam
Granted, humanitarian crises rarely
paigned unsuccessfully for
Washington is a shining
XSWR
an attack on Auschwitz.
example of that approach, RIIHU JRRG SROLF\ FKRLFHV EXW WKHUH¶V
Eventually, he was
VODXJKWHU channeling outrage at past no need to embrace the worse option,
brutally tortured and exe
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FXWHG²QRWE\WKH1D]LV WRGD\
— from Syria to Central vo, Sierra Leone, Kurdistan and, lately,
but after the war, in 1947,
African Republic. But, in Yazidi areas of Iraq and eastern Con
by the Communists. They
general, the world is typi go that outside efforts sometimes can
WKHQ VXSSUHVVHG WKH VWRU\ RI 3LOHFNL¶V cally less galvanized by mass atrocities make a difference.
6RVXUHOHW¶VFRPPHPRUDWHWKHOLE
KHURLVPIRUGHFDGHVDERRNDERXWKLV than paralyzed by them.
work, 7KH $XVFKZLW] 9ROXQWHHU was
Even during the Holocaust, despite eration of Auschwitz, the horror of the
published in 2012).
the heroism of Pilecki and others like Holocaust and the brutality of the Arme
I was thinking of Pilecki last week Jan Karski, who tried desperately to nian genocide by trying to mitigate mass
on the 70th anniversary of the libera shake sense into world leaders, no one atrocities today. The basic lesson of these
WLRQ RI WKH$XVFKZLW]%LUNHQDX GHDWK was very interested in industrial slaugh episodes is not just that humans are capa
camps. I had relatives killed in Aus ter. Over and over since then, world ble of astonishing evil, or that some indi
FKZLW]WKH\ZHUH3ROHVVS\LQJRQWKH leaders have excelled at giving elo viduals like Witold Pilecki respond with
1D]LV IRU WKH UHVLVWDQFH DQG WKHVH TXHQW³QHYHUDJDLQ´VSHHFKHVEXWUDUHO\ mesmerizing heroism — but that, sadly,
LW¶VMXVWWRRHDV\WRDFTXLHVFH
camps are emblems of the Holocaust offered much beyond lip service.
By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
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The lunacy of declining vaccines
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sorts of ostensible threats
exemptions from having
and putative remedies —
and the number of mer
their kids vaccinated.
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Why? Many of them
few years back, an acerbic
it. Look at Dr. Oz, a car
buy
into
a
discredit
friend of mine who was a
diothoracic surgeon now
HG WKHRU\ WKDW WKHUH¶V D
recent transplant to Los Angeles link between the MMR
drawing millions of view
told me that she itched to PXPSVPHDVOHVUXEHO
ers daily as a television
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write a satirical novel with the la) vaccine and autism.
tricks. The %ULWLVK 0HGL-
7KH\¶UH
HQFRXUDJHG
E\
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following narrative:
FDO -RXUQDO recently ana
cadre of brash alarmists
Frank
A group of wealthy, educated who have gained attention
lyzed dozens of his shows
Bruni
people in Santa Monica who by pushing that thinking.
and determined that more
GHOLEHUDWHO\ GLGQ¶W YDFFLQDWH WKHLU $QWLYDFFLQHSDQLFZDVWKH
than half of the sugges
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path
that
the
actress
Jenny
McCarthy
children subsequently take them on
D ³SRRULVP´ WULS WR D GHYHORSLQJ traveled to innumerable appearances VFLHQWL¿FEDFNLQJ
The Internet makes it easier for
on prominent news and talk shows;
country.
she later demonstrated her singular SHRSOHWRGRWKHLURZQ³UHVHDUFK´DQG
The goal is to make them wiser version of concern for good health can lead them to trustworthy and un
and more sensitive to suffering in the by working as a pitchwoman for trustworthy sites in equal measure.
world. While being sensitized, the HFLJDUHWWHV
³,WFDQEHGLI¿FXOWWRNQRZZKDW
kids catch diseases that they could
Other parents have separate or WREHOLHYH´VDLG.ULVWHQ)HHPVWHUD
have been inoculated against. Some additional worries about vaccines, infectious diseases specialist at the
of them die.
which can indeed have side effects. &KLOGUHQ¶V+RVSLWDORI3KLODGHOSKLD
$V D SORW LW ODFNV VXEWOHW\ DQG %XWWKH\¶UHZHLJKLQJWKDWGRZQVLGH “So many people can be an expert,
FRPSDVVLRQ %XW DV D SDUDEOH LW¶V against what they deem to be a vir because there are platforms for so
FU\VWDOFOHDU <RX FDQ EH VR SULYL tually nonexistent risk of exposure PDQ\YRLFHV´
OHJHG WKDW \RX¶UH XQGHUSULYLOHJHG to the diseases in question. And that
Salmon noted that the sheer va
so blessed with choices that you degree of risk depends entirely on riety and saturation of media today
FKRRVH WR EH D IRRO VR ³LQIRUPHG´ a vast majority of children getting amplify crackpot hypotheses to a
WKDW\RX¶UHPLVLQIRUPHG
vaccines. If too many forgo them, point where they seem misleadingly
Which brings us to Disneyland, ZHVXUUHQGHUZKDW¶VNQRZQDV³KHUG worthy of consideration.
measles and the aston
“People say things enough times,
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ishing fact that a scourge
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:H¶UHEHVW ZKDWKHDOWKRI¿FLDOVVHH said. “Look at the proportion of peo
once essentially elimi
nated in this country is
ple who question where our presi
happening now.
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back.
In 2004, there were GHQWZDVERUQRUKLVUHOLJLRQ´
<RX¶YH
SUREDEO\ YDFFLQDWLQJ just 37 reported cases
And we in the traditional media
heard or read about the
of measles in the Unit GRQ¶WDOZD\VKHOSFRYHULQJWKHQHZV
DOORIWKRVH ed States. In 2014, there LQ DQ RQRQHKDQG RQWKHRWKHU
recent outbreak traced
to the theme park. But
were 644. And while hand fashion that sometimes gives
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none of those patients nearly equal time to people citing
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measles can kill. IDFWVDQGSHRSOHZHDYLQJ¿FWLRQ
areed Zakaria scored a big it to President Obama on his
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Before
vaccines for it
interview on his Sunday show negotiations with Iran over nuclear
nearly the coverage that,
became widespread in fear of vaccines, which arises in part
± *36 RQ &11 =DNDULD¶V JXHVW weapons.
say, Ebola did, even though some of 1963, millions of Americans were from a mistrust of drug companies
was President Obama. One of the
Boehner is acting like a world the dynamics at work here are scar infected annually, and 400 to 500 and a medical establishment that
have made past mistakes.
died each year.
WRSLFVZDV9ODGLPLU3XWLQ¶VDWWHPSW leader, which he is not. He is the ier.
this subject has been stud
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³,GRQ¶WWKLQNLWVIDWDOLW\UDWHKDV
to annex the Ukraine to Russia.
SUHVLGLQJ RI¿FHU RI RQH EUDQFK now believed to be responsible for GHFUHDVHG´ VDLG 'DQLHO 6DOPRQ D ied But
and studied and studied, and
Obama noted that the era in of the legislative branch of more than 70 cases in seven states vaccine expert at the Johns Hopkins LW¶VDEXQGDQWO\FOHDUWKDWZH¶UHEHVW
ZKLFK FRXQWLHV JDLQ LQÀXHQFH E\ government. And he is elected only and Mexico; 58 of those are in Cali Bloomberg School of Public Health. served by vaccinating all of those
fornia, which of course is where the ³:H MXVW KDYHQ¶W KDG HQRXJK FDVHV children who can be, so that the ones
annexing territory is long gone. But by one party of that branch.
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park is — in Orange County, to be IRUVRPHRQHWRGLH´
he noted that Putin is also playing
On the face of it, inviting a foreign PRUHVSHFL¿F
An estimated 90 percent of un such as a compromised immune sys
to a domestic audience. Among leader to speak to a joint session
$V LW KDSSHQV WKHUH DUH DIÀXHQW vaccinated people who are exposed tem — are protected.
Right now, Salmon said, only
5XVVLDQV 3XWLQ¶V VDEHU UDWWOLQJ of Congress without notifying the pockets of that county where the to the measles virus become infect
two
states, Mississippi and West Vir
fraction
of
schoolchildren
whose
ed,
and
they
themselves
can
be
in
gained him popularity at a time when White House is a very bad idea.
SDUHQWVKDYHFLWHGD³SHUVRQDOEHOLHI´ fectious four days before they devel ginia, limit vaccine exemptions to
his polling numbers had dipped.
But the Republican majority of the to exempt them from vaccinations is op a telltale rash.
VXFKFKLOGUHQ,IWKHDQWLYDFFLQDWLRQ
All world leaders play to at least House is good at coming up with higher than the statewide average of
%XWZKDW¶VLQSOD\LVPRUHWKDQRQH crowd grows, other states may have
two audiences. That sometimes is bad ideas — like shutting down the SHUFHQW7KDW¶VDOVRWUXHRIVRPH DIÀLFWLRQ¶V UHVXUJHQFH 7KH VL]H DQG to move in that direction.
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DIÀXHQWSRFNHWVRIWKH6DQ)UDQFLVFR VZD\ RI WKH DQWLYDFFLQH PRYHPHQW
true of American politicians.
federal government.
and Los Angeles areas.
UHÀHFW D FKLOOLQJ GLVUHJDUG IRU VFL tween personal freedom and public
That duality is on display with
By making such a destructive
It used to be that unvaccinated HQFH²RUDWOHDVWDSLFNDQGFKRRVH VDIHW\DQG,¶PQRWDWDOOVXUHWKDWRXU
+RXVH 6SHDNHU -RKQ %RHKQHU¶V gaffe, Speaker Boehner has children in America were clustered FDIHWHULDDSSURDFKWRLW²WKDW¶VDOVR current one is correct.
We rightly govern what people
LOOFRQVLGHUHG LQYLWDWLRQ WR ,VUDHOL mortgaged the credibility of the in impoverished neighborhoods; evident, for example, in many Amer
QRZ WKH\¶UH RIWHQ FOXVWHUHG DPRQJ LFDQV¶ UHIXVDO WR UHFRJQL]H FOLPDWH FDQ DQG FDQ¶W GR ZLWK JXQV VHDW
3UHPLHU %HQMDPLQ 1HWDQ\DKX WR new House majority at a time when sophisticates in gilded ZIP codes FKDQJH:H¶UHDFXULRXVVSHFLHVDQG belts, drugs and so much more, all in
address a joint session of Congress. the big question is whether it can where a certain strain of health fad sometimes a sad one, chasing knowl the interest not just of their welfare
1HWDQ\DKXLVSOD\LQJWRKLVKRPH govern or merely throw rocks at the dishness reigns. According to a story edge only to deny it, making progress EXW RI HYHU\ERG\¶V $UH ZH EHLQJ
dangerously remiss when it comes
audience, with an Israeli election :KLWH+RXVH$QGWKH1HWDQ\DKX in The Hollywood Reporter last year, RQO\WRWXUQDZD\IURPLWVEHQH¿WV
the parents of 57 percent of the chil
The movement underscores the to making them wear the necessary
months away. He is happy to invitation calls into question Mr. dren at a Beverly Hills preschool and robust market for pure conjecture — armor against illnesses that belong in
DEHW %RHKQHU¶V DWWHPSW WR VWLFN %RHKQHU¶VVWUDWHJLFLQWHOOLJHQFH
of 68 percent at one in Santa Monica not just about vaccines, but about all history books?
Leaders often play
to two audiences
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By FRANK BRUNI
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