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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2015)
OPINION 6A T HE 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 School-shooting threat deserves serious action Small-minded terrorism warrants vigorous investigation, prosecution ‘S chool lockdown” are words no child or parent ever should have to hear. They are a symbol of this time, DQGZRUGVWKDWRXUJUDQGSDUHQWVZRXOGKDYHDGLI¿FXOWWLPH understanding: “School lockdown? Did the custodian forget to lock the door after class Friday?” If only if was something this innocent. Last Thursday afternoon’s frightening phone call to Long Beach (Wash.) Elementary School claiming that a mass shooting was imminent set off an impressive response. A lock- down is, after all, a practiced defensive strategy. A lockdown is all about protection. Students, teachers and staff did what they needed to do, tak- ing shelter behind locked doors, keeping quiet, working to avoid GUDZLQJDWWHQWLRQ/DZRI¿FHUV from every agency hurried to all the Peninsula’s schools, ready to lay down their lives if neces- sary to defend innocent people. Everything worked as well as it could. All these actions are wor- thy of praise. In reasonably short order, it became apparent that all this was someone’s idea of ... what? Fun? Sadism? Political protest? Much of an afternoon of class time was lost, but no lives. Fear and deep concern stabbed the hearts of parents. Some chil- dren were deeply traumatized by the experience. We live in a dire time when even small kids know that evil can touch them in the form of gunshots on a beau- tiful spring day. It should appall us all that this is true and that so much innocence has been lost. This crime, though not of the same magnitude as an actual school shooting, deserves to be investigated and prosecuted to the maximum extent possible. It is incomprehensible that some- one would so horribly break the peace in such a manner. This was, in its small-minded and idiotic way, a form of terrorism. We should live our lives in awareness that this is a safe place. Some miserable person’s contemptible action must not be permitted to taint local child- hood. Living well is the best re- venge, but it will feel even bet- ter if an arrest is made and this threat maker is locked up. THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015 Has the NRA already won? By CHARLES M. BLOW 1HZ<RUN7LPHV1HZV6HUYLFH I t is now fair to ask whether the 1DWLRQDO 5LÀH$VVRFLDWLRQ LV winning — or has in fact won — this era of the gun debate in this country. Gun control advocates have tried to use the horror that ex- ists in the wake of mass shoot- ings to catalyze the public into action around sensible gun re- strictions. AP Photo/Mark Humphrey Charles Blow But rather than these tragedies being a cause for pause in ownership of guns, gun ownership has spiked in the wake of these shootings. A striking report released Friday by the Pew Research Center re- YHDOHGWKDW³IRUWKH¿UVWWLPHPRUH Americans say that protecting gun rights is more important than con- trolling gun ownership, 52 percent to 46 percent.” One of the reasons cited was Americans’ inverse understanding of the reality and perception of crime in this country. As the report spells out, in the 1990s, people’s percep- tion of the prevalence of crime fell in concert with actual instances of violent crime. But since the turn of the century, things have changed: “A majority of Americans (63 percent) said in a Gallup survey last year that crime was on the rise, despite crime statistics holding near 20-year lows.” Furthermore, it used to be that the people most worried about crime fa- vored stricter gun control, but “now, they tend to desire keeping the laws as they are or loosening gun control. In short, we are at a moment when most Americans believe crime rates are rising and when most believe gun ownership — not gun control — makes people safer.” The report adds: “Why public views on crime have grown more dire is unclear, though many blame it on the nature of news coverage, reality TV and political rhetoric. Whatever the cause, this trend is not without consequence. Today, those who say that crime is rising are the most opposed to gun control: Just 45 percent want to see gun laws made more strict, compared with 53 per- cent of those who see crime rates as unchanged or dropping.” Another cause is most likely the intermingling of politics and KLJKSUR¿OHFULPHV$V7KH&KULVWLDQ Wayne LaPierre, left, executive vice president of the National Rifle Asso- ciation, speaks during the annual meeting of members at the NRA con- vention April 11 in Nashville, Tenn. At right is Jim Porter, NRA president. 6FLHQFH 0RQLWRU reported in 2012: It was after the Newtown shoot- “As sure as summer follows spring, ing that President Barack Obama gun sales rise after a mass shooting. established a task force, led by Vice It happened after the shooting ram- President Joe Biden, to develop a page at Columbine High School in proposal to reduce gun violence, Colorado in 1999. It happened after which the president said he intended the Tucson, Ariz., shootings last year to “push without delay.” Those proposals, that killed six. Now, including expanded after the killing of 12 background checks people last week at a Those who (which were charac- movie theater in Auro- say that terized as “misguid- ra, Colo., gun sales are ed” by the NRA’s spiking again — not crime is Chris Cox) and a just in Colorado but ban on some semi- around the country.” rising are automatic weapons, It continued: were roundly defeat- “Self-protection is the most ed in the Senate, al- part of the reason. But opposed though polls showed a bigger factor, say about 90 percent gun dealers, is fear of to gun public approval for something else: pol- expanded back- LWLFLDQV VSHFL¿FDOO\ control. ground checks. their ability to enact In fact, this restrictions on gun ownership and acquisition of ammu- month 7KH :DVKLQJWRQ 7LPHV re- QLWLRQ:KHQDKLJKSUR¿OHVKRRWLQJ ported: “The American firearms takes place, invariably the airwaves industry is as healthy as ever, seeing an unprecedented surge are full of talk about gun control.” It appears to be an extreme exam- that has sent production of guns ple of unintended consequences, or soaring to more than 10.8 million a boomerang: The more people talk manufactured in 2013 alone — about gun control, the more people double the total of just three years buy guns. And not only do gun sales earlier.” It continued: “The 2013 surge surge, but apparently so does NRA membership. As 7KH+XI¿QJWRQ3RVW — the latest for which the govern- reported in 2013: “The National Ri- PHQWKDV¿JXUHV²FDPHLQWKH¿UVW ÀH $VVRFLDWLRQ¶V SD\LQJ PHPEHU full year after the December 2012 ranks have grown by 100,000 in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary wake of the December school shoot- School, signaling that the push for ing in Newtown, Conn., the organi- stricter gun controls, strongly backed by President Obama, did little to zation told 3ROLWLFR.” The report continued: “In the chill the industry despite the passage week after the shooting, Fox News re- of stricter laws in states such as New ported that the NRA was claiming an York, Maryland, Connecticut and average of 8,000 new members a day. California.” One may begrudge and bemoan +LJKSUR¿OHPDVVVKRRWLQJVDUHRIWHQ followed by periods of increased in- the fact, but it is hard to deny it: terest in the NRA, but representatives The NRA appears to be winning this said this rate was higher than usual.” round. Oregon farmland The queen travels by van outpaces stock market ‘T Wisdom of land use planning EHQH¿WVDOO2UHJRQLDQV hings look different here” was an advertising headline that Oregon adopted some years ago. Unlike some slogans, this was not over- statement. Oregon does look quite different from its coastal neighbors. Drive north from Portland into Clark County, Wash., and you’ll see the difference. Urban sprawl has consumed rich farmland. Unlike Oregon, Washington has no statewide land use plan- ning. Thus it has no effective way to preserve farmland. In King County you may see remnants of a once vital agri- cultural sector. In California you see the same phenomenon. Farmland propelled the 1973 Oregon Legislature to enact statewide land use plan- ning. Specifically it was the rich alluvial soil on which Charbonneau sits. After the city of Wilsonville approved the Charbonneau development, state agriculture officials real- ized this was land with topsoil 40 feet deep. Thus homes sit atop some of Oregon’s richest, prime farmland. Writing in our sister news- paper, the &DSLWDO 3UHVV, Eric Mortenson reports that re- search by a land use advoca- cy group indicates “Oregon farmland might be the best in- vestment of the past 50 years.” The American Land Institute says that Oregon farmland has appreciated at a rate high than the stock market from 1964 through 2012. In some parts of rural Oregon, land use laws have become contentious — not al- lowing development of farm land. The numbers in the American Farmland Institute research are a strong indicator how farmers benefit from the system. For most Oregonians the benefit is aesthetic. By pre- serving agricultural land- scapes — instead of letting crop land be paved over — our state protects its most precious asset, which is liva- bility. And the people get it. Mortenson notes that seven attempts to repeal statewide land use planning have failed at the ballot box. (GLWRULDOVWKDWDSSHDURQWKLVSDJHDUHZULWWHQE\ 3XEOLVKHU6WHYH)RUUHVWHUDQG0DWW:LQWHUVHGLWRURIWKH &KLQRRN2EVHUYHUDQG&RDVW5LYHU%XVLQHVV-RXUQDORUVWDII PHPEHUVIURPWKH(20HGLD*URXS¶VVLVWHUQHZVSDSHUV tion politicians — those champion of the little guy. who run not to be someone Not easy to do when you but to do something — is and your husband have exceedingly small. In our for the last 25 years made limo-liberal Davos-world ASHINGTON — See lifetime: Ronald Reagan. your home. Hence the van Hillary ride in a van! And arguably, Barack trek to Iowa, lest a Gulf- Obama, although with him Watch her meet everyday (as opposed to Reagan) a stream 450 invade the vi- Americans! sual. heavy dose of narcissistic Clinton’s unchange- Witness her ordering a burrito VHOIIXO¿OOPHQWLVDGPL[HG ability, however, is the with genuine ideological bowl at Chipotle! Which she did Charles source of her uniqueness conviction. Krauthammer wearing shades, as did her chief as a candidate: She’s a Hillary Clinton’s prob- aide Huma Abedin, yielding securi- lem is age, not chronolog- ¿[HG SRLQW 6KH LV ZKR ty-camera pictures that made them ical but political. She’s been around she is. And no one expects — nor look (to borrow from Karl Rove) like for so long that who can really be- would anyone really believe — any fugitives on the lam, wanted in seven lieve she suddenly has been seized claimed character change. Accordingly, voters’ views about with a new passion to champion, as states for a failed foreign policy. she put it in Iowa, “the truckers that her are equally immutable. The only There’s something surreal about I saw on I-80 as I was driving here”? variable, therefore, in the 2016 elec- Hillary Clinton’s Marie Antoinette Or developed a new persona. tion lies on the other side, where the tour, sampling cake and common- She will, of course, go through the freedom of action is almost total. It ers. But what else can she do? After motions. Her team will produce a all depends on who the Republicans Barack Obama, she’s the best known “message,” one of the most corro- pick and how the candidate per- SROLWLFDO ¿JXUH LQ$PHULFD 6KH KDV sive, debased words in the lexicon of forms. Hillary is a stationary target. You papal name recognition. Like Na- contemporary politics — an alleged poleon and Cher, she’s universally synonym for belief or conviction, it know what you’re getting. She has NQRZQE\KHU¿UVWQDPH$VIRUPHU VLJQL¿HVQRWKLQJPRUHWKDQDEUDQG- her weaknesses: She’s not a great campaigner, she has that unshakable queen consort, senator and secretary ed, marketing strategy. inauthenticity problem and, regard- of state, she has spent a quarter-cen- ing the quality most important to get- tury in the national spotlight — more Hillary ting elected, she is barely, in the mer- than any modern candidate. ciless phrase of candidate Obama in She doesn’t just get media cov- Clinton’s 2008, “likable enough.” erage; she gets meta-coverage. The But she has her strengths: dis- staging is so obvious that actual problem cipline, determination, high intel- events disappear. The story is their ligence, great energy. With an im- symbolism — campaign as semiot- is age, not mense organization deploying an ics. chronological obscene amount of money. And be- This quality of purposeful ab- hind that, a Democratic Party united stractness makes everything sound but political. if not overly enthusiastic. and seem contrived. It’s not real- That’s why 2016 is already shap- ly her fault. True, she’s got enough genuine inauthenticity to go around She will develop policies. In ing up as the most unusual open- — decades of positioning, framing, Iowa, she’d already delivered her seat presidential race in our time: parsing, dodging — but the percep- top four, one of which is to take un- RQH FDQGLGDWH ¿[HG DQG IRUHJRQH tion is compounded by the obvious accountable big money out of poli- the other yet to emerge from a wild staginess of the gigantic political tics. This is rather precious, consid- race of a near-dozen contenders with apparatus that surrounds her and di- ering that her supporters intend to none exceeding 20 percent. So brace yourself for a glorious rects her movements. raise $2.5 billion for 2016 alone and :K\ LV VKH UXQQLQJ LQ WKH ¿UVW that the Clinton Foundation is one Republican punch-up, punctuated place? Because it’s the next inevita- of the most formidable machines by endless meta-coverage of the ble step in her career path. But that’s ever devised for extracting money Democrats’ coronation march. After not as damning as it seems. It can be from the rich, the powerful and the which, we shall decide the future of our country. Just the way the Found- said of practically every presidential unsavory. candidate. The number of convic- She will try to sell herself as ers drew it up. By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER :DVKLQJWRQ3RVW:ULWHUV*URXS W