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OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015 Mothers, presidents and family ties 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 HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager What, me think? GOP’s willful ignorance on climate change is unilateral disarmament W hen Steve Symms entered the U.S. Senate in 1981, supplanting the Democrat Frank Church of Idaho, it was said that single upset dropped the collective intelligence quotient of the Senate. Symms did not distinguish himself during his 12 years as Idaho’s junior senator. To those who watched Symms from the Senate Press Gallery or in the committee rooms, it seemed as though he worked hard at display- ing his intellectual shortcoming in the demanding job of being a U.S. senator. Who knew that Symms was a pioneer? It now seems as though a re- quirement to be a Republican congressman or senator is to play dumb. That’s what the House Science, Space and Technology Committee did last week by dras- tically cutting NASA’s budget for earth science research. That NASA activity links directly to the study of climate change. The same committee had already made similar cuts in the budgets of the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. Writing on The New Yorker’s website last week, Elizabeth Kolbert noted the mantra which Republican candidates adopted in the 2014 election. When asked about climate change they would say: “Of course, I’m not a scien- tist.” That disclaimer apparently gives them license to put scientists out of business. If we think about the lameness of the GOP excuse, shouldn’t we all be allowed to question our bank statements by saying, “Of course, I’m not a banker.” Our bankers would not be im- pressed with that response. And neither is climate change im- pressed with the Republicans’ willful ignorance. Nor are a host of corporations that have already adopted climate change strategies. And that leads us to what the GOP is really up to. Wrote Kolbert, “... ignoring a problem does often PDNHLWPRUHGLI¿FXOWWRVROYH$QG that, you have to assume, in a per- verse way, is the goal here. What we don’t know, we can’t act on.” practical knowledge. Very West the joke is that vot- little of the knowledge ers should just vote for the you need to succeed in a closest Udall. trade can be taught in the If you look around the mericans are embarrassed. classroom or read about Over the last 35 years there globe, these pseudo-mo- in a book. It can only be narchical tendencies seem have only been two elections with- imparted by example. If to be on the increase, not out a Bush or Clinton on the national on the decrease. There are you’re a Nancy Kasse- ticket. baum and you grow up Aquinos in the Philippines, Next year both names could rest Nehru-Gandhis in India, around your dad, Alf atop the ballot. In one poll voters even Le Pens in France. Landon, as he conducts a David saw this as a bad thing by a ratio of Now that women are more meeting, works a room or Brooks 8 to 1. reacts to victory or defeat, empowered, each domi- Some of the people who are upset nant clan has essentially doubled the you’re more likely to have an intui- have a false view of how life works. VL]HRILWVWDOHQWSRROVRIDPLO\LQÀX tive feel for how the craft of politics is done. Since Thomas Hobbes, many people ence is increased. Third, there is the level of skills. have embraced the illusory notion Why do the members of dynastic that society is made up of individu- families do so well? Some of the rea- The philosopher Michael Oakeshott als. According to this view the only sons are obvious and unfair: brand once observed that it takes three fair competition is between individu- names and fundraising networks. generations to make a career. That DOVZLWKRXWXQGXHEHQH¿WIURPIDP Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton get is, the skills that going into, say, a ily connections. WKHEHQH¿WRIWKHLUIDPLO\PHPEHUV¶ WHDFKHU ² YHUEDO ÀXHQF\ HPSDWK\ But no society has ever been this fame. Their donor networks are al- endurance — take a long time to way. Individuals don’t come fully ready in place. These advantages develop. They emerge in grandpar- formed. They emerge out of families will not necessarily make them bet- ents and great-grandparents and are SDVVHG GRZQ PDJQL¿HG WKURXJK WKH and groups. The family and group is ter presidents. the essential social unit. These col- But in other ways we should be generations. I bet you can trace ways lectives have always shaped public JUDWHIXOWKDWLQHDFK¿HOGRIHQGHDY your grandparents helped shape your life. or there are certain families that are career. Fourth, there is audacity. It is According to some surveys, 90 breeding grounds for achievement. percent of businesses around the We should be grateful that there very odd to think you should be world are family-operated business- are Bachs in music, Griffeys and president of the United States. But es. Much research Molinas in baseball, if you grow up in the Kennedy or suggests that in the and Amises Bush families it is apparently less Individuals Brontes U.S., family-run in novel writing and odd. Fifth, there is the time horizon. businesses outper- Kennedys, Roos- don’t form non-family-run evelts, Clintons and There are many reasons family busi- come fully Bushes in politics. nesses do better, for a time, than businesses, especial- ly while the founder These families make nonfamily businesses. The senior formed. is still alive. life more unfair for people are connected by intense and Politics, too, has the rest of us (be- sometimes altruistic bonds of trust. They always been a dy- cause it’s harder for But one reason is that families often nastic affair. If Hil- emerge out others to compete run the business for the long term, to lary Clinton wins the against them), but pass it down as a legacy to those not of families they also make soci- yet born. presidency, then 10 Sunday was Mother’s Day, when of the 45 presidents ety as a whole more we celebrated the powerful ways will have had a fam- and groups. accomplished. ily member precede Powerhouse fam- mothers shape their children. Fam- or follow them in the White House. ilies nurture achievement in many ilies are unequal. Some mothers According to my colleagues at The ways. First, there’s identity forma- — and some fathers, husbands and Times, among boomers, the son of a tion. If you grow up in a musical wives — shape their kin with ex- senator was 8,500 times more likely family you’re more likely to think traordinary power, and in certain di- to become a senator than the average of yourself as a musician at a young UHFWLRQV:HVKRXOG¿JKWXQIDLUDG American male. age. You can get your 10,000 hours vantages like legacy admissions, but Things look the same on the state of practice in early, which is a huge we wouldn’t want to live in a society LQZKLFKIDPLO\LQÀXHQFHGLGQ¶WKDS level. In New York there are Cuo- leg up. mos. In California, Browns. Out Second, there is the realm of pen. By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service A Free Willy! And other creatures, too Which brings us to mercials reassuring us how meat-eating. Its extinction well their orcas are treated. will, I believe, ultimate- The tone is contrite and ly come. And be largely almost apologetic, as be- market-driven, as well. ASHINGTON — We ¿WV D EXVLQHVV WKDW WUDLQV 6FLHQFH ZLOO ¿QG GLHWDU\ splendid creatures to jump often wonder how people substitutes that can be KLJKRQFRPPDQGIRU¿VK of the past, including the most — and for our amusement. SURGXFHGDWLQ¿QLWHO\OHVV UHYHUHGDQGUH¿QHGFRXOGKDYH cost and effort. At which And although some of point, meat will become a universally engaged in conduct these measures are mar- kind of exotic indulgence, ket-driven — SeaWorld Charles now considered unconsciona- what the cigar (of Cigar has been hemorrhaging Krauthammer ble. Such as slavery. $¿FLRQDGR) is to the dying customers and Cirque du How could the Founders, so sub- Soleil has been thriving without an- tobacco culture of today. As a moderate carnivore myself, I limely devoted to human liberty, imals — they are nonetheless wel- DVKLQJWRQ¶V3DFL¿F&RXQW\ ity. A single scheduled clam sea- have lived with — some participat- come. As are the improvements in confess to living in Jeffersonian hy- beaches were closed to son opening on the Long Beach ing in — human slavery? zoos. The zoo animals I remember pocrisy. It’s a bit late for me to live from my childhood were so sad- on berries and veggies. My conces- clam harvests for three out of four Peninsula can pump $1.2 million Or fourscore years later, how ly caged, so restlessly pawing the sion to my qualms is a few idiosyn- previously scheduled days last into area businesses, the study could the saintly Lincoln, an impla- ground, so piteously defeated. To- cratic distinctions (of no particular week because of elevated levels found. cable opponent of slavery, have nev- day, the enclosures are more forgiv- import). And while I don’t demand of domoic acid, which can cause Around the world, harmful al- ertheless spoken of and believed in ing, the bars largely gone, the run- that every chicken I consume be cer- WL¿HGWRKDYHHQMR\HGDQRSHQPHDG ning space more ample. DPQHVLF VKHOO¿VK SRLVRQLQJ LQ gal blooms are an issue of increas- African inferiority? While retrospective judgment It’s understandable. The zoo used ow and a vibrant social life, if I can humans. ing concern. Poorly understood, tends to make us feel superior to our to symbolize man’s dominion over eat free range, I will. Domoic acid was unknown on they are blamed on everything ancestors, it should really evoke hu- his menacing adversaries, his com- No. I’m not joining PETA. In- WKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW FRDVWOLQH from changes in ocean upwell- mility. Surely some contemporary petitors for living space. Tigers still GHHG,¿UPO\EHOLHYHWKDWPDQLVWKH until the early 1990s, but now ing patterns to run-off of fertil- practices will be deemed equally roamed, and could eat you. Now the measure of all things. Sometimes abominable by succeeding genera- competition is over. Our rivals have you have to choose. I cringe at med- routinely shows up in samples — izers and other chemicals. Last tions. The only ques- either been wiped ical experimentation, but if you need usually below the hazard thresh- week’s problem in Washington is tion is: Which ones? out or driven back to to study cats’ eyes in order to spare The zoo I’ve long thought the bush. Except for some humans from blindness, do it. old of 20 parts per million. Three believed to have originated in a it will be our treat- the occasional shark (Though not to test cosmetics.) people died and many became ill pool of warm seawater off Clatsop ment of animals. I’m used to If the Delta smelt has to die to dining on some in- on Prince Edward Island in east- &RXQW\ 2UHJRQ RI¿FLDOV SODQQHG convinced that our conserve 1.4 trillion gallons of water trepid surfer, the symbolize threat is gone — and for the parched humans of Califor- HUQ&DQDGDZKHQLW¿UVWVKRZHG to conduct tests of clams from great-grandchildren with it, the thrill of nia, so be it. If the mating habits of man’s up there in 1987. More often, Clatsop beaches to see if they, too, ZLOO ¿QG LW GLI¿FXOW the Arctic caribou have to be dis- to believe that we conquest. it results in lesser neurological are above safe domoic acid levels. actually raised, herd- dominion No need, there- turbed so we can produce 1 million problems. It’s bad for seabirds :DUPHUZDWHUDORQJWKH3DFL¿F ed and slaughtered fore, to display barrels of oil a day — on a drilling over his them on an industrial wildlife bound and footprint the size of Dulles Airport and a real-life mass poisoning that Coast is credited with producing scale — for the eat- tamed, King Kong- in a refuge the size of Ireland — I menacing caused birds to behave strangely pleasant winter weather the past ing. like. The overriding say: Apologize to the amorous herd, is thought to have inspired Alfred two years, with a dawning possi- To be sure, there adversaries. mission of today’s then drill. Hitchcock’s movie, The Birds. bility for another such year ahead, has been a salutary But some things are unnecessary. zoo is conservancy Caging beautiful creatures. Display- turn in our attitude toward animals, — the care, study, preservation and See tinyurl.com/ktvw52n for with a strong El Niño forming HVSHFLDOO\WKHLUGLVSOD\DQGFRQ¿QH propagation of the various species, ing them for spectacle. It’s good that more information. LQ WKH FHQWUDO 3DFL¿F WKH ZDUP ment. To its credit, Barnum & Bailey some of them endangered. these are being rethought. Last week’s closure was the est since 1991. An Australian is retiring its elephant acts. Festoon- The cheeseburger question we Another advance, and not just ¿UVWIRUGRPRLFDFLGLQPRUHWKDQ newspaper reported on May 8, LQJWKHVHPDJQL¿FHQWFUHDWXUHVZLWK for them but for us. One measure of leave to our progeny. Though, when a decade, but it isn’t the only ill- “Some models generated by comically gaudy costumes and pa- human moral progress — amid and their time comes, they should re- rading them about, often shackled, is despite the savageries we visit upon frain from moral preening. They ness caused by toxic chemicals the U.S. National Oceanic and a reproach to both their nobility and each other — is how we treat the will, by then, have invented abom- contained in the marine algae that Atmospheric Administration and our humanity. innocent in our care. And none are inations of their very own. Humans always do. Or consider those SeaWorld com- more innocent than these. serves as food for clams, crab and not widely seen are pointing to By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group Warmer oceans W mean more toxins Interstate, interagency cooperation becoming increasingly vital W other commercially important spe- cies. In 2010, local clam seasons were truncated because of paralyt- LFVKHOO¿VKSRLVRQLQJDOVRNQRZQ as red tide. This resulted in cancel- lation of a set of recreational dig- JLQJGDWHV7KDWZDVWKH¿UVW363 closure since 1993. A 2009 study of toxic-algae impacts by the University of Washington found the 2008 razor FODPVHDVRQLQ3DFL¿FDQG*UD\V Harbor counties generated $12.6 million in local economic activ- ‘humungous anomalies’ of as much as 5 degrees by October- November for parts of the eastern 3DFL¿F´$Q\WKLQJ OLNH WKLV VXUJH in ocean heat is likely to produce many side effects — including more toxic algae blooms. It is clear that Washington and Oregon must continue working with universities, NOAA and oth- er agencies in an effort to better understand these runaway algal blooms and the problems they cause. Where to write • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing- ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225- 0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District RI¿FH 6: 0LOOLNDQ :D\ Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-326-2901. Fax 503-326- 5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/ • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): +DUW 6HQDWH 2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ Washington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753. Web: www.merkley. senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@ state.or.us • State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Sa- lem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986- 1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@ VWDWHRUXV'LVWULFWRI¿FH32%R[ 928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www. leg.state.or.us/ boone/ • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone: 503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john- son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy- MRKQVRQFRP'LVWULFW2I¿FH32%R[ R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503- 543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria RI¿FHSKRQH • Port of Astoria: Executive Di- rector, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Email: admin@portofastoria.com • Clatsop County Board of Commissioners: c/o County Man- ager, 800 Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-325- 1000.