OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015
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
Impeachment
better than recall
I
Courtney’s obstruction protects
Oregon’s one-party government
n the wake of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s resignation, Oregonians
learned we are the only state without an impeachment
clause in our Constitution.
Our state representatives
rightly responded by approving
a measure to put a constitutional
amendment on the ballot, allow-
ing Oregon voters to enact an
impeachment clause.
But a funny thing hap-
pened on the way to the ballot.
Senate President Peter Courtney
blocked the amendment, rul-
ing he would not bring it to the
Senate À oor for a vote.
Courtney’s stated excuse was
that Oregon voters have the re-
course of recalling a governor
and that should be suf¿ cient.
(Translation: Shut up and eat it.)
Courtney’s rationale is eva-
sive. His excuse for inaction
allows legislators to escape
responsibility for a governor
whose actions warrant removal
from of¿ ce.
Here is the essential distinc-
tion between recalling a gover-
nor and impeaching him. Recall
elections become re-election
campaigns. Impeachment re-
quires a legislative body to be
speci¿ c about the chief execu-
tive’s malfeasance and to hold
focused debate beyond the level
of sound-bite politics.
As president of the Senate
and a creature of the statehouse
for almost three decades, Peter
Courtney epitomizes Oregon’s
one-party
government.
Shielding our governors from
what is common in every other
state is effectively a Democratic
Governor Protection Act. It is
good for the axis of longtime
legislators, lobbyists and pub-
lic employee unions who de¿ ne
our state’s one-party politics.
In the wake of John
Kitzhaber’s per¿ dy, it is ap-
palling that Courtney is so tone
deaf.
Financial shenanigans
in state government
O
regon state government is
a vast enterprise – larger
than giant private employers.
But if you read the recent ar-
ticles from our Capital Bureau,
you notice a theme. There
seems to be no common stan-
dard among state agencies for
enforcing ¿ nancial control over
your tax dollars.
Moreover, a governor was al-
lowed to operate in what an ac-
countant would call a capricious
manner.
Hillary Borrud’s story, pub-
lished in last Friday’s Daily
Astorian, concerned tax credits
given to investors in green en-
ergy projects. Borrud report-
ed that “... around 2011, the
Oregon Department of Energy
scaled back its oversight of the
tax credit sales. The department
quietly stopped enforcing pric-
ing and other rules, which al-
lowed private brokers to strike
deals in which the prices were
never veri¿ ed by the state.´
When auditors in the
Department of Revenue raised
an alarm about this disparity,
Gov. John Kitzhaber effectively
told them to back off.
It is remarkable in Oregon
state government, that kind
of ¿ nancial funny business is
deemed to be OK.
An earlier story from our
Capital Bureau made a similar
point. The agency in that story
was the Department of Geology
and Mineral Industries. Its em-
ployees struggled to track the
many grants and other types of
funding the agency receives.
And the executive director spent
down funds in one account that
was meant for another purpose.
As a consequence, the agency
risked running out of funding
altogether.
Why aren’t ¿ nancial controls
in force to forestall that kind of
capricious behavior?
Like state government’s his-
tory of botching large computer
software projects, this matter of
building and enforcing ¿ nan-
cial controls is the unglamorous
work of the state Legislature.
And that is probably why it sim-
ply doesn’t get done.
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
of¿ ce: 12725 SW Millikan Way,
Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005.
Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-
326-5066. Web: bonamici.house.
gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313
Hart Senate Of¿ ce Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Of¿ ce Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-
224-5244. Web: www.wyden.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, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.deborah boone@state.or.us
District of¿ ce: P.O. Box 928, Can-
non 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.betsyjohn-
son.com District Of¿ ce: P.O. Box R,
Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-
543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria
of¿ ce phone: 503-338-1280.
Daily Astorian File
It wouldn’t be the Fourth of July in Cannon Beach without the community parade. Those who aren’t in the pa-
rade are watching it from the sidelines in 2014. The day is filled with activities from early morning to late evening.
Don’t rain on the Fourth of July parade
It’s summer, after all!
By NANCY MCCARTHY
D
espite what the calendar
tells you and what the
sunshine says, summer doesn’t
usually start around here until
July 5.
That’s why there’s so much cele-
brating on the Fourth.
Yes, there’s a certain nod to the
theory of liberty, freedom and Uncle
Sam, but, locally it’s summer that
everyone is excited about.
In fact, it’s an inside joke around
here: We don’t really get summer un-
til after the parade.
But what a lead up to summer
do we offer on the North Coast!
It’s what a small town does best:
celebrate the Fourth of July, and
we have so many small towns
along our stretch between the sea
and the mountains, it’s extra spe-
cial.
In Cannon Beach, where I live,
the locals are likely to parade down
Hemlock Street any time. We have
parades to pay tribute to Earth
Day and Sandcastle Weekend. So,
it would be a crime not to have a
Fourth of July parade.
And, boy, is it done right.
The police sirens signal the start,
and for the next hour, downtown
Cannon Beach is red, white and blue
I MPRESSIONS
B Y
N ANCY
M C C ARTHY
pandemonium. It’s not time to stay
home: Everyone comes out for the
parade, either to cheer it on or to be
in it. There’s even room in line for
pets.
Dressed-up bicycles mingle with
À ag-carrying color guards, which
give way to À oats ¿ lled with kids and
balloons, just ahead of Hula- Hoop-
ers and jugglers, who are followed
by dancing neighbors dressed in
multi-print shorts and orange clown
wigs twirling their lawn chairs, and
after the crowd’s applause, decorat-
ed wagons with sleepy-eyed toddlers
are pulled by cheerful parents who
are followed by ¿ retrucks and fren-
zied teenagers in holiday garb who
just joined the parade for the fun of
it.
The scene is duplicated in Sea-
side, Gearhart and Warrenton, where
the Fourth of July parades also are
classic small -town celebrations.
But the parades are only a start.
In Cannon Beach, the ¿ re¿ ghters
cook and give away hot dogs, and
the women of the PEO sell straw-
berry shortcake. In Seaside, the His-
torical Museum holds an old-fash-
ioned ice cream social, and there’s
a drum and bugle corps concert. A
spectacular ¿ reworks display on the
beach caps the day’s festivities.
But Warrenton isn’t to be out-
done by Seaside. In Warrenton, the
day starts with a community break-
fast for Uncle Sam (I never thought
about it before, but I guess Uncle
Sam does need to eat, doesn’t he?),
and later, classic cars are on dis-
play, a motorcycle tailgate party is
held (do motorcycles even have tail-
gates?), kids decorate their bicycles
and play games and ¿ re¿ ghters offer
a free barbecue.
In addition to Seaside’s ¿ reworks
display, Astoria also lights up the sky
over the Columbia River.
The Fourth of July is one day
that the North Coast doesn’t forget.
Cynics might say that’s because the
events attract tourists and it’s one of
the best money-making weekends of
the year for businesses.
I, however, ignore those naysay-
ers, preferring, instead, to don my
rose-colored sunglasses and head to
the beach — following the parade, of
course.
After all, summer has just arrived,
and it’s time to celebrate.
Look who’s hiding in Lincoln’s attic
Trump does not use dog
ya shaped his worldview.
whistles or code words.
Huckabee sent a well-re-
He’s blunt. And his wealth
ceived video, in 1993, to
the supremacist Citizens
n one of the little acts of sub- affords him a halo of re-
spect
in
some
circles
that
a
Council, though he later
version that creeps into The
condemned the group.
low-rent racist would not
Simpsons every now and then, a get. In the spasm of surre-
Huckabee’s buddy — a
helicopter from Fox News was al narcissism that was his
“patriot and a friend,´ in his
words — is Ted Nugent, a
shown in 2010 with a logo, “Not presidential announcement
raisined rocker who often
earlier
this
month,
Trump
Racist, But 1 With Racists.´
appears on stage with a Con-
said some things you would
Timothy
So it can be said of the Republican expect to hear at a Klan rally
federate À ag, wrapped in it
Egan
Party, a shelter for the kind of dead- — 20 years ago.
or wearing it. It was Nugent
enders who used to be Democrats,
“When Mexico sends its people, who called President Obama “a subhu-
then Dixiecrats, but have found a they’re not sending their best. They’re man mongrel.´
Let’s yield to a British-born comedi-
home of sorts in the attic of the Party not sending you,´ he said. “They’re
bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. an, John Oliver, to set Lost Cause apol-
of Lincoln.
They’re rapists. And some, I assume, ogists straight: “The Confederate À ag is
It’s encouraging to see some party are good people.´
one of those symbols that should really
leaders trying to sweep these dark-heart-
Because Trump is a buffoon, a only be seen on T-shirts, belt buckles
ed elements out, but they have work to punchline and a fact-checker’s full- and bumper stickers to help the rest
do yet — starting with Donald Trump. time project, he gets away with things of us identify the worst people in the
The accused killer of nine black that more serious candidates cannot. world.´
The House whip, Rep. Steve Scal-
churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., So Mexicans — and by extension, all
Dylann Roof, appears to have been immigrants — are not “you,´ but rap- ise of Louisiana, has had trouble trying
moved to mass murder by incendiary ists, drug lords and leeches in our fair to explain why he spoke, in 2002, to a
tracts turned out by a white suprema- land. Ha-ha. That Trump — what a white supremacist group founded by
the former Klan leader David Duke.
cist group, the Council of Conservative straight-shooter.
Citizens. The leader of that same group,
For his “insulting remarks about Scalise now says he ¿ nds the group’s
Earl Holt III, has
Mexican
immi- beliefs repugnant. But earlier this year,
donated more than
grants,´ Univision, Duke told a radio interviewer that Scal-
The party
$60,000 to various
the
Spanish-lan- ise “agreed with all my ideas.´
The party label is meaningless. The
Republican of¿ ce
guage
broadcast-
label is
holders and candi-
er, just dumped its white South was solidly Democratic af-
dates, including the meaningless.
relationship
with ter the Civil War, vowing never to vote
presidential aspirants
Trump’s Miss Uni- for the party that liberated the slaves.
Ted Cruz, Rick San-
verse pageant. (He’s A hundred years later, the white South
torum and Rand Paul.
a part-owner.) Great. Now where are changed allegiances with the advent of
The candidates, of course, are the Republican leaders — supposedly the civil rights movement. Richard Nix-
shocked — shocked! — that an ex- intent on trying to make the party some- on then sealed the transformation with
tremist hate group would contribute to thing more than a collection of griev- his Southern Strategy, which parked
their cause, and most of them have now ance-gorged old white guys — giving Southern whites ¿ rmly in the Republi-
can Party.
returned the money or given it to a fund Trump a similar message?
For the many Republicans who be-
for victims’ families. But it raises an ob-
Trump also has consistently chal-
vious question: Why would someone lenged President Barack Obama’s legit- lieve in free markets, less government
whose ideas belong in the graveyard of imacy as an American citizen, making and the racial legacy of Lincoln, the
history contribute, across the board, to a clearly racist play in his questioning question has to be asked: What do some
leading Republican conservatives?
of the president’s place of birth, even of society’s worst elements see in their
Guilt by association can be unfair, after the release of a long-form birth party? It’s the coded language, yes, the
hard voices of its broadcast wing, but
or at least calls out for nuance. So let’s certi¿ cate.
move on to a more overt racial ¿ re-
Money insulates Trump. But the also actions. Of late, this is the party that
bomber in the party, Trump, who is same cannot be said of Mike Huckabee, has been behind restrictive voting mea-
polling second — just behind Jeb Bush who also questioned the president’s sures aimed squarely at blacks. Don’t
— in one recent survey of New Hamp- American authenticity, concocting a give racists anything to root for, and
shire Republicans.
lie about how “his childhood´ in Ken- they’ll crawl back under their rocks.
By TIMOTHY EGAN
New York Times News Service
I